Having a Family in Second Life: The Babies

Like clinics and pregnancy HUDs , there are many different baby brands in Second Life. The first thing we should tell you is that a baby in SL is made up of prims & scripts, which are built to behave, interact and ‘think’ like real babies. These are dubbed prim babies and the more realistic they are, the more fun having a baby is in Second Life.

There are several stores that specialise in selling prim babies, but there are only two that are well-known throughout Second Life, as the best and most realistic, they are Honeydews and Zooby’s Babies.

Now this is a review, based on our experiences, and might not translate to the same experiences you have with these establishments. It just depends on what kind of person or parent you would like to be. If you would like to be a less hand on parent who likes having a baby there but you are also heavy on the Role-play side of the things, then Honeydew is for you. Their babies use emotes (chat) to communicate with you and your partner, and it cries letting you know when it’s either hungry or sleepy. A relatively recent update to Honeydew babies has given them the ability ‘breathe’ and  made them anatomically correct.

Honeydew is suggested to those with busy real lives and second lives, who can’t take care of a baby full-time, but would still like to. All of Honeydews babies cause 5000L$ and some clinics, like Rock A Bye Babies, are affiliated with them,

Zooby’s is completely different. While Honeydews focuses on the baby itself, Zooby’s concentrates on the interactivity between parents and their babies. With Zooby’s you need to feed, love, change, bathe and let your baby rest, to keep your baby happy. This also means that you also have to keep buying what is needed to do so (bottles, diapers, wash). Each time you complete these actions you are rewarded with tokens which are used to redeem toys that help with your baby’s development and growth. Oh yes, Zooby’s babies grow! They go through stages from 0 to 40 or more, each stage is meant to be or represents a stage of development with in a real baby. All of these factors tie together to make a realistic baby experience.

Within everything that is always awesome, there is a bit of a catch. Although Zooby’s babies cost a grand total of 3000L$ (depending on if you decide to buy a newborn. The toddlers and twins cost around 5000L$) the costs don’t stop with the baby. You have to shell out a bit more Lindens for all of the items your baby will need, this includes, Bath tube, Closet, Crib, changing table, food, Stage star, wash, diapers,and a whole host of accessories you might want to buy for your baby. The bath tube, closet, changing  table and crib, are one-off items, so you only really need to buy them once, but the others, which also includes clothes need to be bought constantly. Every item comes with a timer ( they last 24 hours) and if you want to keep your babies happiness up or if you want tokens to redeem toys since you can’t buy them, you’ll need to purchase more and more items.

What it comes down to is: if you want to start your family as you would in real life, with a baby, you will have to shell out the cash either way. However, if you want a full realistic experience with the works,  such as shopping, feeding, playing, changing, and bathing and have the money for it then Zooby’s is for you. If you would like to have a baby that does not require a lot of work and money, then Honeydews is for you.

Then again…there is always ..adoption.

Special thanks to Kyle and Ian Stonebender for being so patient with us for the Zooby’s picture