Pets Brainstorming Recap + Poll About Babies

I hope you let the babies be carried by the Parafolks in a baby carrier or baby wrap (faced to the Para who is carrying it!). Its more realistic. And if you need good material - ask me, I'm a Babywearing Consultant. xD

I have 3 snakes and 3 spiders at home, because I love reptiles. Maybe one day I will find my babies in Paralives too. (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡

I need babies that climb over furniture and bite peoples fingers 😆😍

i think babies shouldn't be too difficult unless there's going to be actually interesting gameplay around them. toddlers should definitely be challenging tho

I would make it so there's a good balance between challenging/exciting and easy/relaxing.

I hope a butterfly can land on a paras finger that would be adorable interaction to have in the game.

I'm not fond of children in games, so I would prefer easier care. Or at least have the option of hiring a nanny.

it should be challenging and fun i guess

Love to take care of babies but I prefer when I have the option to let the pets be guided by the game!

Maybe challenging AND fun? Haha :) I'm just worried that challenging and demanding would be a nightmare/ reinforce negative stereotypes about parenting... I personally like to play with huge families and although I hate the baby-object concept it would be awesome to have fun taking care of them.

I'd love a challenge! The sims babies are boring and honestly annoying - there is no real gameplay with them. Id love to have to change babies on a change table, and be able to bring them with you in a stroller when you go out, etc - rather then them just being stuck in their crib.

Challenging! Obviously not rage inducing game quitting difficulty but hard enough where having a baby is actually a commitment, the baby life stage should be the shortest and the most difficult, infancy a lil easier, toddler easier ect ect

I would love to see Paras carrying their babies everywhere and not abandon it like in the sims. For example cooking while holding the baby or watching tv while the baby is laying on the chest or lap of their parents

Please make it toggleable! I really don't care much for babies but I like playing with families sometimes and babies being hard would make it a nightmare.

Pls give us both - easy and challenging. For both Para mood, care n baby care etc, like simpler version for those who want. Like "simple emotions" n then genuine ones people seem to ask for that are clearly harder to handle. I don't want to raise a kid in a game, but i know someone else wants it to be realistic

I think babies should vary in difficulty. maybe a paralife has an easy baby, then wants another but the second baby is extremely difficult. babies can be taught lessons to ease the amount of care needed.

Regarding babies, I feel like they should be difficult to take care of, as in real life. Having a baby should have its own upsides and downsides (in the way that it's very demanding to take care of a little human being) and, being another life stage, the experience of having one should be very complete and demanding. Maybe you could hire a nanny if it's difficult for you to take care of them by yourself, but otherwise, I'd love a challenging experience!

I need turtles in this game, I've always wanted to have them as I do irl 😭

I love the calming effect of taking care of pets❤️❤️❤️

Equal maternity and paternity leave... if we can't have it in real life, maybe we can have it in a game 😭

I have to say I really love all the features you mentioned about pets. And im really happy I can support you And help you develop this game. Really excited for it and can’t wait to see more 🤗🤗🤗❤️

Babies and pregnancy are the most important part of any game for me. Meaningful reaction when failing to get pregnant from both parents. Deciding to end a pregnancy? Or giving up a baby for adoption. Actual feelings about pregnancy, based on traits and whether it was deliberate or not. Pregnancy could occur in a small chance when not trying for a baby, unless birth control is used? Or instead of separating type of sex, it could just be use protection or not, and sometimes protection can fail? Different ways to make babies (IVF or adoption or fostering), antenatal classes e.g. an exercise ball/breathing exercises type thing more realistic births e.g going to hospital and labouring for a long period of time or option to have c section (even if this is just a rabbit hole) Behaviours in pregnancy affecting baby, healthier foods or reading books meaning special trait or being able to pick more traits or something . Babies being actual paras rather than objects. Being able to wash them in the sink, maybe a couple of different stages/sizes a newborn baby is much tinier than a baby who is about to be classed as a toddler. Playmats that they can be put down on. Keep sakes such as ultrasound pictures or foot print or birth certificate on the wall. Breastfeeding and bottle feeding options. Ways for non birthing partner to be involved e.g. going to classes, being present for the birth, reacting in differing ways to pregnancy or birth or baby depending on traits. Being able to dress the babies, and having different types of cots. Push chairs! Siblings reacting to the baby and having special interactions with them e.g. toddler could ask to see baby and parent picks them up to see into the cot, or carefully places baby into toddler or child's lap. Babies temperaments could be different, one baby may cry more often, another one might spit up a lot. Or only fall sleep when being held. One baby may be REALLY hungry all the time.

I think there should be an option for simple babies where the difficulties just go away. That way everyone can have the baby gameplay they want! IE simple mode makes it so some needs disappear or go down slower, hard mode can have infant diseases and disabilities, ect

Est ce que ce serait réalisable d'avoir les 2 options (facile ou pas), un peu à l'image de ce qui se fait pour les animaux ? Que lorsqu'on est motivé le challenge soit à son maximum, et si on est fatigué ou qu'on aime pas ce mode de jeu, alors il y ait dans les options la possibilité de remettre le curseur au strict minimum, par exemple. En tout cas ça s'annonce déjà prometteur tout ça ! J'ai hâte de voir le résultat !

