I am playing the Dimmsdale familyArthur and Hester Dimmsdale and their two children, a toddler named Pearl and a baby named Arthur Jr. I'm just letting them run themselves, and all they want to do is play with the children. The children are crying, pooping their diapers, and are hungry. They do nothing.. I baby proofed the outside doors and they bring Pearl outside and then go inside. So now, there is this toddler running around the entire neighborhood, and they do nothing. The child goes to a park, by herself, they walk out there, talk to her and go back home, without the kid. The toddler is now hungry with a dirty diaper and sleepy. She is outside, in the wild, with strangers. I know it's a game and they don't have things like child predators or vicious animals that may eat or attack the children, but they do absolutely nothing. I am parenting these infants more than they do.

Thanks for all the tips and comments, everyone. Sometimes I feel bad because I don't like to play legacy families. But dealing with needy kids takes so much out of me! In comparison, pets are easy! 😄 One more tip from me. If you have the Kitchen Clutter Kit, the lunch box can be accessed by toddlers. It doesn't have to be placed on a counter either. Now, my little toddler got the quick meal out but sat in on the table, so I just told her to eat it. I don't know if putting it down first was just her finicky behavior. Lynea's a Picky Eater. 😆 The Base Game snack box can be used by toddlers, too. It was broken for a while but works fine for the past two years.

Once my Sims have babies, I lock motives up and I don't unlock them until they age up to child. Been doing that since Sims 2. Lol.

They don't really parent by themselves, you need to instruct them to do it. Toddlers, once they can walk by themselves are pretty independent, you can leave food out for them and they will take care of their own needs, just remember to give them a bath and clean the potty every now and then. Babies need your attention more, maybe it helps if your sims study parenting. I have a sim who appears to be a natural at parenting, always tending to his baby and he even studies parenting on the computer by himself instead of trolling the forums like other sims. Not sure if it's something to do with his traits or parenting skill, some other thing in game.

Nightgypsy One of the things I tried to stop multiple sims from competing over my infant was to lock the door to the kid's room for everyone but the Nanny. That worked pretty well, but only when the infant stays in her room. Once the kid starts crawling around, I'll need to enlarge her space! The other thing that helps is to have the infant request a specific sim for care. But you have to be quick before everyone starts rushing over. It's madness! I just love sim Free Will. 😆 Oh, and the game's generated service sims. Good grief! Here's the Nanny who showed up today. He may be a Free Spirit and good for him, but Reliable isn't the first thing you think when you meet him. On top of that, he argued with my sim Cara when she tried to Get to Know him. I wanted to send him packing right then and there, but I gave him a chance. 🤨 Nanny Extraordinaire: "Don't worry, I'm a trained professional. Trust me."

I love that your spirit has not been crushed :) I am going to have to ponder the locking in room thing. I only have two households that have had children so far and those children had their own suites and the parents love to tummy time and spent good time with them. I had the door to the rest of the house child proofed much like your idea. Never occurred to me to enclose their cribs in a room with a door. Only problem I see there for me is I love the parents putting the infants to bed, soothing them to sleep then kissing them goodnight and then they play a lullaby. If I did the lock door method it would have to be to only allow the butler because the parents work. Great idea to avoid the madness but ugh. Why does it have to be so hard lol. I love their freewill to a point too. I just wish the powers that be would throw in a bucket of common sense to their dna. As for game nannies. Nope. Never again. I am sure you read what happened to me the last time and I promise it was much worse than it sounded. My new method after that was that one parent had to quit their job and take care of the kid or kids. Later they can return to work in their same rank and position so no biggie. They don't have to work but I consider their jobs daycare for adults so I don't have to micromanage them 24 hours a day. Yep, for real hehe. Managing all of this with my poorer families in small houses will probably prove to be a nightmare. Or perhaps it will be less of one. Not going to be doing it for a while though because it hasn't been that long that my main family had three kids I took from infant to young adult and then did college. Now I am doing more relaxing things and stuff I have never done before. my poor sim has never even been on a date. I say poor but she honestly doesn't seem to mind. You didn't say if your nanny there worked out after you gave him a chance. I don't judge by looks either so I am curious if i got better after the initial roughness. It would be nice if the hired help would be instructible/trainable like pets. Send them to advanced parenting classes and such. Teach them that they should only be seen and not heard. I don't like them getting all cozy and friendly with my families. Then they become slackers and wanna chat all the time. Anyhow, I'm going to stop rambling but do tell about your nanny. 🔆

