I completely agree!
We host lots of families with young children and I delight in seeing them picking fresh wild strawberries and raspberries, paddling in the stream and will make time to walk with the little ones and collect eggs from the chickens or toast marshmallows on a real fire - if we are to raise conscious adults, we need to show them about the joy of life and how to appreciate the natural world and be kind to animals. I am a parent of 3 (grown up) children and know what it's like trying to find a safe and supportive place to 'rest' with little ones ;0) On the whole, my experiences with guests are very positive indeed and many return :0)
We don't charge much for our cottages - about £40 per night with 2 sharing and lay on a huge selection of toys, a high chair, travel cots and lots of love as part of the package.
We have had though, a couple of really difficult situations where breastfeeding couples have kept the heating on 24/7 so that Mum and baby could sleep with fewer covers and the increase in the gas consumption has resulted in us actually subsidising their holiday! (£60 worth of gas used in 1 week!) In addition, families with young children tend to use more hot water too for washing up and bathing, so we would like to charge a nominal fee of £7 extra per night per person (however small!) to cover the extra fuel use. Airbnb's 'infant' policy does not allow us to make that charge for anyone under 2 years of age - and I feel that it is grossly unfair. It is not much to ask and on such tight margins, is necessary for us. Surely hosts should be able to set the parameters in their own homes? I have asked Airbnb about it and nothing has changed.
I have amended my listing details to mention that we DO charge for 'infants' for these reasons, but the booking process online asks for ages of the children and only the most conscientious parents (having read and understood the listing) will book their babies in as 'children' to incur the small surcharge.... leaving me with difficult emails to write. It is making hosting uncomfortable and sets up a negative feeling before the holiday has even begun.
Airbnb... PLEASE sort this out! It is not being 'child unfriendly' to ask for a fair contribution for what is used.