I would love for parents to be able to wear their baby in a harness or sling. Family walks would also be so cute, especially as a group interaction where one parent walks the dog, the other pushes the baby in the stroller and kids ride their bikes, etc. If strollers are introduced, having a two or three person stroller would be incredible, since one of the most annoying things in sims 3 is that you are unable to leave the lot if a single parent is home alone with more than one toddler or baby without leaving the others home with a babysitter. Also having the interaction of buckling toddlers/babies into a car seat in the car, and taking them out when your para arrives at a new lot would be amazing. If multiple person strollers are not introduced, then having the ability to have a baby in a sling on one parent and another baby/toddler pushed in the stroller by that same parent would also be a handy interaction to have, since there won’t always be two paras around to take care of the children since one might be at work, or out with friends, etc. I would also love to see how different traits impact babies' needs. A fussy baby might cry more often without really needing anything other than attention, while a happy baby might be more content and need attention less often. Parents could have a sleep deprived emotion, as well as an “in over their head” emotion if they do not prepare well before the birth. During pregnancy, parents could read pregnancy and baby-name books, go to birthing classes, and join parenting groups to be more prepared in order to not have the “in over their head” emotion. Honestly, I understand that some of these things might not be feasible, but I really want the baby lifestage to be equally as full as the other life stages in the game. More sibling interactions would also definitely add to gameplay. Having kids be able to talk or sing to the baby in their mom’s belly, and go shopping for baby clothes with mom would be really cute. It would also be incredible that if a parent is holding a baby and a kid is sitting on the couch, for the parent to be able to hand the baby to the kid and then take it back once the kid is ready to get up. If a baby is having tummy time on the floor, it would be cute if a toddler could show the baby their toy, or interact with it in some other way in order to build a relationship. It would also be funny if some toddlers could be mad about the new baby, and refuse to interact with them. If the baby was fussy, it would be funny if the siblings could get irritated with the crying, especially at night.

Babies especially the boys that can pee on you if you don't change diapers quickly 😂 babies that can spit up on parents or anyone maybe if they eat too much or didn't get burped, leaky diapers, parents being able to get frustrated with babies crying or just kids in general especially if they're new parents or stressed which they can then call others for help

Not sure if this has been mentioned or not. But I was thinking what if our pregnant moms to be could be informed if they're having one baby or more (twins, triplets etc.) when they got to the doctor, and also letting the gender be known or let it be a surprise.

Definitely a challenge

Id love being able to go for a stroll with the baby in a stroller! Its such a normal thing to do where i live at least, taking them for strolls to make them sleep and such. And it would be SO cool if you could even combine that with taking a pet for a walk too!

Some ideas, I think it should be somewhere in the middle. Give more options for older children to take care of younger children. Kids should be able to change diapers, feed, and bathe babies just like in real life (I know I was already bathing my baby brother at 11 years old) teens should be able to teach baby/toddler skills just like adults. Babies shouldn't be static objects either, allow baby to be carried and moved from place to place, maybe include baby wearing?? You can use a harness to wear the baby as you do other things and while the baby is being worn their relationship slowly builds. Allow children to push baby in a baby doll stroller around the home, allow teens to rough house with toddlers.

I love having many kids in games because it’s so challenging - please make it challenging

PLEASE make it easy omg

If this is a game simulating the positives and negatives of real life, taking care of babies and toddlers should definitely be challenging. Waking up at absurd hours, having kids make a mess with their food or crayons/paint (and maybe even makeup!), having to deal with kids coughing up and getting sick, changing dirty diapers, baby-proofing the house, the possibility of things being broken by the kids, the toddlers/babies falling over or running into things by accident and having to deal with an upset toddler; none of these things in baby care are easy (especially when they throw tantrums)! But it for sure can be cute with the moments of firsts, when babies giggle and laugh (my mom adores babies laughing), hearing the darn-est (and hilarious) things kids can say and do - especially when they have no filter because they're still young! I understand if incorporating all of those things can be hard to pull off, but parenting isn't easy at all.

what if babies were playable you could try to pull off rugrat type adventures with them when the adults aren't looking!

I don’t want difficult babies. Just because they’re hard to take care of in real life doesn’t mean they have to be just as difficult in game.

Sure, it's really hard to take care of babies in really life, but older siblings of babies are still able to live their own lives. When playing Paralives, I wouldn't want to be too busy keeping a baby's needs up to play with parafolks who aren't the guardian of the baby.

I think it could depend on the baby, as some babies are indeed easier to take care of because they are less demanding and well-humored, and others are just...traumatizing. It would have to do with the parent also, a para that is naturally loving and has some experience (either had past children or took care of baby siblings/used to babysit) could easily take care of them and make it enjoyable, while a para who is completely new to parenthood and has no idea what they are doing, could take longer to do baby related tasks (changing dippers, feeding) or just not be able to effectively shush them. Both the baby and the parent could get a negative moodlet out of a failed interaction. It is important to note that the first weeks of a baby's life are crucial when it comes to bonding, so a parent leave would be nice and have specific things we can do with the babies to fulfill that (maybe carry them around, a dad or a mom be topless and have the baby only on a dipper laying on their chest, teach them songs, pet animals with them, etc...).

