Toddler is The Sims 4 life stage between Infant and Child.

Many Simmers hate toddlers, and then you have me, considering the harm of giving the last toddler in a household a trait that prevents them from aging so I can watch them play in the toddler pool I built for them forever.

Toddlers are one of my favorite life stages on TS4 (my other is Teen)…even though I think their needs decay wayyy too quickly.

They can’t take care of everything themselves, especially before developing their skills.

Toddler traits

There are eight toddler traits to choose from in Sims 4:

1. Angelic: “Idyllic, easygoing Toddlers. They are never defiant and they don’t throw a tantrum. They can easily talk to strangers.”
2. Charmer: “These Toddlers love to socialize. They earn Communication skill faster, and don’t suffer Stranger Danger from strangers. They can Share the Love with other Sims.”
3. Clingy: “These shy Toddlers avoid Sims outside the household and get sad if left behind. They gain extra skill when taught. And they recover faster from bad moods when Comforted.”
4. Fussy: “Tiny trouble-makers who love to Cry, cause trouble, and Throw Fits. But being noticed makes them Happy and helps them overcome negative Moodlets.”
5. Independent: “These Toddlers love their freedom, and don’t like to take orders from caregivers. They gain extra skill when they are left alone, and need less Attention than other Toddlers.”
6. Inquisitive: “Curious explorers. These Toddlers gain Thinking skill slightly faster. They are happiest when learning something, and sad if they haven’t learned anything lately.”
7. Silly: “Goofy and curious. These Toddlers love to tell jokes and get Playful. They earn Imagination skill slightly faster.”
8. Wild: “Spirited and full of Energy. These Toddlers love to explore and get Energized. They earn Movement skill slightly faster. They get sad if they haven’t been outside in a while.”

Related: Choosing TS4 toddler traits

Sims 4 toddler skill development

TS4 toddlers need to build five fundamental skills:

1. Communication
2. Imagination
3. Movement
4. Thinking
5. Potty

Here’s how to build them — plus tips to build Sims 4 toddler skills faster.

Communication

Built via:

• Flash cards (taught by parent or caregiver)
• Talking to Sims or teddies
• Watching toddler videos on the Wabbit Tablet

Build the Communication skill faster by babbling to everyone and everything — stuffed animals, siblings, caregivers, pets — when they have a Happy moodlet.

Imagination

Learnt from:

• Playing with toys, dollhouses
• Reading with a parent or to themselves
• Wabbit Tablet game “Draw with Llama”
• Watching TV

Build the Imagination skill faster through play when sporting a Playful moodlet. Give your Toddler a bubble bath or play with them in a toddler pool to put them in a playful mood.

Buy and put a Wabbit Tablet in their inventory. They’ll use it on their own to entertain themselves.

Movement

Ways to learn this skill:

• Climbing on stairs
• Dancing to music or on a mat
• Playing with teen Sims and older
• Playing with blocks
• Playing BlicBlock Baby on the Wabbit Tablet
• Playing in the water (toddler pools, kiddie pools, shallow ponds)
• Walking around

Build the Movement skill faster by dancing to music playing on a speaker and walking all over the house. My homes usually have stairs, which helps them build movement faster once they reach Level 1.

Having an Energized moodlet helps.

Thinking

• Flash cards (Toddler Activities interaction with teen Sims and older)
• Making shapes with blocks
• Playing SimShape on toddler tablets
• Using “What’s this?” on items

Build the Thinking skill faster by having them “Watch” other Sims and being read books. The Wabbit Tablet also helps build this skill.

Potty

Have teen Sims and older potty train toddlers by clicking a potty. From a toddler POV, you can select any Sim nearby, including hired maids and gardeners.

Build the Potty skill faster by assigning toddlers the Independent trait.

Otherwise, have a Teen, Adult or Elder Sim potty train the toddler until they reach Level 2 (even if they don’t have to go). Then they can go by themselves.

Toddler Sims will continue to use their diaper when their Bladder need is red until they are fully potty trained.

Tips for raising toddlers in The Sims 4

At one point, one of my Sims legacy families had four toddlers at once. FOUR. I know a thing or two about raising Sims toddlers.

I play the long version of a Sims life, rather than the regular one. This gives me the advantage of having more time, to build relationships for my toddler Sims, though it’s not required to build all the toddler skills.

Feeding toddlers

High chairs are tempting, especially since it seems like it’s the only way to feed toddlers. However, leaving food on the counter and loading toddler inventories up with fruit allows them food they can just…eat.

Seriously. Toddlers will grab food from the counter themselves, then eat it on the couch. In a pinch, you can have the toddlers eat fruit so they don’t starve.

Their caregivers (parents, nannies, Sims assigned to them) will cook a meal if the toddlers tell them they’re hungry.

Creating good caregivers

Build green bar relationships between your toddler Sims, other members of the household, and nannies. This way, Sims capable of caring for toddlers will anticipate the toddlers’ needs and go to them when the toddlers’ needs begin turning yellow and red.

