Post any good tips you have for us non-savvy players!

The Dr. SimPock Guide To Simfant Care

Timing is crucial. Aim to get pregnant in the evening then birth will occur in the evening 3 days later. Some players like to set up a special sim-friendly nursery ... I think these look unappealing, unrealistic and seem more appropriate to a 'baby factory'. With care paid to timing, the baby's crib can be sited in the master bedroom and parents can sleep thru the night with no problem at all. In fact the baby often substitutes very effectively for an alarm clock.

There are some cardinal rules to be observed in caring for a sim infant.

1. Free will must be turned off for the duration of the babyhood. Even with security systems (eg JMP's excellent mod) your own sims will seek to try to wake baby when he should be sleeping or feed him when he ain't hungry.
2. Baby should not be placed in crib unless you want him to sleep.
3. Baby needs to fed no more than 3 times per day.

Here is a timetable from the last baby I raised. (I noted down all the significant times. This is baby #2. Baby #1 had just grown into child (top scoring birthday party - no cheats) As soon as baby #2 grew into toddler Mom went back to work in plat to get a promo and fat bonus leaving toddler and child to nanny ... I will post a nanny guide later - nannies are only any use with a toddler and at least one child ... they suck at minding babies.

Thursday

9:30pm Baby born - cycle thru cuddle play 2 or 3 times
10:50pm Feed bottle - cuddle 2x
​

Friday

00:10am Bathe baby - cuddle 2x
01:30am Baby to crib
07:30am Baby has woken - diaper change. Mom has already showered and fed child for school
8:00am Play & cuddle 2/3x then Feed bottle to baby then cuddle 2x and place on floor. Mom does something fun & comfortable!
1:30pm Baby crying by now. Cuddle/play cycle ...
2:00 pm Feed then cuddle then put in crib (in time for kid coming home from school! aw! )
7:00pm Baby is awake with pooey diaper! Change it and dump him on the floor. Deal with kid and homework and supper if needed then
10:00pm Feed baby lots of cuddles and a bath
Midnight Baby in crib.
​

Saturday is a repeat of Friday until ...

1:00pm Baby's father comes over and plays with child (also his)
5:00pm Father chooses to get baby up for a feed!
6:00pm Mom calls a party. Get baby to cake ASAP and ..
7:00pm Makes smart milk for toddler
7:15pm Teach toddler to walk
9:30pm Teach toddler to talk
Pot it at midnight and stick in the crib ... he slept thru till 6am! ('nother dose of smart milk potted and potty training all done too!)
Mom, child and toddler all in plat (and Dad too on his own lot with his official brood ... ooh he's a very naughty boy! :cheeky
​

 

Very good Child Care Tips Dr. Mirelly!

 

Hogan's Heroes Reprised

LOL Kristal ... don't let Kat hear you calling me Doc, though

A couple of afterthoughts.

1. Plan your babies. This is called "family planning" in real life. Family Planning is not just a euphemism for contraception. Your sims are on a simbiological clock, so don't waste their holidays. Plan ahead so that the toddler days occur on working days. A nanny can perfectly well mind a toddler, especially if the toddler can walk, talk and use potty. If a parent feeds smart milk to tot immediately before leaving for work, toddler can be ordered to play with rabbit ... and here's the twisted tip :devious: ...
2. When toddler is playing with a toy and is selected as current sim ... click on any sim you want to occupy and choose "Play With". Make sure to get all vsiiting children to play with the tot in the same way because that means the tot will 'know' the child and will be able to phone them when he grows into a child himself! Also :rambo: ...
3. A sim who is "playing" with a toddler like this is not self-cancelling. This effectively ties up the nanny for several hours. If you time it right it ties her up until the kid comes home from school! and kids have even more options for tanglefooting nanny than toddlers!

In other words don't diss the nannies ... make like Hogan's heroes and run rings around them.

 

If u were to raise any one skill in a particular job level (like in the military track raise body skill up to 3 or 4) before its needed and go to work in a good mood then you will probably get promoted faster. Always happens for me i almost max out the one skill needed for that track an i get promoted almost every time i go to work. And when you need to make friends you have time because you dont need to work on any skills. Just thought you'd like to know!

 

Just a point, Afro ... promo is guaranteed if your sim is in platinum (and has the friends and skills needed)

 

I know but it is so very difficult to do that my sims are difficult. Give them a foot they take a mile. I give them free will and they wont stay on anything that will make thier aspirations higher. like studyin for skills that ones easy but anything else they get confused and wont do it. Mine are usually all depressed by the time im done with the family

 

I find, easiest way to get promoted quikley is get most of you points before you actully get a job. So you can spend ALL your time on friends and a good mood.

