Children in TSM seem to be one of EAs nods to the Sims franchise. They have a few benefits, but no real drawbacks as far as I can tell. I kind of like the fact that there isn't a lot of child care in the game. I think it could get quite difficult to balance child care, quest activities, and responsibilities - especially if you are controlling more than one hero at a time.
Benefits
- buff for WooHoo
- big buff (+80 for 24 hours, I think) for the birth of a child
- small buff for playing with the child
- sending the child to the store
- minimal care required for nooboos and traits are assigned rather than selected, which leads me to wonder what effect, other than a cyring child debuff, there would be for a hero who has a nooboo and doesn't feed or cuddle it at all
- no apparent penalty for failing to provide bed/food/toys for children although they will sleep/eat/play if you provide those things for them
Drawbacks
- debuff around crying nooboos
- I've noticed that my blacksmith's son won't always go to the store when asked - their relationship is neutral right now so perhaps this is a consequence of their relationship status
Basically I provide beds and toys for my heroes children simply because, for me, it just feels wrong not to. At first I tried cooking larger meals, but the children were rarely at home, so I just stopped trying to feed them at all.