Families

While a household consists of a group of Sims living together in a single home, a family is a more specific type of household. A family is made up of Sims who are related and can consist of children, parents, and grandparents. Families can be formed at the start of a game when you are creating your Sims. They can also be formed during a game through marriage, having babies, and even by adopting children. This section covers some of the special aspects of families.

Babies

You can’t begin a game with a baby. Instead, they have to be created in game. To do this, a male and a female Sim must have a romantic relationship going already. Develop this relationship to the point that the two can WooHoo and you will also have the option in the romance socials of “Try for Baby.” The two Sims will WooHoo and then there is a chance that the female Sim will get pregnant.

The first sign of pregnancy is morning sickness.

After trying for a baby, if the female Sim gets nauseous and heads for the bathroom to throw up, you can choose a new action. Click on the toilet and select Take Pregnancy Test. If it is successful, then the Sim is in her first trimester of pregnancy. Congratulations!

As a Sim progresses through pregnancy, it begins to show.

Each trimester lasts 24 hours. So after the first day, your Sim is already in her second trimester. If you don’t already have a children’s room or a nursery set up, this might be a good time to do it. Purchase a bassinet if you want to have your child at home. The pregnant mother can still do all of the same activities such as going to work. In fact, other than her tummy growing, occasional nausea, and some positive moodlets, there are no other effects of pregnancy.

It’s a girl! You get to name your baby right after it is born.

After three days, it is time to have a baby. Your Sim will go into labor. If you have already purchased a bassinet and placed it in your home, you can have the baby at home. Otherwise you will have to have the baby at the hospital. Both actions are available by clicking on the mother to bring up a menu of actions.

The baby appears in your home either in the bassinet you already purchased, or a bassinet with a baby will automatically appear. To interact with the baby, click on the bassinet to see a variety of actions. As you do these things, you improve your relationship with the baby. Be sure to feed your baby. Anyone can feed it with a bottle. However, the mother also has the option to breast feed the baby. You can also rock the baby, make silly faces, cuddle, coo at, bounce, and even change the baby’s diaper.

Only the mother can breast feed the baby.

Once you are ready to have the baby become a child, select the Age Up action from the bassinet. You then can select an Aspiration and a trait as the baby becomes a child and joins your household. The child combines the genetics of both the mother and the father.

Adoption In addition to making your own babies to add children to your household, you can also adopt. For this, you need a computer. Select the Household option and then Adopt. Adoption does cost some money. However, you get an instant child. You can choose from a variety of babies and children. If you pick a child, that child already comes with Aspirations and traits.

Children and Teens

Unlike babies, children are playable characters like adults. Instead of going to work, they automatically go to grade school five days a week. They can develop only four skills: Creativity, Mental, Motor, and Social. These are discussed more in Child Skills. In addition, some objects can only be used by children, such as the pirate ship jungle gym, the monkey bars, and the Starcruiser X jungle gym. Several children can play on the jungle gyms and even adults can participate from the outside. Because they’re just kids, children can’t date, get married, or WooHoo.

There are several activities that only children can do. Some build skills while others are just fun.

Teens are essentially adults. The only difference is that instead of picking a career and going to work, they have high school five days a week. However, they can begin developing all of the adult skills and have most of the same social interactions as an adult. The main differences are that teens can’t WooHoo and they can’t get married.