Sims with the Family Oriented trait are more attuned to infant and toddler Sim needs, though this trait is not required to raise toddlers.

I find the Sims most successful at raising multiple toddlers are the ones who have strong relationships with their family, if not their friends. In other words, Sims struggle more when they’re all alone.

I like having a Sim’s parent or sibling in the household to help out, but that’s not always doable when you have Big Sims Family plans.

The only way I manage to raise toddler Sims is by having a parent quit their job after they’ve exhausted their vacation days — not before they negotiate for a bonus, however. The parent who is highest in their career, or closest to a promotion if they’re in the same level of the same career, keeps their job only if they make more money.

Parents who stay home to care for children, regardless of age, receive the “Stay-at-Home Parent” line in their Sim Profile. However, their career tab will be empty.

That said, if one parent exhibits a greater ability to care for the children and the other proves best at excelling in their career? Well, obviously I have to choose what’s best for the children, not necessarily their household funds.

Teaching ALL the skills

Movement and Imagination skills usually fill themselves from toddler activities. Secure attachments (green bar relationships) with their caregivers leads to those caregivers autonomously teaching toddlers how to talk via flash cards.

Sim life with toddlers is sooo much easier when toddlers max out their Potty skill first. This way, they can feed and relieve themselves, and fill most of their needs, without adult interaction.

Before I bought more DLC, I used functional custom content (CC) for toddlers that built more of their skills, in addition to adding cute furniture and toys to their environment.

This gave my toddler Sims more variety, so they grow less bored…or so I grew less bored. 😂

Since introducing more variety, my toddlers have less angry buffs from playing with the same toy too long.

To help my toddlers make friends and build skills more quickly, I created a park specifically for toddlers with the help of a mod.

Place toys in various places of the house, on every floor, so there will always be accessible enrichment for your toddlers. Even after maxing out their skills, toddlers need to play to stave off boredom.

Giant teddies, including the dinos, help fill their Attention need. I also gave my toddlers marimo pets (CC), which filled their social need and built their communication skill.

I built a basement playroom with plenty of napping places (chairs, CC sleeping mat and play tunnel). Toddlers will nap on the floor, in chairs, on couches and in their beds in the base game without mods.

I also put toddler potties in the playroom and bedroom. Despite the number of toddlers in the household, I find I don’t need more than this even with more than four toddlers. (I loved these CC bunny potties!)

Custom content (CC) isn’t required to make the most of The Sims 4 base game. I played for two months before I started modding my game. I just think toddlers are more fun with CC, because babies are cute in general.

I haven’t played The Sims 4 with CC since mid-2024 because I was tired of updating CC after every update. 😅

Sims 4 toddlers can wake other Sims

Especially their parents. If a toddler is bored or needs something at night, they’ll wake a parent or sibling. One of my toddlers woke up their child brother, who has since developed a festering grudge for him.

So.

Something to watch out for.

Sims 4 cheats for Toddler Sims

In the past, I aged up toddler Sims because I, too, thought they were a nuisance. I’d max out their skills first, though.

Aging up

If you want to quickly age up sims, so you can do so by shift-clicking > Cheat Sims Info > Age Up. However, they’ll think everyone forgot their birthday and be sad for a ridiculously long time.

You can age Sims up via birthday cakes. Have your Sims cook a cake and add birthday candles to it to make it a birthday cake.

Alternatively, you can use CC like Cake a Break, where you just have to buy a cake and put candles on it.

Otherwise, you’re kinda racing your Sims to put candles on the cake before they decide to help themselves to a slice.

After my Sim bakes a birthday cake, I pause the game and make sure none of my Sims are keen to grab a slice in their actions. Then I have the nearest Sim place candles on the cake after ensuring it’s centered on a countertop or table. Then I play the game again.

Needs

Shift-click > Cheat Need... gives you the choice to “Make Happy” your Sims and more. You can also Deactivate Needs of any Sim via Shift-click > Cheat Sim Info > Deactivate Needs.

Enable cheats in your game by pressing CTRL + Shift + C and entering testingcheats on in the command bar.

Cheat	Code
Max Attention	fillmotive motive_attention
Max Bladder	fillmotive motive_bladder
Max Energy	fillmotive motive_energy
Max Fun	fillmotive motive_fun
Max Hunger	fillmotive motive_hunger
Max Hygiene	fillmotive motive_hygiene
Max all needs	sims.fill_all_commodities

Skills

Make sure cheats are enabled in your game by pressing CTRL + Shift + C and entering testingcheats on in the command bar.

Cheat	Code
Communication Skill	stats.set_skill_level statistic_skill_toddler_communication #
Imagination Skill	stats.set_skill_level statistic_skill_toddler_imagination #
Movement Skill	stats.set_skill_level statistic_skill_toddler_movement #
Thinking Skill	stats.set_skill_level statistic_skill_toddler_thinking #
Potty Skill	stats.set_skill_level statistic_skill_toddler_potty #

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Which Sims 4 age stage is your fave to play? Do you like toddlers or no?