I'm just confused about the point of this thread.
Seri's responses and comments seemed to genuinely be curious about it, but it's starting to seem like
yet another thread where a particular trend is criticized because people aren't doing it the way someone thinks it should be done. If people want to know more about it, or want to see how other people handle the RP, or are simply confused about a few things - that's all fine and dandy.
I just hope this thread gets canned long before I have to listen to anyone try and tell me (or someone else) I can't roleplay a pregnancy and child because I'm doing it wrong.
Babies just...well, there's not much they can do. Seen a lot of it in RP scenes, and it's mostly just for "D'aww" effect, goo-goo-gaa-gaa from the parents and whatnot.
Back on topic!
I think that's partially to be expected. A lot of having a baby is about caring for the baby. 90% of the first few years are spent running around like crazy trying to tackle one baby crisis after another, from cholic, to tantrums, to feedings, diaper changes, head bonks, boredom with the current toy, wanting to be held, wanting to be put down, wanting to be picked up again. Babies aren't very entertaining (in my opinion), and require a MASSIVE investment of time and energy.
When translated into roleplay, this means that babies aren't going to be very fun to work with. In fact, if you were to be realistic... most of that oogling over how cute he/she is will only be done during naptime, because any other moment is fraught with exasperated and hurried caretaking. Perhaps this is why some people accelerate the growth of the child.
As an RP plot device (which is really all they are, being secondary characters or NPCs), babies really come into play as an acting force of change on the development of the main character. Babies force a lot of changes very quickly, and this is where I feel most of the value is. Whether it's an adoptive (voluntary or not) character taking the baby in, or a willing parent who didn't expect the workload of child-rearing, it's all about how the baby affects the main character.
In short, at that age, the controlling player ought to focus more on how the baby affects the characters and environment, and less about what the baby is actually doing. It's, in effect, just an 'event plot device' until the baby becomes a toddler or older.
