So, today I was playing sims. My sims family consists of a couple, a cat & dog, and two daughter (toddler & child). The couple started watching romance and things happened, but now the wife’s pregnant with twin girls! I don’t know how people actually parent so many kids! Ok, but anyways, I was considering just giving up on the save but I held back and decided that because I was getting so attatached to the couple and current two daughters I would perserve. I though about how I was going to do this and thought up the idea that we should make a parenting tips and tricks thread! So, here it is :) On this thread, we can give other simmers advice for raising children :)

Love the idea of this thread! I think it's hard to raise toddlers in TS4, I usually make one parent stay-at-home because I want my toddlers to build up skills and that's not possible when they are in daycare. Also, when they have higher skills, toddlers cry less and are less annoying. Kids don't take much care but the parents can always help with their homework. I always feel so much relief when toddlers grow up into kids!And this isn't advice but I always take pictures of my sims' kids and teens. It's so nice to see them grow up!

Toddlers definately get a lot easier to manage with higher skills. If I have a single toddler, I will let Mum and Dad trade off working days. Sometimes they have schedules that don’t overlap too much. Someone is always home with the toddler/s. I find my families with very young children seldom get out of the house.With a larger family I would be looking to have a stay at home parent.With my first set of twins (which I have just now) I gave up on the highchair from the beginning. It’s too tricky when the toddlers wake up starving to get them both food in the high chair. They help themselves to a meal from the counter and go eat it on a chair in the living room instead. Mum has been getting up before the toddlers to cook a big group meal for this (usually pancakes, omelet or French toast).Independent toddlers can begin to potty train themselves from the start. This was real handy.

(1) Keep everything a toddler needs on the same floor. When I first started playing with toddlers, the family lived in a two-story home. I had their bedrooms upstairs and the rest of the home downstairs. Took to long to get the toddlers to get where they needed to go to do what they needed to do.(2) At dinner time have someone make the largest serving meal (I think it is 8) and put it in the refrigerator. Toddlers always wake up extremely hungry. Take the meal out of the fridge and place it near the toddler's bed. If it is close enough, the child does not even have to leave their bed to start eating. After they have taken a plate, put the serving platter back in the refrigerator to serve at a later time.(3) Keep a trash can next to the potty seat, preferably in the same room as the toddler's bed.(4) Don't bother with the high chair, more of a pain in the rear than anything else.(5) Reading a bedtime story cuts way down on the chances of a toddler waking up from a nightmare.(6) Allowing a toddler to make their messes, actually builds a skill - forget which one it is at the moment. If you also have a child or teen in the home, have the child or teen clean up the mess, it will increase their responsibility points.

@LaBlue0314 .Really good suggestions. My method is to just use traits that make raising them easier, but that gets boring.

I think parenting when it comes to toddlers is good, because it's a bit up to us whether we want a full detailed toddler raising experience, or we want to go the easy road (which might very well include some heavy crying, so I guess it depends on how attached you are to your family). It also depends on how many days your toddlers will stay toddlers. I normally don't raise them perfectly because they will start school in just 4 years, but if you play them for longer periods, you might benefit from good routines.I raised triplets, which means you really can't expect to get much else done than serving your toddlers. I had to give in and find easy road solutions.1) Forget about highchairs, they are extremely time consuming and confusing, because sims are less rational than they should be. Say a kid is in the chair already, then parent wants to give food, parent might take kid out of chair, put it on floor, go sit on a bed just to ask kid if he/she wants some food. It takes 45 sim minutes, and before understanding how confusing these situations are designed, you might even cancel the actions because it only tells you they will sit down and talk, the feeding interaction isn't cued until later...2) If you leave a group meal serving on a table that toddler can reach, toddler will go grab a meal and sit in an ordinary armchair or sofa to eat. I did this only when parents were exhausted and all in the red. Good to know toddlers can help themselves, I don't know if this requires some walking skills, though.3) You can also feed them fruits (and flowers!) from your parent's inventory. A great time saver!4) If several adults/elders in the household, lock the nursery door to all except a few chosen. A toddler in need of something seems to attract the masses, everyone flocks to the crib at the same time. This might be caused by each sim's traits/skills but in most bigger families it gets too crowded in the nursery and your active sim is not necessarily first in that queue. It's much easier when allowing access to just a few.5) Make sure to provide toddlers with skill building toys. When older sims play with them, they learn twice as fast. Might give the toddler benefits later, depending on your ambitions for them, of course.

