The Sims 4 Infants update: Patch notes, release date, gameplay details & more

The Sims 4 team are bringing infants to the game in a free base game update for all players. The new Sims 4 infant life stage will take place between the baby and toddler life stages and will add new familial gameplay as your young infants navigate through important milestones like learning to crawl, eat solid food, have their first baths, learn to stand, and more.

Read here for The Sims 4 infant patch notes, release date, gameplay details, and more.

• For more information on Sims 4 announcements and Project Rene, read our guide to Project Rene here.

The Sims 4 Infant Update Release Date

Click to enlarge

The new infant life stage will be available to all players in a base game update on March 14. This is just two days before the new Sims 4 Growing Together expansion will launch.

Although the update will implement the infant life stage for all players, to get the expanded quirks, milestones, build mode items, and infant clothing you will need to purchase a copy of The Sims 4 Growing Together. Keep reading for a full list of everything included in the free infant update.

• Be sure to check out our guide on everything we know so far regarding The Sims 4 Growing Together expansion, including trailers, release date, gameplay, and more.

The Sims 4 Infant Update Trailer

The Sims 4 Infant Update Gameplay

Click to enlarge

Finally, babies will not just simply age from newborns to toddlers but will have an in-between stage where they will sleep in cribs and will navigate through the obstacles of growing up.

From the footage shown in both the Behind the Sims live stream event and Growing Together trailers, infants will be given a host of new interactions with sims and new items. These will include:

• Learning to crawl
• Learning to stand
• Having their first bath
• Being changed on a changing table
• Being burped
• Moving onto solid foods
• The biting fingers animation
• A crib
• Being fed whilst sims are sitting and relaxing
• Infant birthday parties
• New CAS animation and poses for infants
• Infant CAS clothing and birthmark options
• Peekaboo game
• Animations for infants playing on carpets
• Animations of infants hobbling, sitting up and falling down
• Interactions between pets and infants (requires The Sims 4 Cats and Dogs expansion)

Click to enlarge

This is great news for many Sims fans who feel as though the baby phase is lacklustre.  Currently, babies are technically classed as an 'object' in the game which has limited interactions and mostly involves your sims standing around the bassinet performing interactions in the same space.

Now, babies will age into infants and will navigate through the world, learning as they go. The above interactions and animations will come with the free update on March 14.

To get infant quirks and milestones and an expanded catalogue of infant build mode and CAS items, you will need to get a copy of The Sims 4 Growing Together expansion pack.

For a full list of all other news shown at the Behind The Sims event, check out the official blog post here, or read our Behind The Sims guide here for all Sims announcements.

The Sims 4 Growing Together Patch Notes (March 14)

With the free infants update now being added to The Sims 4, EA has dropped the full set of patch notes detailing all the new features and bug fixes included.

Here is everything listed in the March 14 update for The Sims 4:

"Infants are now in the game! With the free base game update, you’ll now be able to interact with your young Sims earlier than before and set them up for a lifetime of excitement. Once your family’s newborns age up into Infants (or if you decide to go the adoption route), they’ll have their own needs, emotions, and sentiments about their caretakers.

"If your Sim doesn’t want to adopt or want to (or can’t) go through a pregnancy, they now have a brand new option. Sims can have babies with the power of science! Sims can now ask others to use a mix of their genetic material to create new life or just do it themselves…as long as they’ve got the funds.

"Sims will spend less time as Newborns. This life stage will last only a few days before they age up into Infants. That doesn’t mean they haven’t gotten new stuff too! From the very beginning, Newborns are going to seem like more of the family with the addition of the range of skin tones other Sims have. They also will have the eye color they’ll have for life. There are some other changes to their appearance and movements that will really help Newborns feel like an active members of the household. Caregivers will no longer put them back into a bassinet between reactions, making caring for a Newborn feel more natural than before. Plus! Toddlers and Children will be able to interact with new family members by doing things like entertaining a Newborn in a bassinet with child-like behavior.

"With a new life stage comes new looks! Infants have their own clothing, hairstyles, accessories, and most excitingly: personality traits. Find these new options in Create a Sim! There is also the addition of new furniture, decor, toys, and more to help make those Infants feel at home and truly part of the family. You can find these new items in the kids’ section in Build mode.

"Once an Infant is crawling, they’re ready to go exploring. Keep them where they belong with the new baby-proofing option for doors. Sims can get kept out with door permissions, and now, Infants and Toddlers can get kept in.

