Yes they wake up when they finish sleeping, but if they need some other need fulfilling they don't wake up just for that and unlike the crib, the parent can't pick them up from it. I meant that you can't click on them to "wake up" but now I think about it, I don't know if that's true.

I don't. If a house is already overcrowded, then nobody is reproducing until it splits up; the Ottomas family being the sole exception.

I just wanted to note this from iCad:"you have toddlers waking up in the middle of the night, which is just ridiculous and unrealistic."

My experience is quite, quite different! Oh, my, was it different. I had one who needed to be put back to sleep several times a night and one who wouldn't go down in the first place till midnight (and then woke up at least once).

As for ingame babies and toddlers, I turn aging off because I love toddlerhood so much. I love the nursery rhyme and teaching interactions, so I draw out the todlerhood as long as I can without having them gain too many skills and enthusiasm points. And my sims all tend to gratify me by being loving parents (though they are sometimes a bit slow on the uptake for diaper changes).

I want to join the chorus recommending smaller houses and toddler beds/mats/pet beds. Once your toddler can put themselves to sleep and get up on their own, you also get less of the thing where everybody wants to move them from crib to crib all the time. Also, there are a couple-few baby baskets that are for babies only, so if you have one of those and a toddler bed, people don't bother the baby as much with moving it either.

I feed the toddler in the high chair sometimes because it is cute but it is also a bother, so I don't recommend it if you're having trouble with managing the house.

Three things about feeding in high chairs -
Mush is more filling than bottles and the animation is cute.
If you do feed them a bottle, it's won't get hidden behind anything on the floor if you give it to them in the high chair.
If you can't get to them right away to let them out, they sit there quietly drumming their heels, not crying or fussing.
I almost always feed them in high chairs. Even though I have the inventory trick, I don't like having to clean up bottles.

Those who don't like highchair feeding might find it a bit more rewarding if you had something other than that Maxis mush.

I use this fruit salad default of the Maxis toddler food: https://www.modthesims.info/d/281068
Then for more variety these toddler foods: http://www.affinitysims.com/IPB/fil...-toddler-foods/

Also if you feed the toddler again after he is full he will throw food.

They need enough sleep to do anything else. At least, that's what I prefer to believe in my Sim world

May I refer you to all the excellent advice I received in My Very First Sim Baby! thread.
. . .
I too am a great fan of the Pause button, especially when playing large households -- I'm sure my game spends far more time paused than actually running. I also make liberal use of the SetHour cheat. There are only one or two seconds in a Sim minute, but many tasks take just as long in real time as they would take us, so I don't consider it really "cheating" at all.

My experience is limited because my Sims seldom breed, but I actually find pregnant Sims harder to play than either babies or toddlers; their needs drop so quickly. Normally I'm a great fan of an aging off playstyle, but I'm glad my Sims have a 3 day gestation period. I don't think I could keep a Sim alive through nine months of pregnancy!

Which is fine, when it comes to potty training and skill learning. And it would have been funny if they'd added the "fall asleep in food" interaction to toddlers in highchairs - amusing as the adult version is, it's much more likely with toddlers! But it makes no sense that the adults can't change diapers or feed them a bottle while they're sleepy, and those things are necessary to keep the social worker away.

You can get shorter pregnancy mods, 1 day is the shortest I believe, but you can also speed it up on the sim blender and probably other by other methods.

Yes, Inteen does it, too. With it, you can have the baby same day as you conceived it. It is way too easy, according to me

Another funny thing is if you've got more than one toddler in the house, and you leave bottles on the floor for the toddlers to pick up. If you time it right, the other toddler can steal the bottle and finish it (not entirely sure if they do it autonomously). They even put up a real fight over the bottle.

You can also let children socialize with babies if someone holds the baby.

Toddlers will also climb out of their cribs if they've been howling and stomping their legs long enough. You know, in case you don't want to wake up the parents.

And unless you want everyone to wake up in the middle of the night, put babies and toddlers in a separate nursery. That way you can let one adult wake up instead of both of them.

I love the fight over the bottle action. It's both autonomous and can be directed, but the second toddler has to be close and do it right away otherwise the first will get it all.

Now that I have pregnancy last two days and toddlerhood for 8 I often have two or even three siblings together as toddlers. What others find a nightmare I love. I love seeing them all around an activity table. Close age siblings should be like this, not the eldest turning into a school age child just as the second turns 1. That indicates a gap of four years not one or two.

I've just seen that fight over bottle interaction in the Curious household which has five toddlers. The first one was successful, and then the original owner of the bottle tried to steal it back, and failed! I hadn't seen that happen before.

