Hosts with children

[Izi1904]

Hi all, perhaps you could offer some general advice here about hosting with children? We're thinking of hosting 3 of our ensuite rooms in our large house, no access to communal areas. I'm a bit concerned about having strangers in the house with my 2 year old. We're lucky the house is large and old and our son is mercifully calm so noise isn't a problem. Can we have him sleep in a room on his own when there are strangers a floor up? The access is shared and there's not really a way around this. Are there any tips or strategies that you recommend for hosting with a family? Many thanks for the wisdom. 

[Sarah977]

@Izi1904  Up to you, but I can tell you I wouldn't have had total strangers in my home when my kids were young. Of course at 2, you probably have your eye on him all the time, so that age, maybe not risky, but I wouldn't have felt okay about my child sleeping in a room that wasn't directly attached to mine.

What I did have was female students who boarded at my home, when my kids were older, so you might think about something like that as an alternative.

[Mike508]

Hi there.

We have good experience with this issue.

We are in the Goldcoast of Australia, have a large single story home with 2 far-end rooms on Airbnb.

We have 2 girls who are 6 and 8yrs, and a 6month old baby boy. The girls share a room together and the boy is still in a cot in our room.

We have shared kitchen with guests, but separate lounges and dining.

We have hosted for 3 years non stop with over 450 bookings and have had great experiences with hosting alongside our family.

We have had guests who tell our kids about their travels and play cards with them and we love the richness that travellers bring to our lives. We have had guests who are so wonderful and entertaining to our kids, we have also had some who are very indifferent ... which is also fine too. Kids are not everyones cup of tea.

Most of our guests are couples or a pair of girls travelling together.

We moved our girls to the closest room to ours.

Occasionally we have our kids 'camping' in our own room just for our own piece of mind if the 'vibe' isnt right, but this is very rare.

Our advice is to not let the fear play on your mind, the world isnt full of monsters as the TV would have you trained to think.

Heres another idea, perhaps some cameras up covering some common areas, and just make sure you publicise it.

If you have multiple rooms on Airbnb, cameras in hallways etc are good for everyones piece of mind.

All the best 🙂

[Dale711]

Hi @Izi1904 

Welcome to the community 😊

If I were you, I’d keep my two-year-old in a different bedroom.

It's the correct age to keep my children to sleep in the separate bedroom. To keep the family healthy and happy.

As a matter of fact, I may concern the safety issues when I have a stranger in my home.

I may add a permanent sofa bed into my child's room, in case I need to companies my child during some nights.

In addition, It's is always dependent after I meet my guests.

Select the right guest!

Well communication with the potential guest prior to confirm the booking, always ask a question to the guest.

Do clearly described in the listing announcement at the ‘The spaces’ sections and house rules.

The guest needs to know that the host is a family with two years old and respects the internal terms.

Happy Hosting ✌️

[John5097]

@Izi1904 @You can require guest to submit government ID. Of course there is no guarantee but just something you could do in the settings. It’s up to the host to set up their own space. When I worked at the county park a family was unpacking their car for a picnic beside the car and didn’t realize young child had slipped away and drown in a pond a few hundred feet away. This happens at the beach also even last year. However I just remembered reading a post where a guest went into child’s bedroom and tried to get in bed with child. So would install a door between sleeping areas that can lock, or child’s door has some kind of ring notification to you if door opens. 

[Izi1904]

Thanks all that's good advice so far. 

[Helen3]

Hello @Izi1904 

Welcome from a fellow Bristol host.

Personally I wouldn't have hosted in my home when my son was younger unless you are able to separate the sleeping area for your family and your guests. But everyone has different tolerance levels for risk.

One option would be as @Sarah977 suggested and take in female lodgers if you want to rent your accommodation out.

And just to note just because your son is quiet now - doesn't mean he will continue to be so 🙂

[Elisabeth40]

@Izi1904 

That's a serious question. I must be honest to you, I wouldn't do airbnb if I would have kids. I hosted guests who even knock during night on my door and some are very noisy. I always lock my door, sometimes even if I go to the restroom. I am worried to leave my some guests with a stove and how do you want to leave your kids alone at home? NO. Some Guests don't lock the door. Just NO. I was also traveling once myself and booked a place for a month and the host had 6 little kids. I must be honest, if she would have told me up in front I wouldn't book her place. But I understand why she didn't mentioned, because it could attract creepy people. For me it was difficult to stay there for a month, because the kids were so tiny, they were always interested to see me but I thought it's better for me not to talk to them at all. Now imagine, normally every person wants to be nice to kids and everyone likes to acknowledging them, I feel like it's going to be difficult for you to teach your kids that not every smiling guests is nice. I find it not fair to me when I travel not to have this info, but I also think you cannot put i in your listing too. Or, the solution would be: you set up your entire listing for traveling parents with kids only. Then you specialize to host only families with kids. That would work. 

[Karol22]

It's completely based on preference. I understand the concern and have decided not to host with my child for now. However, if I re-evaluate this, I may be accepting if I enforce a strict filter to allow only specific types of occupants. For example, I may be willing to allow single occupants only, they must answer what they do for a living, they must also answer the reason for their stay in the area/what brought them to my area. If I were to feel uncomfortable with them, I would simply have to decline.

I haven't decided to host with my son in the home yet but if I were to, I'd be more picky about who I allow into my home.

[Ben-and-Sam0]

We host the basement in-law suite (basement studio apartment) in our home, and we have two kids under 7. From a safety perspective, the basement suite is 100% separate, with a deadbolted door in between us and them.

The noise factor concerned me a ton at first - our kids are loud, and all the more this year with remote learning! My listing is explicit about this, and I make sure every guest (other than Instant Book folks) are totally aware of what they are getting into. The key is setting appropriate expectations. We have had a few people mention noise in reviews, but never in a negative way, just an "FYI" way - you can take a look for yourself. Kid noise has never been a source of complaints. Just manage expectations!

Here is the language from my listing:
You’ll be staying on the bottom level of our family home. We have small children. You will hear our footsteps, furniture, indistinct voices, and some kid antics, generally between 7:00am and 8:00pm.
Our laundry room is adjacent to the guest studio. You may hear us doing laundry during the day.
There is a small business located in the building, and you may hear clients coming and going during weekday afternoons.
You may also hear the faint sounds of a piano through the air vent in the afternoon.
If you are looking for a totally quiet stay, our space may not be a good fit.