"Child skills have gotten a few adjustments. Sims will gain some skills quicker now, and the things they learn as Children will now matter as they grow. Plus: UI Improvements!

"Don’t worry, there’s new stuff for your older Sims too. With this new update, there are new skin details in Create a Sim for Sims of all ages. Your Sims can now have birthmarks from birth. As they age, they can have stretch marks and C-Section scars.

"CAS has another great new feature: you can now decide whether or not a Sim can produce milk. This new option can be found in the Gender section of the More Details menu.

"With more ways for Sims to interact than ever before, it was getting a little overwhelming to try and find what you want to tell your Sim to do. The good news is that Interactions have been reorganized! The Interactions menu now has new sections based on the type. If you want your Sim to ask another Sim to have a science baby, for example, that’s a Deep Thoughts kind of conversation. Want to give a funny gift? Try the Silly Behavior menu. There are 19 new sections in the Interactions menu to help you find what you’re looking for in less time!"

Bug Fixes

Base Game

• Babies' skin tone in the skewer and household portraits should now match their skin tone in-game
• Aging up a Baby will now properly take into consideration the genetics of the parents' skin tone
• Live Streaming as a Tech Guru should no longer reset your Sim
• Family members will now call your Sim less often to ask their opinion about trying to have a baby (Instead, they’ll just hear the news from their chatty aunt)
• Hair Swatches in Create a Sim will now be more consistent across hairstyles and ages
• We have addressed an issue where sometimes after traveling Toddlers would no longer be able to interact with extended family members (Who could blame them, just finished a long trip, you’re tired, probably need a change of clothes, a bath, a good sippy cup… who wants to talk with family?)
• Fear of Unfulfilled Dreams and Fear of Dead End Job will appear less often and feel appropriate when they do
• Neighborhood Stories will now welcome fewer newborns into the world. They’ve come to realize the amount of care Infants require and don’t want a miss a single precious moment
• Sims won’t constantly drop everything in their queue to Check Toddler
• Food that’s in a container inside the fridge will take longer to spoil
• Moving to a new lot with twin babies will no longer ostracize one of the twins at the edge of the world (flat-worlders rejoice!)
• Tell a Toddler to run around? Now, they’ll actually run when the Run Aroundinteraction is selected (wait, you have to tell a Toddler to run around?)
• If you were able to get a Toddler to Run Around they would never stop (this sounds more like the toddlers, I know), this should no longer occur.
• Sims will now be able to perform the Read to Child interaction while kneeling or standing
• The ymBody_JumpSuitLongSleeve outfit is now available to male Sims in Create a Sim
• When choosing Decor Likes and Dislikes in Create a Sim, Industrial, Holidays, Events, Vintage, Art deco, Luxe, Shotgun, and Shabby Décor are now available options
• Styled looks are a little less styled now. Choosing one won’t change a Sim’s hairstyle, eye color, eyebrows, or facial hair
• Thumbnails are fixed in Create a Sim to show off cheek scars properly
• Several nursery wall decorations have had a color consistency update
• Toddler Create a Sim has gone through spring cleaning a bit early; if they can’t wear it, it’s not an option in the menu
• Toddlers are now taken care of at Daycare instead of taking care of themselves (how did they even manage that?!)
• Alien diapers are now only available to Aliens

• Sims will now keep skin details added while on Outfit Categories besides Everyday when re-entering Create a Sim. You’re you regardless of your clothing choices

