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[Zombie]

A dwarven nursery would be great. I don't really think the kids would be messed up if they were in a nursery... If anything, they'd probably be safer and better cared for!

Mrs Urist McForginhammer decides to frequently operate the MAGMA FORGE with her BABY. :| I see a rather large problem there. Mainly in that babies burn well. XD

What about a crib room? I'd think in a dwarven society, childraising would be done as a community and not as an individual. Have a room you can designate from a crib (or baby bed, as it were) and health care workers would buzz about feeding them and whatnot.

Or make baby terrariums. Complete with feeding bottles!

[Paul]

This is a great idea. Given the way DF works, a nursery as a room designation would probably work best. Possibly an option tied to beds. Just assign the room as nursery and then mothers will drop their babies off, and children will come in and roam around if there is space.

Have the parents and relatives visit the nursery every so often when they have no other job, and give a required task (required as in it cancels all other jobs the same as eating or drinking) like "feed baby" that pops up with the same regularity as "eat" for the mother to come and care of the babies (for dwarves with several babies this task could target all of them and have her pick them all up one by one and do the task). Basically the task would be the mother going to breastfeed the babies, and it would satisfy the baby's thirst and hunger. That way you don't have silly things like some random peasant bringing a newborn baby a bucket of water and a slab of meat.

To make it less intrusive on jobs the "feed baby" task could be called for right after the mother finishes eating, so it would only be one run-across-the-map task instead of 2.

Or if you didn't want to use beds, have buildable toys and make them create the nursery room. That way we finally have a use for toys other than trade goods.

A system like this would make it MUCH easier to protect the fortress' children and would still allow mothers to do jobs, they'd just take a bit longer to perform their usual eating task but would otherwise have plenty of free to work. And in times of 'no job' the mother could spend most of her time in the nursery visiting.

[Zombie]

I would also like to note that nurseries would likely be most useful for generational fortresses... People who love migrants likely think this stupid... But oddly (and after-school-special-y) enough, the children ARE the future of generational fortresses.

A baby taking a bolt to the head or being crushed with its mother by a Bronze Colossus doesn't mean too much when you can get a fresh batch of migrants in a season or two.

[Zombie]

Also, perhaps the "nursery" could just be a designated room from some item like a bed or crib from a baby... I know I stated this before, but stay with me now...

There are three stages of dwarf currently... Baby, child, and adult. The nursery would, obviously, cater to babies and would simply be a place the mother could put their baby to socialize with other babies (possibly forming friendships or acquaintances), periodically returning to check up, visit, and feed their child. The mother would still be an integral part of the baby's life until...

They mature into children! The children could then get a periodic task akin to "sleep" or "eat" that could be "learn" or "go to school" or "attend creche" or whatnot. We could then designate a new type of room from either table/chair sets or a new "chalkboard" type item... Each table/chair set would function as a desk and the room itself would be a classroom where child dwarves learn about dwarven society and the history of the fortress!

Alternatively or additionally, we could have a children's creche sort of building that functions like a daycare or nursery. Either the creche sort of acts to "corral" a specific number of children, or it also functions as a sort of schooling center. Kind of like how kindergarten was half school and half daycare.

I am a fan of the economy system in Dwarf Fortress, including the production systems and engraving/encrusting/studding systems... I think generational fortresses, especially, need to be able to carefully manage and protect their children. This seems like it would be the most expedient way to do it.

[Dwarmin]

This sounds like a good idea. I tend to undraft and cancel all non-crafting jobs for new mothers in my fortresses, as maternal leave