toddlers are ridiculously difficult
can we all just agree that the hardest life stage to manage is toddler? i dread starting families because of how difficult they are to take care of. especially when there's two of them-- my sims re...
Forum Discussion
After having raised at least 30 toddlers between my three saves (i am doing a baby challenge right now), I have found a lot of things that make raising toddlers easier, a lot of which has already been said (drag the food, yes they can go to the fridge to get it but it is faster to drag it close to them, work on thinking skill first to get less defiance). I have also come to the conclusion that for me personally, getting all their skills to level 3 makes more sense than going for the "Five Star Toddler" (all skills at level 5), as getting them from 3 to 5 seems to take a lot longer than getting them to 3, and all it does is start their child skill level at level 2 instead of level 1, and child skills are so easy to build anyway (especially at first), I have found that taking all the extra time to move from 3 to 5 as toddlers just doesn't make sense.
Also good advice that has been said, getting a routine and being organized. I have a single mom who has anywhere from one to three toddlers at any given time, and what I do is since the toddlers have to sleep a lot longer than the adults, is I get up the mom and sort all of her needs out first (having the nice bed and the steel bladder trait helps a lot). Then when the toddlers get up they usually eat breakfast right away, then on to potty training and baths (if they need, if you're getting them to the potty most of the time their hygiene level doesn't go down too fast). When they reach level 2 potty they can go on their own but it does take longer for their potty skill to build this way.
As for the other skills, the tablets as has been mentioned, they love and never tire of, but it builds their skills slower than if they are doing something. For Thinking skill shapes on the blocks gets that up fastest, especially if parent or older siblings "teach" them, and especially if they have the clingy trait. Even doing the shapes on their own gets it up faster than SimShape. But they do tire of the blocks eventually so look out for that.
For movement, there are lots of options to get that up fast, there's of course just having them wander or move from place to place when you have time for that, but they can also stack with the blocks (which again builds even faster if someone is teaching it to them), or using the toddler slide or ball pit. The blocks and play equipment also ups their fun levels too so I prefer doing it this way.
For imagination, they can play at the doll house or "pretend" on the toddler play equipment, or look at (or be read) a toddler book, and these will increase imagination faster than Draw with Llama.
For Communication skill, I've found the very fastest way to increase that is using the large stuffed animals to babble, hug, and talk to them. There's also teach to talk, which builds it faster, but they can get a negative moodlet for this if you do it too long.
It also helps to have a routine to get them ready for bed. Usually I will start with someone potty training them, then feed them meal / making sure their hunger is full, then someone (mom or dad if he is visiting, or teen sibling) reading them to sleep. This does usually take two to three sim hours at least for the whole routine so you do have to plan accordingly. If you have the night light above the bed and someone reads them to sleep / tucks them in, it does prevent them from getting nightmares. I have found it is important for all their other motives to be full at night before putting them to bed because they sleep so long that if you don't, they'll wake up hungry or needing to potty.
It is extra work in the beginning and end of the day, but it is totally doable and really not that hard once you get a routine going.
Also despite them taking some work, focus, and organization on my part, I just love the toddlers because they are SO adorable and always look forward to the day where the baby can age up to a toddler ?
Also good advice that has been said, getting a routine and being organized. I have a single mom who has anywhere from one to three toddlers at any given time, and what I do is since the toddlers have to sleep a lot longer than the adults, is I get up the mom and sort all of her needs out first (having the nice bed and the steel bladder trait helps a lot). Then when the toddlers get up they usually eat breakfast right away, then on to potty training and baths (if they need, if you're getting them to the potty most of the time their hygiene level doesn't go down too fast). When they reach level 2 potty they can go on their own but it does take longer for their potty skill to build this way.
As for the other skills, the tablets as has been mentioned, they love and never tire of, but it builds their skills slower than if they are doing something. For Thinking skill shapes on the blocks gets that up fastest, especially if parent or older siblings "teach" them, and especially if they have the clingy trait. Even doing the shapes on their own gets it up faster than SimShape. But they do tire of the blocks eventually so look out for that.
For movement, there are lots of options to get that up fast, there's of course just having them wander or move from place to place when you have time for that, but they can also stack with the blocks (which again builds even faster if someone is teaching it to them), or using the toddler slide or ball pit. The blocks and play equipment also ups their fun levels too so I prefer doing it this way.
For imagination, they can play at the doll house or "pretend" on the toddler play equipment, or look at (or be read) a toddler book, and these will increase imagination faster than Draw with Llama.
For Communication skill, I've found the very fastest way to increase that is using the large stuffed animals to babble, hug, and talk to them. There's also teach to talk, which builds it faster, but they can get a negative moodlet for this if you do it too long.
It also helps to have a routine to get them ready for bed. Usually I will start with someone potty training them, then feed them meal / making sure their hunger is full, then someone (mom or dad if he is visiting, or teen sibling) reading them to sleep. This does usually take two to three sim hours at least for the whole routine so you do have to plan accordingly. If you have the night light above the bed and someone reads them to sleep / tucks them in, it does prevent them from getting nightmares. I have found it is important for all their other motives to be full at night before putting them to bed because they sleep so long that if you don't, they'll wake up hungry or needing to potty.
It is extra work in the beginning and end of the day, but it is totally doable and really not that hard once you get a routine going.
Also despite them taking some work, focus, and organization on my part, I just love the toddlers because they are SO adorable and always look forward to the day where the baby can age up to a toddler ?