  • Child, Toddler, and Infants are being a little stubborn when it comes to birthmarks which we are continuing to look into, but as long as birthmarks are selected while on the Everyday Outfit Category, they will keep their birthmarks
• Toddlers can now pick up toys that ended up under bookcases
• Sims will now scoot more often as expected when directed to sit or nap on a single or double bed
• Several gates, fences, and stairs were casting improper shadows. We’ve spoken to their architects and instructed them in proper shadow-casting behavior
• The Sim Stats panel now tracks Total Wants Completed
• Sims will no longer mistake the outdoor mailbox for a wall mailbox when publishing a book. It all gets to the same outcome, just without the shoving a book through the side of a metal mailbox part
• Child Sims underwear category will now properly display according to their preferred clothing option
• Be aware: Acting, Debating, and Dancing in front of the mirror do actually increase your skill. I'm not really sure how that is possible…I have spent hours dancing in front of the mirror, and I'm still horrible
• Sims can properly use a Mirror to Practice Dancing… I’m just going to say this is why I have not gotten better at dancing
• Searching for Stuffed Animals will now result in even more stuffed animals, even if they aren’t stuffed, but are more of a molded plastic
• Stuffed toys are now also toys and will count towards the Play with 3 Toys goal of the Artistic Prodigy child Creativity aspiration
• Several text updates have been made to skill level up Text Notifications to clarify the benefits provided by the skill…
• Attempting to sleep or nap in a bed your Sim can't get to will now tell you that they can't get there
• Toddlers are more likely to be content in their high chairs when their needs are taken care of. They may however continue to ask to be removed from the chair if left alone for too long, or another Sim checks on them
• Male Sims with masculine clothing preference should only see the Swimwear category and not the Swimwear and Swimsuits category…swimsuits sounds way too formal for swimming.
• Toddlers asking for Book Help that are greater than 3 spaces away from the location of wherein the Book Help action shall be set forth to take place, shall forthwith no longer sense a failure of action to the desired outcome, but shall rather expect that the Book Help shall be unto provided to said Toddler
• Intimate Sims that choose to Chat will no longer reset and cancel the interaction. “How was your day?” in the middle of an intimate moment feels like a reset moment to me
• Console players should see an improvement to input performance after opening the Relationship panel
• The Singing Skill tooltip has been added to all showers that support Singing. Those showers that don’t support singing are too critical of my talent!
• Randomizing likes and dislikes in Create a Sim will no longer collapse the likes and dislikes panel

Cats & Dogs

• Ultra speed is as ultra-fast as it’s supposed to be, even if there’s a stray on the lot
• Pets will now Be Nice To… other pets when they’re told to
• Cats and small dogs should once again be able to route under dining tables. Yay, more efficient begging!

Get Famous

• Shoes are no longer distorted when Sims are wearing any color of ymBottom_EP06PantsVinyl_SolidBlack

Island Living

• The Marine Biologist uniform now has work-appropriate shoes
• yfShoes_SP26CalfBoot_2ToneBrownBlack no longer includes missing leg sections on lower graphic settings

Discover University

• Seems the institution has faith after all! Sims who Sit In on Skill Classes will get the proper certificate in their inventory when they’re done, not a Mixology one for every class

• Passing the Lawyer's Exam will now let you try to pass the lawyer's exam, rather than just failing you right off the bat

  • It’s supposed to be hard, but not that hard…

Eco Lifestyle

• Maker mentors will no longer speak in a strange Coming Soon language in their speech bubbles
• Your Sim will know where to go when trying to upgrade Hot Tubs with the Water Recycler using Eco Parts option
• Items that can be used Off-Grid are now labeled as such

Cottage Living

• Wooden bridges now sound like…well…bridges made of wood

Vampires

• Sims who were vampires but are now Sims that aren’t vampires will now be able to sleep more than 3 hours when tired

Realm of Magic

• Randomized Sims will no longer randomize with curse warts

Star Wars: Journey to Batuu

• Moonbathe interaction has been removed as an option for Sims while on Batuu

My Wedding Stories

• That pesky empty blue screen is no more! You’ll be able to plan wedding eventsthrough the phone or calendar now that the menus show up as intended
• Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish options when choosing a bouquet now have fewer mid-word line breaks
• You can now schedule your Wedding Event on the same day as holidays in the calendar

Werewolves

• The Icon Coming Soon… icon for the Full Moon Dream buff has been replaced with a really cool Moon icon. Totally worth the wait!
• Toddlers wearing the puBody_GP12OnesieWolf should be safe to wear shoes now, no more fear of their shoes ripping through the feet of the onesie. Werewolves… ripping clothing… I’m sure it was fine, but Sims were getting tired of the darn hole thing

• Ok so if we don’t translate the issue from dev speak for players, what happens?

  • Werewolf Sim LOD (level of detail) model displays pixel tearing deformation for HH (household) and pre-made Sims when they are in beast form
  • Hmm… that, that's fixed now

• The Agave Abode washroom will no longer trap your Sim within its four walls… closing in on you, refusing to let you leave, even if you wash your hands after use…which you should do

Nifty Knitting

• Sims can now add the same knitted items in different colors to their wardrobe

Bathroom Clutter

• Wall decals should no longer disappear when viewed from the back

And that's everything you need to know about the infants update arriving in The Sims 4!

• To make sure you're prepared for the infant stage ahead of time, check out our guide to all Sims 4 pregnancy cheats here.