 

if you have 2 sims in the family, you can have one go to work and the other can make the friends

 

Career

With almost all my Sim families I have one Sim work on skills, mood, and career. The rest work on friends, loves, toddler and child care, and a clean house. It seems to work the best.

 

If you want to have a family that is rich, and don't want to cheat, then choose one sim to be a hard working wealth or knowlegde sim. Make the spouse someone very outgoing, a popularity or even a romance sim with lotso of lovers. Make the hard-working sim go to work and work on skill building when they are home. The stay-at-home sim has all day to build relationships, and when spouse is home the SAH sim can skill build also on things charisma and cooking.

 

Also, a Tip For People Playing the Legacy Challenge or those who want to marry a NPC:


Befriend the chosen NPC while your sim is a teenager. Keep talking to them, calling them on the phone. When your sim turns into an adult, invite the NPC to the birthday party. After the age transition, give the NPC a good flirt. If the friendship has already been in place long enough for them to become, "Best Friends", then that 1st flirt should change the relationship to either crush or love, can't remember now what color the little hearts were. (LOL)

 

this is great!!! i really appreciate your participation in my project!!! i just wanted to talk about my legacy challenge, and since this is my thread, i think i have the right.

well, so far, i've broken A LOT of rules already, but i'm loving my family(whoa, big Mcdonald's flaskback). let's start with sarah, the legacy sim. by the way, anything i say about alex's past is just made-up junk. sarah is supposed to be me, so when i say her past, it's actually what's going on in my life.it didn't actually happen in sims 2. also, anything i say after she's a child is made-up, since i'm still a child.

Sarah Legacy was the youngest in her family. She has a mother, Patricia, and a father, Joseph. She also had two older siblings, Claire and Matthew. Claire is the first-born, and Sarah greatly admires her and tries to be as good and even better than her. She was never really that close to her brother, but occasionally Matt took care of her when she needed him. She also had a vast number of relatives on her mother's side, and really enjoyed having such a big family. Now, she aspires to have a large family and give her children the same thing as her parents gave(in real life, are giving) her. After graduating from high school, she decided to enroll in a cooking school, and her current job is a Sous Chef. Just to decribe her, she has a large, round face, big brown eyes, and black hair.

Alex Generics is a brown haired, green-eyed man. He was very successful as a businessman, but when he married Sarah and they had their first child, he decided that he loved spending time at home and caring for his children and quit his job. He really is a stay-at-home guy, and prefers to play with his children and spend time with his wife.

Now, let's get on with the story: Sarah had recently graduated from cooking school, and was ready to get a fresh new start in life. She bought a small plot of land in Sarahville(lol, you can tell why i named it that way. if you haven't already catched it, my real name is Sarah), and immediately began trying to earn some money and get a job. She erected a small shack to live in, with a dirt floor and no roof. Basically, she lived in a cardboard box. Her furnishings were also very bare and inexpensive: a threadbare sofa from the dumpster at IKEA, a thin, lumpy mattress from a nearby yard sale on a home-made frame...things like that. Her hut, though not very sweet, was a home nonetheless, and she grew to love it. As she socialized with the nieghbors, she met one very charming young man named Alex Generics. They hit it off, and soon were going on regular dates. Sarah got a job as a dishwasher at the local restaurant, and she was doing very well for herself. But, there was something bothering her. Alex and her were very much in love, but he had not yet popped the question. She wanted to have a family, darnit! If there was no husband, there obviously couldn't be a family, at least not a prosperous one. So, she got up the courage to go to the nearby jewelry store and buy the nicest band she could afford. One very special night, when they were eating a romantic dinner by candlelight, she said, "Alex, I have a very important question to ask you." As you know, men are not particularly bright, so Alex was suspecting nothing. "Yes?" She got down on one knee and pulled him off of his chair. "Alex, will you be my husband?" Though this sounded very unclassy, Alex was brought to tears. "Of course I will!!" He, being a very...er...girlish boy, jumped into Sarah's arms, and they had a happy night making out on the threadbare couch. A few months passed, and, at last, it was that special day. Sarah was wearing her mother's beautiful lacy white wedding gown, and Alex was in his father's tuxedo. They exchanged their vows under a beautiful white arch laced through with ivy branches and white lilies infront of a small audience of their closest friends and family. Since, obviously, Sarah was the one wearing the pants in the relationship, she was the one who kissed Alex, and she cut the cake and smeared it all over Alex's nose. They had a fantastic time, and the party lasted well into the night. Eventually, a black limo pulled up, and the newlyweds got into the car and had their honeymoon. A few hours later, the black car came back, and Alex and Sarah came out, refreshed, and ready to start their family. That night was a very special one indeed. The next day, Sarah felt something in her stomach. She went to the doctor's for a check-up, and found out that she was pregnant. Alex was overjoyed!! He spent all of his time caring for his wife, making sure she was comfortable, and fooling around with her stomach("Are you boy or a girl?" "Alex, it kicked!!!" "Does that mean it's a boy?" "I don't know..."). Sarah took her maternity leave, and spent the next few....days...relaxing. She also, of course, worked out some to keep her shape, and at last, she felt her contractions. "Alex, it's coming!!! It's comm--AAGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" They experienced the miracle of birth right there in the bathroom, since Alex was too excited to take her to the hospital. Finally, the labor was over, and Sarah had given birth to a healthy little boy named Eric with his father's brown hair and his mother's brown eyes. The days passed by quickly, and soon it was Eric's second(or third. what would you consider it?) birthday! Sarah hurriedly rushed him to the cake, and they blew out the candles together, with Eric and Meadow(she just happened to be over that day) cheering in the background. Eric had turned into a toddler!!

