The free infant thing

[Amanda660]

Yesterday after departing guests left a bin full of honking nappies, rug smooshed  with coco pops and every surface smeared with ‘?’ I decided to change my setting to no longer accept  free ‘infants’ and go with age 2 and above. 

Today I get a booking request for a couple with a child and an ‘infant’.  I replied that we don’t host under 2s and that’s why it came through as a request and not as a instant booking.  He came back to me to say that the  ‘infant’ would be 23 months at the time of stay and would I reconsider. 

I’m in a quandary - I really don’t want the extra clean up for nothing but how do I convey this to the would-be Booker without sounding completely mercenary?

[Helen744]

@Amanda660 simply convey to the guests that you will need them to comply with double bagging of nappies and to only place them in outside bins and for surfaces to be wiped at child height before leaving . otherwise clean ups can often be worse than the surface grime. adults bleeding on carpets or any of the grime from adults to my way of thinking ,are so much worse but its your house. Sometimes we cannot be our guests best friend in fact we never should try to be because that is not professional. I would say take the baby on the understanding the child is paid for. I am not sure why infants are free because we supply a cot and a high chair and some  bowls  as well as toys . As you say finding nappies in waste paper bins is a bit confronting especially as they are not your children but just asking guests to double bag and pop them in the outside bin should be sufficient. I mean you have to do the vacuuming  and wipe surfaces anyway so the smears on every surface are par . H

[Helen744]

Oh and Amanda , they do seem to come in twos . A biggie and a littley. They cant just leave one at home. I personally love the little grime merchants H

[Inna22]

@Amanda660 most age groups are a hazard. A 4 year old + a marker= new paint job. Older folk might slip and fall. 20 somethings are not capable of clean up period. Your experience is not a reflection of hosting babies under 2 but rather of this particular couple that chose to leave this mess. If you remind your guests your check out rules the night before they leave, most will do what is right

[Amanda660]

Thanks all....we don’t often host youngsters as we don’t generally attract families.  However we are near a couple of destination wedding venues/castles  and occasionally get weekend bookings for families attending weddings.  These are the bookings that cause the problems - Mums are stressed out with the logistics before they even arrive, communication is an absolute struggle - throw in a wedding and .....

[Susan1188]

@Inna22 
I'm a Mom of two grown kids;
I hear what you're saying but I disagree.
It's much harder to keep your home and car and everything else clean when you have kids!
This is a basic truth.
It's also harder to control little children, even if you are a good parent, than it is to control any other age group.

But yes you can have a mess with any age traveler.  It's just that with kids it's pretty much guaranteed.

[Mark116]

@Amanda660  I just repeat that the property is not set up to host children under 2, that there are no child safety items like door/window/furniture guards, that there are numerous breakable items, wood floors and that we also don't offer any children's items like cribs or high chairs.  That usually does the trick.  

[Susan1188]

@Mark116  I do that too, and the past 4 bookings I've had the Dad agrees (he *really* likes my photos), and insists on booking anyway, will not withdraw trip request (I never decline out of principle once I have all the caveats agreed to), and when they get there the Mom starts asking for extra amenities immediately upon check in.

Haha and I just had a look at your listing, I would be able to block your last available dates in June with a trip request that includes 1 adult 3 children and 5 babies 😂

[Anonymous]

@Amanda660 Guests who demand exceptions to the parameters you've set will usually turn out to be bigger problems than the babies they unfortunately spawned. This is the reddest of flags. 

[Helen744]

 @Anonymous babies are lovely Andrew generally, maybe you will have some one day. All the best H

[Anonymous]

@Helen744  If you believe that somehow my husband and I might produce a baby one day, please draw me a diagram of how you think that might work!

Anyway, I have no problem with babies. It's entitled parents that I can't stand.

[Helen744]

@ Andrew Ask Elton he knows,  yeah  I hear ya. Cheers H

[Richard531]

@Anonymous "than the babies they unfortunately spawned"  

This is pure gold!

[John2406]

@Amanda660 In reality - when one parses the problem - it's not the children - whatever age they are - who have caused the situation that's affected you and your property - but rather it is those who are responsible for them and what they do.

What they might do in their own home is up to them, and they don't have anyone but themselves to answer to, but whilst away from home, they have to abide by wherever they stay's own rules.

@Helen744 hits the nail on the head with saying what she did, by asking Guests with children to double bag nappies, ensure everything is wiped/cleaned with appropriate cleaning materials etc, to which I would add, to leave everything as the place was when they first arrived (i.e. before the battle commenced!)

Children of ALL ages are just that, children, and unless the parents' clean+tidy up after them all the time, and unless the parents' have read the "House Rules", and therefore dispose of nappies etc responsibly all of the time, there's always the possibility that something similar might occur again.

Of course, it's always possible to not have children staying, but then again with some older Guests' not cleaning up after making a mess (and their not saying anything about what would be encountered), one sometimes wonders at what age the words child/children actually ends, and "adult" (and how they are supposed to responsibly act) begins!

Fortunately we have been very lucky (98%) with both children and adults, but there will always be the odd 1-2% who'll test us!!!

[Amanda660]

@John2406  are absolutely right, the state the house us left in us complete at the mercy of Mum and Dad.

I was having a think about this and it dawned on me.

The guest booked 6 months ago, at the time I had no infants set up.  She booked for 4 adults and 2 children.  

It was until the week before whilst chatting pre-arrival that I asked the ages of the children (I like to leave some appropriate welcome snacks based on who’s staying).  It then turned out that  she’d booked the 8 month old as a child to circumvent the no under 2s. She didn’t tell me that but I worked it out - she wanted to book the house, had an infant, we don’t allow under 2s so she chose to book the baby as a child and pay. 

I have no issue infants who are not yet mobile but it’s the free toddlers who they don’t clean up after that bothers me.