And another thing: home layout IS important. To keep babies from waking up anyone in the same room, use the "great divide" fence around their crib. It's just a LINE on the floor that can be stepped over, but (magic!) sound can't cross. You can also use it to keep noise from waking baby or toddler (TV, radio, and the DISH WASHER). A fridge, a trash can or compactor, the baby bed, and changing table, all need to be as close together as possible. If you MUST put a nursery upstairs, all those things need to go upstairs. I usually hire a nanny for baby- but when it becomes toddler it NEEDS MORE.
I always use: Potties that don't need emptying (or put one just outside a toilet, and a few more around where the toddler will play.
CC bed that toddlers can get into
I keep an eye on toddlers needs before anyone else in the house..they need a lot of tickles and snuggles. If others in the house care for/play with them, the toddler will stop requesting it from JUST parents. Lots of advice here, but those social needs weren't mentioned; although pets and other toddlers HELP, they need other people to interact with them. Having a child teach a nursery rhyme is good for relationships. That big square play table is great; teaches, fun, and social.
If there are retired grandparents, it's easy. Even kids makes toddlers easier. HARDEST? A single parent who needs to work, just like in real life.

I've only ever had one neglected toddler. My sims, even grouchy non-family ones, always seem to autonomously play with and snuggle the babies and especially toddlers. That one toddler, though -- if I'd been the social worker, I'd have taken him. But I've never seen the social worker, ever.

Well, I think the easiest thing for me would to turn aging off and address all the toddlers needs and potty train them etc until they've learned all that then turn aging back on.

If you are new to sims 2 or simply want a slower passed game but not an aging mod it's probably a good way to play.

I tell ya what, I just CAN NOT get the Three Skills taught to a toddler in a no cheat, vanilla gameplay. It's really hard. SmartMilk helps but...geez...give me cheats or give me death!

Ummm ... I'm guessing I'll get a disagree or two here, too, but that's what I do. Or move in a custom townie to be a nanny. There could be problems with that, though. I've had cases where a parent falls for the nanny! That can get a little messy.

Life without my toddler beds from Rebecah can be frustrating.

You can use the potty from the Insimenator to at least up the potty/walking/talking bars slightly to get a head start. Even I don't up them all the way, though. That's too cheaty even for me! And yes, I'll set motives at least halfway once or twice with the Blender if things get too hairy. The social worker annoys me that much.

I like enjoying the nuances of toddlerhood much more than the training or practical parts, so I have no qualms about cheating a little. Emphasis, though, on "a little".

Of course you can. All you need is smart milk and a thinking cap, I can get all three skills done in 1-2 days. You also need the parents in plat mood from a date just before age up and make sure the toddler has all need perks ticked as soon as possible and do not waste time by leaving the toddler in a crib.

The toddler skills don't have a lot of use. Potty training does save some time changing diapers, and should be prioritized over the others. If the toddler can walk, they can climb out if the crib if they want out of it (I think it's the walking that does it), but doesn't do a big difference, and they move about in roughly the same speed as crawling. The talking skill doesn't do much.

Back when I used to bother with the toddler skills, I would often train twins/triplets/quads at the same time, if I could and if there were enough adults and teens on the lot. Throw in some smartmilk, and things went quite fast.

Infants are easy. If they want something, they'll cry. Diapers are quckly changed, and if you keep a fridge at hand on the same floor as the nursery (preferably downstairs) you usually don't have to go around picking up grumpy, abandoned babies all over the house.

Toddlers can to a degree take care of themselves if they get a little attention once in a while. Sleeping mats or toddler beds they can get in and out of on their own helps a lot. Just keep the little tykes out of the bathroom, and you're good. They also love building skills with the skill toys, which is more useful than the toddler skills in the long run.

If you're in the cheaty corner, a 'bottomless' bottle comes in handy for both toddlers and infants (keeps away the mess). Simlogical has one, Leefish has an improved version, and here are some different styles. They don't spoil and basically last forever, so no need to clean up, no need to go near a fridge, and you can leave them at strategic places so toddlers don't go nagging the adults too much. Or maybe a cereal bowl if you feel the toddlers need some solid foods?

the first thing I do when a game-born sim becomes Toddler is feed it Smart Milk. after that, teach it the toddler skills. most of the remaining toddler-hood time is spent in skill building. and I keep needs high through either testingcheatsenabled or insimenator.
in households where all guardians work, I have one of them hire a nanny.

Wow, thanks! No more pet beds and stealing dog food!

By the way, there's a 'no empty potty' mod at Simlogical's page, too. It's awesome, and saves lots of time! Same link as above. There's also a mod for toddlers to get out of the crib, and various other mods that makes childcare easier - if you don't mind a little bit of cheating, that is.

Another thing that I do in terms of potty training is that whenever it needs emptied, I turn on boolprop (although I leave it on as soon as I start up my game,) and right-click the potty, then select "force error," and on the pop-up I hit "reset." Boom: A nice, shiny, not-stinky potty chair. It saves space in my downloads folder, and really doesn't take up much time.
I'm the same way as gazania though. I care more about the interactions and actual 'toddlerhoodness" than actually teaching them anything. Pshh, walking is for chums...