Babies in The Sims 4

Babies are a bit different in The Sims 4 than in the recent iterations of the Sims universe.  In fact, I'd go as far to suggest that the babies in The Sims 4 are more like the babies from the original The Sims game (1) than anything we've seen since.  Primarily, this is because babies arrive in little bassinettes and remain in those bassinettes until they're ready to age up.  Other sims can interact with babies in various ways (and the interactions are quite detailed!) but the baby always stays in that bassinette. 


I do like the great range of options for interacting with babies in this game.  Adults and kids alike can interact with babies in their bassinettes: adults can and coo, talk, make silly face, and cuddle, as well feed (by breast or bottle) and change diapers. 






Unlike The Sims 3, babies in The Sims 4 cannot be "controlled" by the player.  By this, I mean that the player cannot see the baby's needs, which can be kind of frustrating.  Like other sims in this game, babies' "background" color changes in Live Mode (and the color corresponds to the emotion he or she is feeling), but the player can't tell when a baby has high social needs or when the baby is hungry, so it's hard to distinguish what the baby needs.  I've had many occasions where I haven't noticed the baby crying until a little pop-up come up on the screen saying that so-and-so is hungry and will be taken away if not fed soon.  That's always a little disconcerting... 




Babies are magically whisked off to daycare when all the adults leave the "neighborhood" (eg. go to work or any other sort of travelling), but if the adults just go outside the house or on the street, the baby stays in the house and the adults are still responsible for its needs. 




Babies do have legs in this game, and I for one find their little legs just adorable. 




The one other thing about babies in this game is that they don't show up in the family's picture when you're choosing which household to play.  It instead just shows a little bottle icon and the number of babies in that house.