Woo-hoo - Try for a Baby

Trying For a Baby between male and female adult Sims will usually result in a baby.  If the "act" took place late at night or early in the morning (when the female Sim will typically be asleep), that will be the time frame each Trimester changes; 1, 2 and 3.

The female Sim will typically wake up or "bigger Bump" at about that same time each day, need to go to the toilet, feel exhausted, not sleep well, be hungry and/or want to throw up.  There is no reason to waste 15 Simoleans on a pregnancy test.  It either happened or not, but usually a good indicator is that the "Throw up" option has been added to the "Bladder" needs when clicking on the toilet.

Each trimester is approximately one Sims day. When the Pregnant Sim reaches the third trimester, she can take Family Leave for 24 Sims hours. The Family Leave option is available through the cell phone under the Work options. If the Pregnant Sim has not delivered the baby after the end of her work shift, she should immediately request another day of Family Leave, or she may end up having to go to work on the same morning/day that she delivers.  Once she delivers, the Family Leave option will go away, and there will be an automatic daycare feature to care for the baby if there is no adult at home to care for the baby while Mom Sim is at work.

The Mom-to-be Sim may not be able to sleep well and feel exhausted right up to the delivery of the baby. Naps on the sofa can help.

There is no need to purchase a crib/bassinet for the baby since one will arrive just as the baby is ready to be born.  The bassinet will suddenly appear right in front of (next to) Pregnant Sim and within a few Sims minutes, the baby's gender will be announced and a request to name him/her. There will be some sparkly "magic" and the baby will appear in Mom's hands.  Mom Sim will snuggle with the baby for a moment, then place Baby Sim into the bassinet. While this is all happening, the ability to go into the Build Mode is shut off. A word of caution.  If the Mom-to-be Sim is sleeping, the bassinet may show up in a spot where the delivery cannot happen. The Pregnant Sim will labor indefinitely and become more exhausted without any means to "have baby."

Free Bassinet Appears	Like Magic the Bump is Gone
And the Baby Appears

Baby Sims are generally noisy whenever they are awake.  For the most part, they will either coo, cry or sleep.  There are a variety of options for interacting with the baby, within the bassinet, but the option to just leave the baby anywhere, other than the bassinet is not an option. The option choices are:

• Shoosh (if the baby is being noisy)
• Rock
• Make Silly Face
• Cuddle
• Coo
• Bounce
• Change Diaper - Change Dirty Diaper
• Feed - Bottle or Breast
• More Choices...
• Hire Nanny Service
• Age up
• Talk
• Show Off To...

The baby will either be sad, happy or asleep. The color indicators for sad and asleep are both blue, and happy is green. So if your Sim is off somewhere in the neighborhood socializing, fishing, etc., you can tell when the baby is happy, but it is difficult to tell the difference between asleep and sad.

The first day or two of Shooshing, Rocking, Cuddling, Changing Diapers, Feeding, etc., can become time consuming, just like with a real baby. Waiting to age the baby naturally can be anywhere from a few Sim days to a few Sim weeks (depending on a variety of game play options). Thankfully, parents can opt to "age up" the new bundle of joy into Toddlerhood, when there is a bit more autonomy of the child. If you have Seasons packet, the baby's birthday is indicated on the calendar. However, I had one with the long-life in the game option and instead of the typical three days to age up, it took one whole season (one Sim week) plus three days. When the baby ages up, the baby flips out of the bassinet and lands on the floor as a toddler.  You can sell the Bassinet at that point.

Time for that Toddler Bed!