I actually hardly play with kids, because I want a game to be fun, not difficult, lol. So, having the option for difficulty level would be nice, since I wouldn't want to take away from those who want the challnge, and I also wouldn't want to be stuck with the challenge, though I suppose I could just play childless.

As some people mentioned here I also would like to have the baby stage to be rather easy than difficult as it's not the most interesting. However, please make it a bit more challenging than in the Sims. Make it a bit more complex and add objects that can be used in combination with babies to create more of a reality-like game-play. People mentioned strollers to walk around, maybe the option to do baby lessons like going to a baby swimming class or something.. bonding time and such. :-)

i think it would be interesting if there was a difficulty setting for the childcare, like an Independency level or something, if you don't want taking care of the child to be difficult

I would honestly like the pregnancy length to be customizable to be longer or shorter. Routine check up for the mothers to be, ablitiy to throw baby showers, and pregnancy symptoms each be different with each pregnancy.

I just hope you can disable the baby lifestage. I have no want to take care of babies in life or in-game.

I would love for the babies to learn to walk, and before you teach them that,. they crawl around the house. I think babies is a big step of life for your parafolks and taking care of your baby will be a hard work, for example they wake up and start to cry at night, they need more attention, and the paras can be able to give the toys to distract them for a bit so the parents can rest. and babies need to being watched more by other parafolks, so the baby does not do anything that they should not. i would love to be able for babies to talk to each other and play. And i would love to for example if the mom parafolks need some rest she would be able to ask the grandma para to watch the baby for a while and fulfilling their needs and that can give a boost of relationship and happy memories for the baby and the grandma para ❤️ it would also be a fun idea if parafolks that are not so used to take care of babies get more nervous when they take care of them, and i would love strollers in the game so much, so your paras can walk around the town with their little baby and eat at a resturant etc. ❤️ it would be so cute and cozy.

Bonjour et bienvenue à Javiera. Concernant le gameplay pour les bébés, il faudrait qu'ils laissent la place aux surprises, qu'ils aient du caractère et qu'on doive les emmener chez le médecin de temps en temps. Ça serait bien qu'il y ait des poucettes, des tables à langer, des hochets, que les bébés soient grognons, gloutons, fatigués ou heureux. Qu'ils fassent (quelques) bêtises, qu'ils marchent à quatre pattes et qu'ils gazouillent des bruits / semblant de mots, comme la première fois où il dit "papa" ou "maman", et qu'ils soient dynamiques, bien vivants. Il y a aussi les "mauvaises" premières nuits où le bébé dort mal et réveille les parents qui sont ensuite fatigués le jour suivant. Merci beaucoup ! ;)

I chose easy and fun to take care of, but I'd prefer something more in the middle like fun but still challenging.

I agree that they should not be objects and a challenge to raise, but I’d also like the option to skip the baby stage since its not my favorite. That’s just me

I'd like to be able to babywear para babies (and maybe toddlers) while paras are walking around the house/doing chores/taking a walk etc.

as long as we can change diapers, use a stroller, feed, bathe and able to change clothing of the babies then I'm fine lol

honestly as long as there’s a preteen age ill be happy 😊 keep up the good work team

Welcome Javiera :) Hope all is well where y'all are! I put fun because I want the challenge to be fun, I am a legacy player and I certainly don't mind a challenge but at the end of it all, I just want the babies to want to encourage me to have more than less :-) <3

Welcome, Javiera!

Lean towards challenging, as it's far more realistic and actually gives gameplay opportunities. Babies are never easy and it should be a challenge for new parents with constantly being woken up, needing food, diaper changes, eta. If babies were just the Kodak moments, we wouldn't need maternity leave.

I hated babies in Sims. They are annoying and lack any interesting interactions. I throw a birthday party on the first day to skip the baby stage and get directly to... TODDLERS! I love them! They are cute, have the first personality, there are things to play and things to teach! I lack the imagination on how to make babies realistically more interesting... so I at least I want an option to skip the baby stage easily.

I think a sliding scale between easier baby behaviour and more challenging so each baby you have could have different levels of need

as long as the gameplay around babies is interesting and engaging, i wouldn't mind if it's a bit on the challenging side. unfortunately in games like the sims (even ts2) caring for babies is so boring and repetitive, with no sense of reward or impact on the game, that i often just skip straight to toddlerhood. there are also people who want their character to have a lot of babies at once (or at least very close together); in this case, you wouldn't want the parents to be unable to balance caring for themselves with caring for their babies. (i think we've all had a sim or two die while trying to care for triplets or quadruplets.) as long as babies are fleshed out enough that they feel like actual characters with meaningful gameplay around them, i think figuring out the right level of difficulty will follow naturally.

Somewhere in between would be awesome!

I think this poll should be redone with a third option tbh. I don't want it to be so easy it's boring but it's a game, and I don't want it to be so hard it feels like a chore.

I honestly feel like both modes should be available via your game settings. Just as there should be both an easy mode and a more demanding mode for pets, so too it should be for babies. And you should be able to toggle between modes on the fly as you choose to focus on different areas of gameplay at different times.

