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[TheOnlySolitaire]

So, the mother of a 2 month old baby was killed by a ghost pushing her stomach open, somehow, which caused severe bleeding, so severe the doctor couldn't leave the party to tend to her fast enough. Which due to a slight oversight in room design, meant she turned into a zombie as the hospital is partly over a terrifying biome... She's been dealt with by security, but thats not why I need your help.

The problem is the baby. Obviously, the mother having died, her baby isn't being carried around, and worse, doesn't seem to be eating or drinking. I assume this is because a baby can't do that on it's own. 

So, does anyone know of any solutions/workarounds, or is the baby doomed to die of starvation/dehydration?

I really would like to keep this baby alive, having already lost her mother, and I think also her father, she would make an excellent test subject for dwarven daycare - she just needs to survive to childhood first.

Please - help me save Silver Gloverampart's life.



[UPDATE]: dammit, too late. She died of thirst.

But seriously, is a baby without a mother doomed? Or are their ways to avoid the baby dying?

[Witty]

Short answer is no, there is absolutely nothing you could have done to save the baby. Short of modding the raws to have dwarves rapidly age, the baby was a lost cause.

Some people have thrown around the idea of an actual daycare/orphanage, or even some sort of adoption system. But those things, by the looks of the current development focus, are very, very far off. 

[MrsStick]

If it survives until it makes "child" on its own (as in, grows up before it dies of starvation/dehydration), it'll live. Otherwise, it's doomed. It's why I have a sexist army...

[TheOnlySolitaire]

Yes, they do appear to be doomed. I even assigned the child to a burrow in the food stockpile, but it still died.
I reply with that for posterity - there really isn't anything you can do.
Unfortunate really.
Thanks for the answers guys.

[Urist Da Vinci]

IIRC dwarves are supposed to feed/water the baby, BUT the same bug is in place as for jail prisoners where it doesn't happen.

This has so far stymied my vampire well + baby = vampire eternal baby experiments.

[Larix]

You can save a baby by temporarily adding the lines [NO_EAT] and [NO_DRINK] to the dwarf .raw entry in, i think creatures_standard. This of course affects all dwarfs as long as it is in effect, so might be a bit excessive when applied in favour of a two-month-old baby: there'll be no eating and drinking needs and no food- and drink-related happiness in the entire fort for the time.

Such changed raws take effect upon saving and reloading the game and appear to nullify all incurred hunger/thirst, reverting the change will also work properly. I saved a baby that was one month from reaching childhood this way. But short of hacking the game, i know no way of saving a baby that's over two months from its first birthday.

I've seen babies receive water and food, but the chance of it happening isn't too great and it only ever happens once, which, if it happens, just extends the life span of an orphaned baby by about three weeks.

[TheOnlySolitaire]

IIRC dwarves are supposed to feed/water the baby, BUT the same bug is in place as for jail prisoners where it doesn't happen.

This has so far stymied my vampire well + baby = vampire eternal baby experiments.

I know of the bug - and that the workaround is to make a weapon trap under the injured dwarf so the dwarf gets re-injured and is finally seen to...

That in theory, should then work for babies, right?
I'm reluctant to do science on it though, partly because they're babies. But also, because all the babies I have, are going to be ''childcare'' test subjects once they finally become children, and I currently don't have any children, and migrants die before they can get to the entrance...
Stands to reason that it should work - as long as a doctor can and will treat an injured baby. And of course, if you don't kill the baby with the trap in the first place.

[Sutremaine]

The problem is the baby. Obviously, the mother having died, her baby isn't being carried around, and worse, doesn't seem to be eating or drinking. I assume this is because a baby can't do that on it's own. 

[snip]

[UPDATE]: dammit, too late. She died of thirst.

I'll never understand this.

"Forum, help! I have this problem that I can't solve, and which doesn't seem to be solving itself, and has a time limit on being solvable at all. *posts problem* Imma go unpause the game now :D"

[Larix]

IIRC dwarves are supposed to feed/water the baby, BUT the same bug is in place as for jail prisoners where it doesn't happen.

This has so far stymied my vampire well + baby = vampire eternal baby experiments.

I know of the bug - and that the workaround is to make a weapon trap under the injured dwarf so the dwarf gets re-injured and is finally seen to...

No, that's the workaround for injured dwarfs not getting introduced to the healthcare system, it's not related to feeding and watering. It's been reported that dwarfs repeatedly and reliably give food and water to an injured dwarf who isn't resting properly and thus won't be diagnosed or treated. The known fully broken give food/water cases are indeed only babies and prisoners, and while you can release a prisoner prematurely or put food and drink within their reach, you can't un-baby a baby.

That in theory, should then work for babies, right?

Injured orphans are even worse off than normal orphans - they still won't receive food and water, and since they can't take a job, they won't take the "rest" job and thus won't be treated for their injuries. I've seen it happen, and it was pure luck that the kid lasted just barely long enough to reach his first birthday, leading to an instant rest, resulting in much-needed feeding, watering and treatment for the broken arm.

[TheOnlySolitaire]

snip

Oh. Wow, thanks for clearing that up for me, what a shame.
No wonder goblins visit the forts to try to ''save'' the children...



[EDIT:]
I've DONE IT!....

.... if you count using DFhack as being a valid means of solving the problem.

Basically, I had another accident, again because of a ghost (evil biomes are so much fun), leaving a baby without a mother.

I used 'gm-editor'. I played around with the mood value previously, and discovered that -1 is what normal dwarves are at. Babies however, are at 8, which I had previously believed to be a non-existant mood. Turns out it was just the baby's form of insanity.

SO yeah - a dehyrdrated, hungry and unhappy, motherless baby, was able to eat and drink, and thus survive...

[Urist Da Vinci]

...
I used 'gm-editor'. I played around with the mood value previously, and discovered that -1 is what normal dwarves are at. Babies however, are at 8, which I had previously believed to be a non-existant mood. Turns out it was just the baby's form of insanity.

SO yeah - a dehyrdrated, hungry and unhappy, motherless baby, was able to eat and drink, and thus survive...

The baby AI is implemented as a form of insanity. The "8" isn't a bug - you just turned the child precocious. It can now use and learn skills, for example.

[TheOnlySolitaire]

Thanks, but it's okay, I had already realised that. I do Apologise though, upon re-reading, I noticed that I worded the previous post rather badly - I meant to say that, when I was testing out what gm-editor values caused what moods, the value 8 didn't do anything to an adult dwarf. So I had assumed it wasn't used or was for something that was deactivated for some reason.
I realised at once when I saw it on the baby's gm-editor values that it must be the baby's form of insanity. I wasn't however, aware that that was a mood before now. But now that I know, it makes a lot of sense that it would be.