and that's all i'm saying for now. judging byt he first part, it's gonna be a long story, and i hafta read my SSR book. just for the fun, let's say this:

Tune in for the next installment of Sarah's Legacy Family!!!

 

Cool, that musta taken FOREVER TO WRITE!!! So that actully happened with your girl? awsome!

 

Hi, one tip is that if you can get the golf set from the aspiration rewards, let your children play with it, my child got the charisma points super fast! She is just a kid & her charisma point is almost full, left one more points! The speaker stand took much longer than the golf set.

 

I noticed that when I used the military obstical course to teach one of my sim children, he filled his body points very quickly. I wonder if that happens with all the career rewards, and I just now noticed it! LOL

 

Career reward objects do award skill points faster than the normal skilling objects. You can also combine that advantage with a couple others to make earning higher level skill points quite a bit less time consuming. All the reward objects allow a Sim with more points in the given skill to teach a Sim with less points. This helps the skilling Sim earn the point even faster. And then of course there's the good ol' Thinking Cap. Learning is accelerated if the skilling Sim wears one and teaching can be accelerated if the teaching Sim wears one. Double acceleration if they both do.

I'm pretty serious about my Sims skilling throughout their lives. So by the time they're towards the end of adulthood they have at least 7 or 8 points in each skill and are usually maxed in the skills that are most required for their careers. My elders are usually fairly well maxed by the time they die. I make sure that my older adult and elder Sims spend as much time as they can teaching their family members (especially when it gets to skill pts. 7-9 because they can just take forever without accelerating the process).

The last thing that affects a Sim's rate of skilling is their personality. Certain skills are learned faster by Sims with certain personalities. Serious Sims gain Logic faster. Active Sims gain Body faster. Outgoing/Charisma, Playful/Creativity, Neat/Cleaning. I don't pay much attention to these, generally. But I know if I have a lazy Sim I'm not going to put them in Military or Athletic careers because earning those body points would just be brutal.

 

*deep male voice booms out* "Last time in Sarah's Legacy Family, Eric, Sarah and Alex's first-born child had turned into a toddler."