While creating a Family, I usually want to get as fast as possible to child state, at least in the Sims, since the baby being just stuck in their nest and needing people around, does not seems worth, It's good to have it though as an option, I would at max have a baby for 2day and go Child for more gameplay and meaningfully actions

Babies should learn more skills. Like putting their heads up in cribs, rolling onto their stomachs from their backs, gradual growth-para days, and learning how to crawl. Then walking, talking, thinking, imagination, and potty of course as they become toddlers. We should have fussy babies that cry a lot and quiet babies that don't give our paras a hard time. And we should be able to send them to our para relatives as well as a daycare, so paras can go back to work. We have real daycares that take babies and toddlers. And to calm down the fussy para babies, our paras should be able to take them for a stroll around town in the strollers, or since we will have cars, put them in the car seat and go on a drive to calm them down.

Hard, but not overwhelmingly difficult.

I think a nice middle ground, like I want it to be more like oh the baby woke up at an unusual time and the para has to deal with that not every moment is dedicated to baby

I’d like it to be a challenge to take care of babies. But more importantly I would really love if babies all have different temperaments and personalities. Like babies can be more fussy than others, don’t sleep at night or up all night etc. But I’d love for it to have some fun challenges too like the parents get surprised or knowledgeable about their baby and their personalities

I want to be able to play with large families and multiple babies at once, while still having a little a bit of time for my adult paras to do things for themselves. However I don't want taking care of babies to be too easy, so maybe a nice middle ground? Also it'd be great if teen paras can help out looking after younger siblings (and maybe be baby sitters?)

Personally I would like to be a great mix of both, it should be fun and easy but also from time to time have challenges, like awaking the parents in the middle of the night because a nightmare, an occasional tandrum, stuff like that, i think thats what makes it seem more alive and just its more interesting when something isnt to much perfect

I think a mix of both would be good. It could be more interesting as well if babies have personality traits and that can an impact on just how difficult or easy a baby is to take care of because of course in real life mothers have very different experiences with different babies. I'm not suggesting a full blown expanded personality system like what the paras would have but maybe when they are born they can be given like say three random traits that will define the difficulty of care for the newborn. And these things would be impacted by whether or not a para had a good pregnancy - have they been taking care of themselves, are friends and family supportive and has that had an impact if they are not, are they happy about the pregnancy, are they ready, etc. And when the babies are born you are automatically given a random select amount of traits that you cannot choose that could be - quiet, good sleeper, cheerful, grumpy, crys alot, etc. (I think if there was something like this in the game that it could make a bit more of a fun unknown challenge to babies and it would also make each baby/child more interesting for gameplay. Especially because the first baby a para could have might be a good sleeper and very quiet doesn't cry much and then the second could be completely opposite and they could cry alot, always be hungry, bad sleeping habits, etc. And maybe having a good pregnancy doesn't full guarantee that you will get good traits for a baby. - I am sorry this comment is so long. I personally don't enjoy difficult gameplay with babies because I don't like when needs to take up too much time in a day (I understand babies are different and they do require alot more attention) but maybe that's because babies have objects and there is no fun to be had from the same three options over and over again. But I do not mind challenges to keep things more interesting and certainly give a different feel to each time you play the game or have a new family. - keep up the amazing work guys and thank you for listening ❤️❤️

Challenging yet fun. I'd like for my parafolk to enjoy their babies. I'm really hoping to be able to travel with them! Especially in cars with a carseat! Oh that would be so adorable <3 When they go to stores, the parent unloads them from the car and put them in a stroller XD

So, I voted but I'd like to see a mix of these things. I don't want to make it seem baby raising is easy, it can be the most sleepless time of your life. However, having the bad without the good is sad. I'd like the sweet moments highlighted too. First smile, the tenderness and awe of holding a new born, baby pictures, there are easy babies and hard babies. I'd love to see some of that too.

Challenging, but also fun and sweet. With baby albums, and things.

the first (and shortest!) life stage should be challenging and demanding, I think! Since it's quick, it adds some challenge to gameplay without being too annoying :)

Having them be difficult is a little TOO much verisimilitude.

The thing I want most for baby gameplay is wraps/slings/carriers. But honestly I want EVERYTHING lol.

I don't want "difficult" babies to be totally soul-crushing or anything but I had really difficult babies IRL (a big part of the reason why I chose to stop with 2 children) and for some reason I want the game to reflect that not everyone has happy sleepy babies. 😂

I chose "difficult" but I kind of want both. It would be great if babies could have different temperaments and like different things. (And it would make baby gameplay less repetitive!)

Maybe you could decide when the baby is born,what kind of behavior its gonna show or lean towards,and maybe depending on the parents dedication/knowledge/ aspiration or something like that.they can be easier to soothe🙂