Parenting Tips & Tricks! | EA Forums

fancygirlElle
6 years ago
"KirbySkywalker;c-17009574" wrote:
Just keep everything the Toddler/s need in one very small area. Then it’s easy.

Can you change the title of your thread to “Toddler” tip and tricks or something like that?

I was thinking about that, but I don’t necessarily want it to be just for toddlers. It could be from when the child is born to when they graduate high school and leave the home, but I’m not sure. Maybe we’ll just wait and see what the others think.
Freechheit
6 years ago
"Mindsimscreate;c-17009681" wrote:
"KirbySkywalker;c-17009574" wrote:
Just keep everything the Toddler/s need in one very small area. Then it’s easy.

Can you change the title of your thread to “Toddler” tip and tricks or something like that?

I was thinking about that, but I don’t necessarily want it to be just for toddlers. It could be from when the child is born to when they graduate high school and leave the home, but I’m not sure. Maybe we’ll just wait and see what the others think.

Maybe you could add 'parenting' in the title? This would include children and teens. :)
Freechheit
6 years ago
"Mindsimscreate;c-17009685" wrote:
"Freechheit;c-17009570" wrote:
This is how I 'survived' my quadruplets:

(1) I paused the game a lot. "P" was my lifesaver.

(2) I didn't use the highchair. The plates were put in the nursery, sometimes on the floor even. It is good if the toddlers also have a couch to sit on and a table to put the plates afterwards. If the plate is close to the bed, the toddler doesn't need to get up and eats in bed.

(3) One parent stayed at home with the kids. The other one took some days off. If there was a lot to do and my Sim was very tired, I hired a nanny.

(4) The parents were reading bedtime stories every evening, to reduce nightmares. And I put up those lamps that came with parenthood to reduce nightmares

(5) Let them hug Blarfy! The social skill will rise very quickly. :)

(6) I put fruits in the inventory of the toddlers. They can eat fruits when you click on them. That was my emergency-move if they were nearly starving. It doesn't raise the hunger bar very high, but it saves some time.

(7) Sometimes the parents were allowed to drink a potion to max out their needs. (Okay, although this is part of the gameplay, this is kind of cheaty...)

(7) I didn't do this and maybe this might considered cheating, but it is possible to create a group with the grandparents. You can choose cleaning, gardening, fixing broken objects and cooking as group activities, and they can help you out. I think I will do this next time, because it is kind of natural to have the rest of the family over to help. Especially with more than one toddler. :smile:

Quadruplets! I would’ve died! How is that even possible? Did that sim family have any other children?

I don't think it is possible in the game. My couple both had twins at the same time, because I used the lot trait and didn't think it would be that efficient. XD The mother was pregnant with twins and then the father was abducted by aliens... I thought that I could manage two to three kids, but then there were four. Oh my. Somehow I managed it.
The quadruplets are teenagers now.
Their parents didn't have any more children. Four was enough for them - and me.

The sister of the father had triplets on the same lot, after her brother moved out. Raising the triplets was very easy after the quadruple toddler invasion.

The grandma of all seven was my remade version of Stella Terrano from Sims 2 University. Stella was a scientist and in my mind, she was the one who orchestrated the multiple births without telling her children about it. :wink: After seven grandkids she passed away and was quite satisfied with her legacy.
fancygirlElle
6 years ago
"Freechheit;c-17009735" wrote:
"Mindsimscreate;c-17009685" wrote:
"Freechheit;c-17009570" wrote:
This is how I 'survived' my quadruplets:

(1) I paused the game a lot. "P" was my lifesaver.

(2) I didn't use the highchair. The plates were put in the nursery, sometimes on the floor even. It is good if the toddlers also have a couch to sit on and a table to put the plates afterwards. If the plate is close to the bed, the toddler doesn't need to get up and eats in bed.

(3) One parent stayed at home with the kids. The other one took some days off. If there was a lot to do and my Sim was very tired, I hired a nanny.

(4) The parents were reading bedtime stories every evening, to reduce nightmares. And I put up those lamps that came with parenthood to reduce nightmares

(5) Let them hug Blarfy! The social skill will rise very quickly. :)

(6) I put fruits in the inventory of the toddlers. They can eat fruits when you click on them. That was my emergency-move if they were nearly starving. It doesn't raise the hunger bar very high, but it saves some time.

(7) Sometimes the parents were allowed to drink a potion to max out their needs. (Okay, although this is part of the gameplay, this is kind of cheaty...)

