Sims 4 Toddlers and Babies Frustration

[Teknikah]

I'm getting very frustrated with caring for my young children on Sims 4...

If the child needs something the autonomy for any sims around them will jump into action to go to them. Now, that makes sense, that they will go to care for the child, but they refuse to do anything else.

The family I have had 1 toddler, and when she was in the high chair she wanted to get out. Her mother  was moments away from peeing herself, and she was defaulting to going to the toddler. I was cancelling the action, wanting her to use the toilet first then get the child out. She kept cancelling my own action without input and trying to get to the child. She did eventually pee herself.

That family now has a set of twins; whilst they were babies when they were running to the crying baby in the cot, if the older child or the butler were standing in front of the cot after performing an action, mom and dad were completely unable to get to the babies. Instead of walking over and the butler/older child moving out the way they would just cry out and show the "I can't get there" thought bubble. This is infuriating having to switch from person to person just to get them to move out the way so mom/dad can feed the screaming baby, and I can't directly control the butler to move her.

Those twins are now toddlers, and they both need to sit in a high chair for their food. Both twins were crying for food at the same time, dad picked up the little boy without input and put him in the chair. I was trying to get mom to pick up the little girl to feed her, but again she kept cancelling my action to go to the little boy in his chair to get him out. I had to use a cheat need on the child because I was worried that they were minutes from being taken from the family.

I do not ever want to turn off autonomous actions. I like a dynamic family, not dolls that sit still until I pick them up again and move them.

Can the autonomy with child care please, please, please be improved!?

[PugLove888]

@Teknikah, I never use the highchairs anymore!  They are more trouble than they are worth!    Just make a plate of food and put it out on the counter, table, or even the floor, for the toddlers to grab a plate from, and then put it back in the fridge.  Toddlers will often eat in the closest chair that isn't attached to a table, or they will sit on the couch, sofa, or bed to eat.  They will even sometimes eat on the floor.  (The only problem is that if everyone else is at the opposite end of the house or upstairs, the toddler will often take their plate to eat near the other family members.  

As for the bassinet/crib, if the person standing in front of it is controllable, like a child, you can tell them to move elsewhere.  If they are a guest or butler which you can't control, you can invite them to play chess (if you have a chess table ) and then when they move away you can cancel the action and take care of the baby!  Or if more than one teen or controllable adult is home have one of them play chess with the butler or guest while the other Sims takes care of the baby.  If you don't want a chess table, you can distract them by with some interactions like hugging, if their relationship is high enough, Calling them to a meal, or the Mischievous interaction of tricking them with a hand buzzer,-- might not work all the time, but sometimes these interactions require enough room so the person blocking the crib will have to move (same if you have a Genius Sim show the person blocking the crib a new invention.) 

I hope these suggestions help, and hopefully they will refine the Childcare autonomous actions! 

Happy Simming! 

[Teknikah]

Thanks @PugLove888,

I found ways of moving the butler and the child but it's still a pain .
For the child I just tell her to go lie down or play, and for the bulter I go to the "...butler" option in the interaction menu and ask her to go to bed or ask her to clean up. If there is something for her to clean up she will go to it, and telling her to go to bed obviously sends her to her room, but then she doesn't clean up my house and sleeps for a while. Ya win some, ya lose some!

[PugLove888]

@Teknikah, thatnks for replying!  LOL yes, it is a "ya win some, ya loose some" kind of situation!   At least we have some ways to deal with the problem. 

And I hope not having a highchair helps you feed your toddlers!  I know of many people who gave up on highchairs in the game!  

[TygerNight]

I've had that problem many, MANY times and it was exacerbated by having 'unusual' NPCs around. Like the Flower Bunny or Patchy. I briefly held club meetings at my home (with 6 infants) and chaos ensued. Every Sim went to fool with a baby almost immediately and they never do anything except annoy it further. If they'd do something to fulfill the baby's needs I wouldn't mind but they only get in the way. Calling one away or asking them to play chess bombed as another free Sim would immediately step in front of the bassinet and block me.

I solved this by putting them in a room with a door and locking the door for anyone except household members. 😉

In the same vein, my toddlers are limited to a massive basement area with the toddler trap fence and only household adults are given access. 😁

Otherwise they'd be constantly yapping with strangers and ignoring their needs.

I made a full-height basement and they have their playground as well.

[PugLove888]

@TygerNight, I didn't even think about if you had a Club over at your Sim's house!  Yes, that would be a nightmare for taking care of a newborn !  When reading your problem I was going to suggest putting the bassinet in a room so you can lock the door to keep your Club members out, but I'm glad to see you are already in the practice of doing that! :eahigh_file:  Thanks for bringing up that tip!