This is a tricky one, because babies ARE challenging but at the same time, this is a video game and you're gonna want that balance between realism and "fun" cos it's a video game. As a woman who is about to have a baby in about 4 weeks time, here are some thoughts: 1. The 5 S's of baby care: Shush, Swaddle, Sway, Suck, Side-lying. These are real tips for claiming a fussy baby and it would be cute to see paras be able to do some of these interactions to soothe a crying baby and help them get to sleep. 2. Wake windows: when baby is awake, they really ought not be left on their own and if they are, they tend to cry. So maybe some kind of proximity to carer/social need would be cool to see, and some cool features or items the paras could use to keep baby closeby could be: wearing the baby in a wrap or carrier, putting baby in a bouncer or swing in the same room as them, or having tummy time on a play mat or play gym on the floor. Real wake windows for babies are about an hour (very short) - this might be too short to be fun in a video game. Maybe they could sleep, eat, play, repeat in more like a 5 hour cycle. And obviously it might not be super fun to have a baby who screams if it isn't being held (although they can sometimes get like that IRL) so having more objects to put them in and just keep them "close" could be a good solution. 3. Developmental milestones: babies have LOTS of developmental milestones and it would be fun to see our para babies accomplishing these too. Tummy time helps babies strengthen their neck so they can lift their head, learn to roll over, learn to sit up, first words, learn to pull themselves up and take a few wobbly steps (so I guess a motor skill with different levels would work well here!) Also socially, becoming more aware and responsive to what is going in around them, saying mama or dada, that kind of thing. If we can give our babies traits, or have traits that are assigned to them randomly (but maybe we can edit them with cheats), then that could be a good way of letting every player have the baby experience they want. There could be "fussy" babies which are more difficult, "sweet" babies which just want to coo and cuddle, "independent" babies which are actually happier not being held, things like that!

I would appreciate having options that suit different parenting styles (and for that to influence some personality) for example being able to cosleep or sleep train babies and toddlers. Babies are hard work (even easy ones) and I think gameplay should reflect that - having a baby and then leaving it on it's own most of the time isn't realistic and should have consequences.

Maybe their future personality sliders could influence how easy or difficult they are. When the babies are born, the personality is already set but we don’t see the sliders yet. What we do see is their behavior which will give us a clue about what they will be like when they grow up

How about a mixture of both? Some babies may be easier to take care of than others (depending on personality). For example I was an easier baby to take care of according to my mother because I was pretty inactive (I barely fussed and stayed put wherever she put me), but my brother in contrast was very hyper and tired her out daily. Babies being challenging to look after is realistic, but in my experience with games when things are too realistic it starts to be less fun.

I want the babies to be a middle ground, but I would prefer it to be leaning on the more challenging/harder side. I also want to see a lot of interactions with babies and not treat them as objects! As well as for toddlers/children.

I think somewhere in the middle of the two options

Ahh this looks so cool you guys did awesome!

So are we going to have birds?

Welcome Javiera!! So the brainstorm is over now?

Every baby is different, so it would be nice to see each baby with its own traits like being easy to look after, or fussy about who looks after it ect..

In general I think taking care of a baby should be fun and laid back, but also that a baby might colic or something and then for a period of time taking care of the baby becomes much more demanding.

Yeah as others have suggested, I think a difficulty slider is essential for this one. However, I definitely think in general babies should be more difficult to care for than other children are. This is regardless of the overall difficulty of the needs management system.

Welcome Javiera !!! so glad she enters the team, things goes well ! for animals, I prefer the option to let the game control them. The game will be less "heavy" without this fonctionality not particularly essential I think and you can focus on something else. I don't want a game too buggy, full of saving problems etc so if you can save space on that, that's better. And for the gameplay related to babies, i just want them not to be an object and really participate to the family activities and be part of it. Have the possibility to create real bond with parents and siblings. The baby could be easy to raise or not depending on how well the pregnancy has been. Have a nice weekend ! Take care

I really want to enjoy playing, so making anything too difficult through micromanagement will be detrimental to the appeal of the game, especially as a sim. A difficulty slider here for kids might be nice so those who enjoy what I consider torture can enjoy it and the others who like to play for relaxation and stress relief aren't driven away from the game.

Having babies is a challenge in real life. So I think it should be a challenge in-game too. However caretakers should be able to study/go to classes about being a parent while waiting for the baby (and maybe even during baby phase). And babies whould have a trait/personality. Are they needy, or do they jugst sleep all the time? Does they get sick often? Babies aren't easy, but some are easier than others. And let the older siblings help with taking care of the baby. My sister helped my mum change diapers on me as a baby, she was 3. So maybe parenting is a skill?

I would like it to be random, much like babies in real life. Some are simple, they feed and they sleep and they snuggle. Some won't feed, they cry, they never sleep, they wear you thin. Akd you never know what you will get

It surprises me that most people want challenging baby care! Sure, its more realistic, but I play to relax, often when I am tired at the end of the day. If babies are too hard to deal with, I just won't have them or want to play that way. So it would be nice if we could have some options for customizing the difficulty the gameplay.

I was also wondering, how will babies work? Will we be able to adopt babies and children? Would we be able to customise babies, or will it be a mix of the features of the mother and father?

I wouldn't it to feel like it's a chore to look after babies. I'd want it on the simpler side.

I liked the comment that babies could be easier or more difficult based on traits. What if babies had temporary conditions to make it harder sometimes. Constipation, gas, trouble sleeping, trouble latching (breastfeeding), and how well Para parents meet the baby stage needs gives buffs or debuffs to the toddler stage.

Since you're going to allow us to tweak a lot of settings, I imagine those of us who don't want difficult babies could just shorten that life stage. I would specifically love being able to tweak difficulty settings for this, but we'll see.

