Sofie won't leave Windhelm

[koristad2226]

In my most recent game, I've adopted Sofie and Lucia. However, Sofie refuses to live in my house (Lakeview)! She always goes back to Windhelm, though i have dialogue options as if she's moved in.

I've adopted both of these children in 3-5 other games and never encountered this problem. After spending a couple hours on google, I've tried:

moveto player command (she always runs back to windhelm)
Moving to a new house (Honeyside and Breezehome, no change)
Console disable/enable
Console toggling of AI
I've also made sure to completely furnish the bedroom (children's beds, chests, and everything else) in Lakeview to make sure that wasn't the problem.

But nothing seems to work, and I'm starting to pull out my hair. Does anyone have any other solution to convince her she's welcome to live in my house? Or, as a last result, if i disable her will i be able to adopt another child?

Thanks.

[Uncle64]

Odd. No idea, but bump it if some other have any clue.

[Indiana_Minotaur]

Follow these steps:

1. Reload a previous save WAYY before you adopt anyone, finish furnishing Lakeview (And if you have done furnishing that's great!)

2. Adopt Sofie first!, but save right in front of her so you can go back to that save just in case :) adopt her and send her to Lakeview, DO NOT persist on her as in constantly watch her to see if she leaves, just leave windhelm and do a bunch of quests. After maybe a few in-game days to a week or a full month (this varies btw) Then go back to Lakeview and she should be there.

3. Adopt Lucia, follow the same steps as you see in number 2.

The problem with Hearthfire and this has always been a persitant issue. Is that the child's AI can't 'properly' read a homestead or a house that has a child wing. Some houses work, others you have to 'push' the AI as in constantly move the child back and forth between houses in order for the AI to basically understand, "Oh okay i see this house has the child's wing"

[Zefram Cochrane]

Originally posted by koristad2226:

moveto player command (she always runs back to windhelm)
Moving to a new house (Honeyside and Breezehome, no change)
Or, as a last result, if i disable her will i be able to adopt another child?

Thanks.

Hmm.. console moveto command won't work permanently as she has to move in first, untill she's done that she'll just return to point of origin.

What was the procedure exactly, talk to her, wait till she says "I can't wait!", then she should be ready to move... she won't walk or run from Windhelm though she'll stay put unless you fast run back to Whiterun and she should magically appear inside the house....

if you've done all that and its stiill not happening then something is intefering with the adoption process/scripts, do you have and mods that alter a) children b) adoptions or c) marriages? Mutliple marriage mods aren't compatllbe last time I looked neither is Prince and the Pauper ...

and no you can't adopt another child if you disable her. Well if you have only one it MAY work if you use the unadoption mod, but two and its a no-no as the adoption quest is marked as completed and theres no way to reliably restart it... even so if you did manage to adopt another child youlll likely run into the same problem.

[koristad2226]

I tried using the wait command to see if Sofie would eventually move in on her own, but after two weeks i still found her hanging around Candlehearth Hall. When i talk to her, she gives the lines she would normally give if living in Lakeview. ("The lake is so pretty, blah, blah..."). She also no longer tries to sell flowers.

@Chaotic: Unfortunately, I don't have a save available from before I encountered this bug. I always save using the console, with the same title, +auto/quicksaves. I've only tried moving 3 times, but Sofie appears in the new house and then immediately runs back to Windhelm after I arrive...are you suggesting I may be able to just move back and forth until she finally "sticks" with a house?

@Zefram: I don't have any mods that influence children, adoption, or marriages specifically. The only mod i can think of that could have a (slight) connection is Amazing Follower Tweaks, which I use to manage my character's spouse. However, both Lucia and Sofie had been adopted before my character was married.

I suppose this is far from a game breaking bug, so I might just let it go for now. However, any additional suggestions or advice will be appreciated. If Sofie does eventually appear in Lakeview after sometime playing, I'll be sure to update here.

Thank you for the help.

[koristad2226]

Update: Problem Resolved

After approximately 1 week of in game time, Sofie finally arrived at Lakeview.

I guess the moral of the story is that using the wait option =/= time passing naturally in game.