(7) I didn't do this and maybe this might considered cheating, but it is possible to create a group with the grandparents. You can choose cleaning, gardening, fixing broken objects and cooking as group activities, and they can help you out. I think I will do this next time, because it is kind of natural to have the rest of the family over to help. Especially with more than one toddler. :smile:

Quadruplets! I would’ve died! How is that even possible? Did that sim family have any other children?

I don't think it is possible in the game. My couple both had twins at the same time, because I used the lot trait and didn't think it would be that efficient. XD The mother was pregnant with twins and then the father was abducted by aliens... I thought that I could manage two to three kids, but then there were four. Oh my. Somehow I managed it.
The quadruplets are teenagers now.
Their parents didn't have any more children. Four was enough for them - and me.

The sister of the father had triplets on the same lot, after her brother moved out. Raising the triplets was very easy after the quadruple toddler invasion.

The grandma of all seven was my remade version of Stella Terrano from Sims 2 University. Stella was a scientist and in my mind, she was the one who orchestrated the multiple births without telling her children about it. :wink: After seven grandkids she passed away and was quite satisfied with her legacy.

That sounds very compliacated ?
fancygirlElle
6 years ago
Once they are children it is much easier because you don’t have to do anything else to help them. They are basically already young adults as they have an aspiration, trait, and can use everything on their own. It’s the toddler stage that is so bad and hard to get through. The reason I’m adding this is because in my game today, my 2nd daughter aged up to a child, and the twins aged up to toddlers. Now I just have to get through 14 sim days of nightmare... ? ?
CaityTrina
6 years ago
1. Keep fruit or veg in inventory, save for staving off starvation. Honestly I'd be prepared to cheat their needs up cause I've lost tots to starvation who where at day care. Instantly queued eating a plate from their inventory on loading the home but it wasn't fast enough
2. Allow them to make messes so you can discipline them and build that skill. When they're a child you can make them clean it up themselves
3. It is best to keep toddler stuff on one floor, I prefer the bottom one so they can access outside. So much time is wasted going up stairs for them.
4. Always make 8 sim size servings for left overs
lilikoian
6 years ago
My favorite activity is “play“. Not only is it delightful to watch the kid be swung around by the adult, but it massively improves their movement ability.
invisiblgirl
6 years ago
"calaprfy;c-17009923" wrote:
How I raise the parenting skill...

Before they become parents, have them read the parenting skill books (duh!).
Play on long lifespan with autonomy on. The parents rush to the cot everytime the baby cries and they take several interactions before making the right one, increasing the skill each time.
Age up the baby after two weeks. By then each parent should be around level 5-6.
I don't play as the toddler, rather as the parents, checking, teaching and encouraging.
One of the parents will probably have the never weary trait.
Ensure both parents have aspirations set to the family ones and switch them around to maximise points.
Buy the wabbit tablet!
When the toddler ages up to child, both parents will have maxed the parenting skill.

If you still have a parent in the house when your Sim ages up to young adult, you can have the parent give parenting tips to the YA - that raises parenting skill rather quickly. Sims can also gain parenting skill by researching parenting and checking the parenting forum on the computer.

I wish teens could gain parenting skill from books or interacting with siblings. That's one of the reasons I tend to age up my teens as soon as they've got an A in school and full manners and responsibility.
GalacticGal
Seasoned Ace
6 years ago
I always have a homemaker parent (for those who are too young, that's a parent who doesn't work outside of the home). On the rare occasion I don't, I create a live-in Nanny.

I also have extra dining chairs along the wall in the dining room and/or a bench. I keep a bench on the patio, too, so that the tot(s) have a place to eat. I have a Sim serve(whatever meal it is) and Call to meal. This will bring all to grab a serving, including the toddler(s). Allow your older Sims to "Watch" the toddler, this keeps the toddler's attention level in the green.

This is a great thread!
Azzera
6 years ago
When they become toddlers I have one sim in the household buy the "Free Services" reward trait and hire a Nanny. I basically make that Nanny a slave to my toddlers, with them constantly asking her for food and to perform skill building activities. This frees the parents to focus on their careers, who chime in with "Helping Homework", "Tuck In", or "Encourage/Discourage Behavior". Only time I don't hire a Nanny is when I play a household that I want to struggle (lol, yeah, some of my families have PROBLEMS. Problems y'all. I got bored playing every sim having an ideal life).

I was thinking to try having a Butler take over for the Nanny, but I'm waiting for my really rich sims to get pregnant before I try this. Even though I've had Vintage Glamour Stuff since it first came out, I've never gotten around to my sims having a butler yet.