I like when things are hard (...ingame !), so I'm voting with that in mind. Welcoming a new child in a household should require more work than usual. I actually think it should lead to making their new parents/guardians (and even siblings, grandparents, etc.) more stressed. A baby crying should wake everyone in the house, for instance, and cause sleep deprivation ; I know sound doesn't travel in most videogames, but it's an important part of life for a family during that lifestage. I also think the baby lifestage should be when parents/guardians start deciding of their parenting style, which I suggested a while ago and still think would be a terrific idea that I hope comes to the game in some form : https://www.patreon.com/posts/33104058 Different parents/guardians react differently to their first experiences, and they start making different educative choices. It'd actually be amazing to have two parents/guardians with different individual parenting styles (it is often the case !) having to make essential decisions : should the baby sleep in the bed with us ? Should you let the baby cry or run to help anytime they make a sound ? Should we hire an expensive nanny or do everything ourselves ? Do we have the time to cook organic food or can we only afford to buy commercial food at the store ? That's the kind of question I want my Paras to answer when they have a newborn ; when the child becomes older, there will be new interactions, but everyone will already have decided what kind of parent/guardian they want to be :)

i think it should vary based on personality/traits, but skewing toward challenging. like there could be super chill babies who rarely cry and babies who have zero chill and cry all the time. babies could get colicky. it could also vary depending on experiences they've had through babyhood; something could make a chill baby freak out more or a no chill baby chill out more. like for example if a chill baby's needs aren't being met consistently/in time or something scares them big time they could become less chill and cry more often, or if a no chill baby has excellent caretakers who are always on top of it maybe they chill out more. not to say it should be a this or that dichotomy, but more nuanced and varied, these are just extreme examples. i wish i was more articulate, but i hope y'all understand what i'm trying to say! sorry i said chill so many times 😅 sidenote: i really really REALLY wanna finally see babies able to interact with each other!! maybe not infants, but toddlers at least! it always bothered me that the sims 3 had nothing like that and you need mods to even let children hold toddlers (i know sims 4 has some of this, but i don't play it because reasons)

I'd like some variety. It shouldn't be easy but also not too demanding to care for babies. I like how in TS3 a well taken care of baby/toddler gives the player the option to choose a personality trait, while a baby/toddler who was 'neglected' (according to TS3's standards) would get a negative trait automatically. Generations are one of my favorites to work on in a life sim, so I'm invested in proper babies, toddlers, children and teens and am willing to (make my paras) work hard to raise them well. However, taking care of an infant shouldn't be near life-threatening as in the case of TS3 when parents (especially pregnant mothers) can almost die from exhaustion or other neglected needs because the babies/toddlers need so much attention in combination with their own super fast declining needs. In real life, there are families where it's a struggle to just raise 1 baby/toddler and others where 4+ is manageable. It depends a lot on the life of the parent(s) and, like mentioned above, how manageable/realistic their own needs are. For example, it shouldn't take almost half an hour for a para to wake up from crying baby/toddler to getting out of their bed to take care of the offspring; in real life, that's a case of minutes if not seconds for most parents. But what should also be a factor is help: can (older) toddlers help with babies (soothing them by talking to them, retrieving a toy/pacifier) or assist their parents, kan kids feed toddlers (ready-made) snacks or bottles and play with them etc. but also if relatives/friends can come over to help out every now and then or infants/toddlers/kids going for an overnight stay with them.

Is it possible to make them fun AND challenging? I don’t want them to be so easy that it’s like they’re not even there but I also don’t want them to be so annoying that I immediately age them up every time.

I'd like to seem some challenging play with babies and children. Mostly, I'd like to see personality and behaviour variation with babies and toddlers, just like I want to see that with the older Paras. As other people have mentioned, babies vary. Some are easier (cry less, go to sleep easier, are light sleepers or heavy sleepers, are easier to feed, will tolerate being handed around more, like baths more than others, laugh more, gurgle more etc etc). All these things could point towards future personality traits. In fact it'd be quite interesting to have personality traits perhaps hidden to start with and gradually reveal as the babies grow older (after all, that's how parents experience it!). New babies are exciting in gameplay - give us some mystery to watch and ponder in those first days! That would really add some gameplay speculation for the player. I would LOVE watching my babies, trying to work out what their personalities will be like, who they take after in which ways, and seeing if I'm right, and watching their personalities 'develop' over time. This would be great baby play. Also, I'd really like to see these things added into gameplay: beyond just the feeding/nappy changing/bathing things. Parents also have to put their babies to sleep - some babies are harder - this could be a part of gameplay. Light sleepers could wake up at the least sound and heavy sleepers could sleep through heavy metal music. Some babies feed easier and some take longer to feed. Some need more burping than others - love to see baby burping in the game - baby burping could be fun! Some love the bath, other hate it and cry throughout. Some babies hate beards and cry if they see them, some favour females or males, some don't like strangers and some don't mind being handed around at all. We could have baby toys, such as rattles (which might help their development in strength so that their motor skills develop earlier - sitting/crawling/walking/running/tricycle riding), mobiles from ceilings and above cots (which might help their development in intelligence - so that they are able to do puzzles/play with blocks/play in the sandpit/other play earlier as a toddler), more social interactions such as talking to them might help them learn to talk earlier, more varieties of people interacting with them might make them more of an extrovert and more socially ept later in life. Games like Peak-a-boo might make them have more sense of humour when they grow older. A similar type of thing could also work with toddlers in all these areas, so that it's not a simple linear grind to do the various stuff to earn the 'points' make them grow up well, but more of a choice between all the options with the time available that leads to different results, particularly if this development is also tied in with the personality at birth. Stuff to do with babies: the usual changing tables, cribs and highchairs, and bottles, but ALSO: bouncer nets, baby rugs, prams (sit up/lay down/double prams for an older and younger or twins), play pens, walkers, bouncer swings, rockers, dummies and different KINDS of cribs and cots - the usual wooden ones, the traditional basket weave ones (big and smaller), the small plastic style ones that also go into prams and cars. I'd also like to see things like interactions with pets and babies and toddlers. Sometimes both cats and dogs take an inexplicable liking to babies and take up guarding them and they grow up together. I'd like those prams to be taken on walks in the park or across town. Also 'mother's meetings' would be interesting - some way for mothers to come together, bring their babies, and chat with a cup of tea. Lastly, I'd like to see small milestones with babies: first roll over, first lifting of head, sitting up without support, first recognition of mother and father, beginning to grab things, the beginnings of crawling (dragging themselves along the floor to first tentative on all fours etc, as a pre-stepping stone to toddlerhood). As a toddler the first word could perhaps be effected by how much social time they had as a baby, and perhaps teaching to talk might not be possible until that happens). Mostly, I'd really like to see babies develop with personalities instead of waiting until they are toddlers. I want to see more than the usual feed, change, bath, sleep, cycle. And variation between babies - some easier and some more difficult in different ways, depending on personality. I can't wait to see what you guys do with babies! :-)