Is it just me OR are the sims just terrible parents on their own?

47 Replies

crocobaura
Legend
2 months ago
They don't really parent by themselves, you need to instruct them to do it. Toddlers, once they can walk by themselves are pretty independent, you can leave food out for them and they will take care of their own needs, just remember to give them a bath and clean the potty every now and then. Babies need your attention more, maybe it helps if your sims study parenting. I have a sim who appears to be a natural at parenting, always tending to his baby and he even studies parenting on the computer by himself instead of trolling the forums like other sims. Not sure if it's something to do with his traits or parenting skill, some other thing in game.
MVWdeZT
Seasoned Ace
2 months ago
Yes, the Sims are generally neglectful. I think if an infant is crying, they will be queued to go to the crib or bassinet. Whether they do what the baby needs will probably depend on their level of parenting skill. But other than that, the player pretty much has to take care of the newborns, infants, and toddlers. I played a variety of the 100 Baby Challenge, where my Sim brought in townie mothers-to-be and sent them home after they gave birth. At one point she had 6 infants in the house and no other adults. But I found that if she invited the mothers over, the infants could click on other adults and get them to take care of most of their needs. But the mothers wouldn't do it on their own.
GameGirl2168a
Seasoned Ace
31 days ago
Yup, mikkimouse1978, they sound like your typical sim parents. I've been playing The Sims since it's beginning and there is one fact that has always remained true, across the entire franchise: Sims are extremely silly creatures, and can't be trusted to properly take care of themselves, or their children, without the 'divine intervention' of us (the humans at our keyboards). 🤣
GameGirl2168a
Seasoned Ace
31 days ago
I'm guessing that that sim of yours, crocobaura, has a couple of family related traits, if he's that attentive to his kids. 😉
natalie_barryy
New Vanguard
30 days ago
Yeah I’ve noticed most sims turn into zombies when they have babies. All they do is just sit there staring into space or watch the tv or play video games. If I travel with one sim from the house hold and leave the infant at home with the other parent and I come back the infant is like half dead, on the floor or halfway across the map and the parent is just chilling watching tv. Like omg. I wish they’d add an interaction to “care for infant” like you can do with “care for self”
Miataplay
Legend
30 days ago
I have been saying the same thing since day one with toddlers: The toddlers are self sufficient as long as you potty train them and leave servings of food in the fridge.
Babies are hell to raise in a household that is 4 or more.
The parents are paralyzed by the needs of their kids...it's almost like mass confusion.
I think it's some type of parental routing bug...too many demands from other actions going on in the game.
GameGirl2168a
Seasoned Ace
30 days ago
Sounds like being an RL parent, to me, Miataplay and @ natalie_barryy. No lie. The more children you have, the more exhausted and zombie-like you get. Well, at least until they are all above the age of 16 or so. 🤣
Miataplay
Legend
30 days ago
Teens can get pretty moody..acting like they on menopause too..🤣
Edit: Puberty can be real tough for some kids...others don't even notice it...(jk).
GameGirl2168a
Seasoned Ace
30 days ago
You are not wrong in that, Miataplay. And I say this as a mom whose kid went through puberty two times. ♂️♀️❤️
Miataplay
Legend
30 days ago
I salute you!
I have never had the pleasure of raising kids but taking the city bus reveals a lot!❤️