After the party was over, the small family quickly retired to their beds, seeking some sleep from the long, exciting day. Unfortunately, Eric was not yet ready for some shut-eye. He spent the whole night crying and bamming on the crib bars, but the parents were shut up into their quiet little room. Over the next few days, Sarah had to return to work, and she was promoted to Fast Food Restaurant Manager. Alex stayed at home with Eric. He taught him to walk, but Sarah was the one to taught him to talk and potty trained him. Finally, it was time for Eric to turn into a child. Sarah was at work when Alex threw the party, and he helped Eric blow out the candles. Eric was set onto the floor, and he started to glow. He jumped into the air, and became a child!!! Alex was overjoyed!!! As soon as Sarah came back from work, she and Alex celebrated a little in the bedroom. But, for some reason, Marisa, one of their family friends, was coming over more than usual. She and Alex were extremely close, but Sarah suspected nothing. Alex began to flirt with Marisa when Sarah was at work. Alex was having an affair!! He was extremely happy, now. He would be woohooing in the bedroom with Sarah, then send her off to work in a happy mood. As soon as she got into the car, he'd call up Marisa, and they'd make out on the couch. One day, when it was a weekend, and both Eric and Sarah were home, Alex made a big mistake. Because God willed it so, on an act of sheer stupidity, Alex invited Marisa over. As soon as they were in the house, she smooched him!! Sarah was furious!!! She ran over to slap Alex in the face, only to stop in the middle and run to the bathroom, because, lo and behold, she was pregnant. As soon as she was done retching, she ran back out and continued slapping Alex. Marisa, the nerve of her, was simply watching the show with a faint smirk on her face. Sarah stopped slapping Alex and ran over to Marisa and tackled her!! The fight lasted for almost half an hour, but Marisa quickly ended it. She had kicked Sarah on the butt and was now gloating with Alex. Sarah was left, defeated, on the floor with a sore bottom and a broken heart. Alex, seeing his dear wife lying there on the floor, realized what a fool he had been, and pushed Marisa away. He kicked her out of the house and went to Sarah to comfort her. Sarah, however, would have none of it and turned away from Alex's outstretched hand. She heaved herself off of the floor and limped away to the bedroom, shutting the door in Alex's face and leaving him in the livingroom to deal with Eric's confused face. For the next few days, Alex was ignored by Sarah and he hadn't been sleeping on the bed in a while. She went on maternity leave and simply kept to their bedroom, weaping uncontrollably on her side of the bed and sticking pins into pictures of Alex and Marisa alike. Finally, Sarah decided that this was not good for Eric or their unborn baby, and decided to try to mend their marriage. They slowly worked their way back into a loving relationship, and Alex never spoke to Marisa, or for that matter, any other woman (Sarah made sure of that) again. Now, Sarah is still carrying their unborn child, and the family is back together again.

that's all i got for now. i haven't been able to play sims 2 for a while now, so the next time i got something interesting happening, i'll post it. by the way, what was really funny was the fact that Have A Baby is both a want and a fear for Alex, as, before this whole thing happened, when Eric had just been born, i pinned it, and one of his newest fears after having a affair with Marisa is Have a Baby.

 

I have another tip for all you non-savvy players out there. Marry the NPC's immediatly they have skills so high it is shocking. I enjoy marrying the maids and paper girls becuase thier skills are so high. They can get to the top of almost any track really fast.

 

LMAO ... that is like soooo true to life innit? I mean we all know someone doing a menial job who thinks they could run the country .... Way to go Maxoids! Art imitates and then improves on life.

Maybe I'm gonna change my sig to "When I grow up I wanna be a sim "

 

well, me is getting sick of writing a big long story, so i'm just gonna say what happened. i'm really excited that my legacy family is moving along rather nicely. anyway, so sarah gave birth to another baby boy(i'm desperately hoping that the next baby'll be a girl-i just gotta have a girl in the family) that is the spitting image of his older brother eric. at least, as a toddler. we named him jake. so far, he's only, like, 1 day old, and we already got all his stuff done. i think. maybe we didn't finish talking. oh well. i love smart milk. it works wonders!!! anyway, so, sarah is starting another affair, too. with brandi letourneau(sp?). i was really surprised when i clicked on her, and there was the option of kissing her romantically. so, i tried a safe flirt, and it worked!!! i'm hoping for another scandalous affair ending in a big fight, because it spices up the boring, everyday life of the sims. i also find it amusing when all she does is flirt, and then in the memories, it says she had an affair. also, eric turned into a teen on the same day when jake was born. he's so cool!!! unfortunately, he's still got a C+ report card. before, it was a D. the only way i got it up to a C+ was because of the weekend. and when it said what aspiration you wanted him to be, there was no dice button. how did you make it random? i couldn't see anything except the 5 aspirations, so...???i made him a family so he won't want to get a job and i'll be able to manage his needs and his grades. i'm really excited about University, because i really want to be able to change their aspiration after teenage, because romance is fun as a teen, but once they're adults...well, i'm not comfortable with all that woohooing stuff, so..yeah. let's see, what else... oh yeah, alex got a new job as a Emergency Medical Tech, and so far he's been promoted to Paramedic. sarah is still a...whatever is before a sous chef, because she got demoted, and i haven't gotten to making more friends...i want to ask a question. when you are playing legacy families, or just family sims, do you wait until the first baby is a toddler, or a child, until you start trying for a baby again? i just wanted your opinion. i wait until the youngest baby is a child before i start trying. i just can't handle pregnancy and a toddler. maybe if i didn't have a whole bunch of aspiration points just waiting to be used for elixirs of life, i would hurry it up more, but now, the parents are getting younger, so i'm just hanging around, waiting until i'm comfortable. also, is it possible to have a sibling move out with the rest of his/her siblings once he/she's an adult? or do you hafta play with those siblings in their new home and then invite the other sims to move in with them?