I want babies to be a bit challenging. I feel like that would make them more worthwhile to play long term for the player.

I'd prefer simple babies. I often age up my Sim babies because they require lots of attention (in my opinion). But I do love family gameplay so if there could be a bridge between fun and slightly challenging based on the baby's personality,I think I could deal with that happy medium

Babies should be difficult, like they are in real life. They don't just need to be fed and have their diapers changed. They need to be socialized with. Some babies are colicky and cry nonstop, others are easy-going, some won't sleep more than 2 hours at a time, others sleep through the night from birth. Babies also get sick and need to be seen by the doctor. Babies go through teething, making them drool all over everything, chew on everything and cry a LOT. That said, it should be fun and funny, otherwise it's just exhausting. Like maybe have the baby make a funny face the first time they try a food (if spoon feeding is a thing). If bottle feeding is the only way of feeding, then maybe funny sounding burps, sometimes quiet, sometimes loud and inopportune. That's actually funny in real life. On the day of my daughter's baptism, she burped loudly in the church and it echoed all around the place, getting everyone to laugh. Little baby smiles while they're sleeping and dreaming is a precious moment, so some facial animations would be nice, other than crying.

Babies should have a certain level of difficulty, seeing as they are rather challenging IRL. Even calm, easy babies have an effect on parents' ability to upkeep their own needs.

I think it should be be easy for the player to take care of babies (since you pretty much just need to feed them and change diapers, as they are typically asleep for the rest of the time) and challenging yet fun to take care of toddlers. While a Para might find it mildly annoying (or at least inconvenient) to keep having to run around the house chasing after a toddler who just learned to crawl/walk, it doesn't mean that the player won't find that amusing. More challenging for the Parafolk shouldn't necessarily mean less fun for the player. ;)

I would like it to be either depending on the baby. More personalised. Can pick traits for the baby that changes the expierience you have.

I definitely want some challenge to taking care of babies, because challenge is how you make things interesting in games. and yes to babies having different personalities from birth, and some being more fussy/high maintenance than others. Variety is also how you make things interesting. also perhaps ways to influence their skills and personalities through how you care for them/giving them different toys.

I want babies to be as difficult as they are IRL and for there to be an adoption option so players like me can skip all that

As long as we can actually interact with babies and take them places I'm cool with anything 😭😂 #freethebabies But I agree with the other comments. I think the difficulty should vary on each baby. I kno for my family, I was a sleeper and my parents would have to wake me up to feed me, and my brother was the foodie and would cry every 2 hours. So yeah baby variety would be great ❤

Babies should be so hard to take care of that I won't even want to have one just like in real life.

I agree with a lot of the comments so far. It needs a balance. It wouldn't be too fun if the baby basically is treated how you would with any item with maintenance, but at the same time, I wouldn't want a constant fire alarm baby going off for all eternity lol.

As a new mom who’s also a solo mom, I definitely know how challenging babies are. So yeah, more realism. 🙈

I think every baby should vary in temperament. Just like in real life

Sidenote. How wholesome is it, that one of the most used words is "please"

I'd like babys to vary on whether they're easy to care for or not, and I would like how their needs are upkept to impact how they are are toddlers and potentially into adulthood. Ideally, I would like options to play with the baby, maybe do tummy time, change their diapers, bathe them in sinks, etc. I want them to feel like active members of the household. Maybe a baby likes to sing/make noises and if parents coo at them or otherwise encourage it, the baby grows up to further improve their musical skills or communication skills, etc.

It shouldn’t be in the background to where you forget about it but it also shouldn’t require all of our attention to where we can’t do anything else 💭

Challenging and demanding, but not impossible. Perhaps an option to call a babysitter.

