How do you prepare for tiny humans?

[Jennifer1774]

Hello Oh Wise Ones!

My husband and I are new hosts in Sacramento, CA.  We don't specifically disallow children at our guest house and we recently received our first booking enquiry from a young family with a toddler.  He's 2.  I'm wondering what you do to make your place welcoming for tiny humans while still protecting your investment. 

My plan so far is to remove the breakables, take out the real houseplants and to replace the fancy velvet pillows and faux fur throw with things that are more child friendly (read: things that can go in the washer if they get jam on them).  I also will pull out the nice analine leather chairs for the dining table and replace them with some goodlooking lucite ghost chairs.  Again, for the jam-factor.  I also have some child sized dishes, cutlery and a sippy cup plus a squishy toy for the tiny human.  His parents assure me that they travel with an inflatable toddler bed and that they understand this is essentially an adult place with a fancy shower instead a bathtub.  

So, I'm not looking for your horror stories about how children have thrashed your place, but rather what you have done to make it work for them.  And...GO!  🙂

[Susan151]

@Jennifer1774  The age of the child at the time of the families' reservation is an essential piece of information in order to share our best advice. 

[Jennifer1774]

He's 2.  I edited to reflect that info.  

[Mike1034]

@Jennifer1774 A toddler at age 2 is very fun to play with. At this age, an adult is still required to put an eye on all the time. 

I would not forsee any issues with a baby at this age because of the intensive care from the parents unless the parent are careless. In that case, you may file for claim of damages from Resolution Center. I would suggest that you have all the photos taken before they check in and taken after they check out when you see any damage.

[Susan151]

@Jennifer1774 Ah two..... at this age they are highly mobile. If there are any stairs, there should be a gate to protect that kiddo. A high chair is a wonderful addition, unless you want the kid to eat propped on one of your nice chairs with food dribbling on your fabric. The family will have sippy cups, but it is nice that you are providing one. Is this child toilet trained yet? Where do you want them to change the diapers? Perhaps a changing pad, a big one, would be good to have on hand. If they are toilet trained, consider a small potty, or changing the seat of your regular toilet with a NextStep insert. 

Clean ups.... either provide extra dish clothes or lots of paper towels for clean ups. Spills happen at this age as two year olds are asserting their independance more than their skills dictate.

A tired baby is a good thing. Consider having a baby pool [about $5 at Target,] balls, sprinkler, as examples for the back yard. Nothing protects the inside of your house more than a child who has spent two hours running outside! A local map showing the parents where to find age-appropriate parks would be a great gift to these parents. And finally, a book or two. Quiet time needs quiet activities.

If I think of more, I will post back.

[Mike1034]

@Susan151 It is very nice of you!

But how much effort is put there depends on the host's development plan. If @Jennifer1774 is more interested to become a family friendly host, it is worth of those investment. And go for it.

Just be prepared for the worse before you get excited about hosting infants and kids. There are reasons why infants and kids are separately listed for a host to tick the checkboxes. 

[Jennifer1774]

Thank you, Mike.  We are, for all intents and purposes, aimed at adults.  We're not opposed to accepting children, but my excitement is more around the adult market and business travelers.  We'll see how this one goes and decide from there, I suppose.  

[Susan151]

@Mike1034 @Jennifer1774  There are "Mommie" or "New Parent" groups all over Facebook. It would be a simple thing to buy those things for about $20., and then turn around and sell them for about the same amount. No reason to buy much of anything new these days with that interweb thing to help.

[Jennifer1774]

Thank you Susan.  I appreciate the suggestions.  

[Monika64]

@Jennifer1774 

You have a beautiful place and obviously you've taken some great steps for the safety of your place as much as for the safety of the "tiny human" :-)))

You have a few great decorative pieces but you are absolutely correct, they'll have to go for the time being ... anything fragile and potentially sharp ... because I can tell you from experience that even with closely waching a little 2 years old, things could happen in a heartbeat. You cannot really remove table lamps and such so just make sure those aren't extremely expensive to replace in case of an accident.

Plastic plates, cups, forks, spoons are always a great idea, anything cheap (think IKEA), microwave safe and washable.

I'd definitely leave extra towels and linen because even with the parents' best intentions spills could happen. Also, even with the toddler bed sometimes little ones sleep with the parents (especially in foreign places). If you have not done so I'd advise you to invest a mattress cover that is water proof (truthfully most host have those already anyway as a protection against spills). 

Probably go trough your kitchen drawers just to make sure knifes, sharp thigs aren't really at the child's level (temporarly knife storage in a bigger mug on the counter is always a quick solution). 

Depending how much time/money you want to invest a TV wall encore also could come handy ... again, parents always trying to prevent toddles from grabbing TVs but unfortunatelly they could be increadibly quick. 

Hope this helps! 🙂

[Jennifer1774]

Thank you, Monika!  I appreciate the input and suggestions. 

[Monika64]

@Jennifer1774 

Any time! 🙂

I have to honestly tell you much of what will happen in your place will depend on the parents. Some people care, some don't. We have 4 little ones and we travel extensively (staying both in hotels and Airbnbs) and we've yet to get any negative feedback  ... yes, we did have accidents but we have also washed linens/towels at 3 am :-))) ... we never left the units in anything but immaculate condition. 

If you have any questions just shoot me a DM, will be glad to help!

[Jennifer1774]

Thank you!  That's very helpful and I couldn't agree more!

[Ann489]

@Jennifer1774  No horror stories--just a suggestion; hide all markers and sharpies/inkpens. 

[Monika64]

@Ann489  THAT is a good one :-)))