I think it should depend on the baby; in real life some babies are really calm and easy to take care of while others are more difficult. Maybe they're born with a certain trait that they grow out of later, like "easy sleeper" or "cranky", and if you wanted it to be easier or harder you could select that trait deliberately.

Ngl, as an equestrian, I’m super excited to see the horses in this game and how they come out! You guys are killing it and I can’t wait to play!!

Babies and toddlers have always been my favorite in other sim games because I'm a huge family player. As someone else has said, I feel as though babies are treated more as objects than anything else. I think babies should definitely be more challenging, but take less time in the age up process because of it. Have you guys ever heard of dogz, catz or babyz? They are old late 90s/early 2000s games where you either raise a cat dog or baby and I always dreamed of being able to raise a baby in the sims with the same amount of detail (without talking to them through a microphone though haha). I'd love to be able to do things like bathe the baby, sing songs, breast feed, have multiple choices for food, have obvious disliked/loved foods, baby sensory videos, more furniture for the baby like play pens, rockers, high chairs, toys, have pacifiers and an actual teething stage, being able to read to them, animal interactions, other baby/toddler special interactions, play dates, having the mom/dad have classes pre pregnancy, the ability for home birth or hospital (rabbithole) birth, coloring, making a mess, cloth diapers + regular diapers. All that stuff. Of course some of this borders more into the toddler category, but I've always felt both toddler and baby should be just as engaging but babies should be more challenging in a way with less time spent.

I'm fine with anything as long as there's no baby grilling involved.

What about adjusting the level of difficulty based on a parenting skill? Like the higher the parenting skill, the easier it is and vice versa.

Yeah there's a lot of in between. I'd like it to be fun but not grueling because it is still a game. Don't treat them like objects. I'd like there to be a lot of interactivity to them if you want to spend all the time with them, but not so demanding that I dread having them like real life. 😆

It would be nice if we could choose the difficulty of babies. Because I don't want to have to bother with them tbh. But I realize other people would love that type of gameplay.

WELCOME JAVIERA!! Is this a time limited internship of 3 months or is there a possibility of extending it if all parties are happy? ❤️

Challenging and demanding, please.

For the love of god, whatever you do, don’t make babies like objects 😂

I think it should be challenging and demanding, but it could still be fun! And I'm thinking not too challenging so that it doesn't take up all our paras' time outside of work.

I think babies should be at least somewhat challenging to take care of, but I think we should have a lot of fun interactions with them to make them more interesting! I think it'd be pretty cute to have a stroller or something so that Paras can take their babies places without needing a baby sitter or a daycare.

Honestly in another life sim game babies feel like objects, so I usually don't bother with that life state, but I feel like if they were super demanding like real babies, then I also wouldn't bother with that life state ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ferrets>bunnies. Both really cute though 💕 Also maybe some babies can be born with different birth weights. Just an idea!

Welcome to the dev group Javiera! 🙏🏻✨ and another brilliant post yet again guys! 💕

Ngl, in *that other game* I do not like playing with babies at all. I find them boring and annoying, so I'd rather they be easy to take care of so I can just get past that life state as quick as possible

Babies are a lot of work in real life. Having that be realistic would be nice. Plus, it gives you such a sense of accomplishment when they grow up a little and are somewhat more independent.

I'd love something that is challenging but also rewarding, because that is how it gets fun I think :)

100% babies should be difficult :) it makes it so much more rewarding to see they grow up well. I always found it weird in the sims that you could basically take care of their needs in the morning and then leave them in the crib totally fine for like five in game hours.

I'm leaning toward demanding. It's a lot easier to make them easy to deal with through mods/cheats than to make them more challenging. You could even add an option to age them up earlier for people who would rather move on to the next stage. Like whatever is the lifespan of the baby, add an option when it's halfway through to age them up manually, if that isn't selected then they will automatically age up at the normal time. Again that could be left to an age up cheat if it's not a popular opinion.

In real life, some babies are really sweet and Don cry very much, others cry a lot, others are kind of difficult to please, etc. It could be that you don't get to control whether the baby is easy to raise or hard to raise - all babies are just slightly different.

Welcome Javiera! I hope you have a great internship! About the babies, I think I would like it to be challenging BUT if that rewards us later in the para life. Like if you take care a lot of care he won't have any health problems (like getting colds less frequently), a best bond with the parents... And if you dont take care enough the para would have problems improving their skills, get colds/diseases more frequently... That will makes us want to take care of the baby instead of only worrying about social services when in real life a bad care can induce to the things I said (worst health in adult stages or learning problems). If the only concern is social services, I prefer it to be a bit more easy as it won't matter if you feed the baby every 3 hours or you just wait until a notification tells you that social services would arrive soon if you dont feed your baby.

I feel like it should reflect real life a tad in that it can be Incredibly demanding and takes up most of your time at the very beginning but calms down and needs are less demanding after a while. But then there are also babies that are incredibly easy and sleep all the time and others who are difficult to put to sleep and cries all the time.

Lizards only getting 3% is CRIMINAL!!

Personally I would prefer a middle ground, I don’t think it should necessarily be easy but it should be fun and worthwhile.

Realistic and demanding babies would be so nice