Is this my weekly theme now? Infant requests.

[Laura2592]

Seriously I cannot catch a break!

Guest staying in November.  One person, no reviews, joined in 2019. Staying with her dog. All fine. Made a reservation last December and canceled. Rebooked for November this year. Answered all questions well, read the rules, gave us the Easter egg. No problem.

Today I get a reservation request to change to 3 guests. I write her and say:

Hi Guest- I saw your reservation request come through. Can you please tell me who will be staying with you and a little about the changes to the visit? Thank you and hope all is well!"

Guest says: "Hi Laura! It is my friends X and O who live in Y. They are coming with their infant and 14 year old dog. Not 100% sure yet but didn't want to spring on you at the last minute."

I APPRECIATE the heads up, but we don't allow infants, don't allow living beings over 4 (so 3 humans and one dog is fine if the humans are above age 2, but not 3 humans and 2 dogs.) All of this is stated in the listing, reiterated at booking.

So I just said "Oh I am so sorry! We can't accept guests under the age of 2 due to insurance concerns. Namely we have a very steep old staircase with an unusual cut out on one side and its not safe for crawling little ones. Even carrying them up and down could be concerning. I would be inconsolable if anything happened to a baby at our cottage. I will understand if you need to cancel to find a place that can accommodate the new group. Thanks and let me know what you decide!" And declined the request to change. 

She replied that she understood and is still planning on coming. In which case I am SURE the family with the baby will pop by. 

This is the third infant incident in the last week. One guest did a request to book with a 10 month old and I declined. We just had guests stay and bring a baby but not tell us as I detailed in another thread, and this request to change. In 3 years of hosting we have not had this number of people requesting to bring babies in such a short span of time. I can count on one hand the number of reservations where that has been a factor. 

Maybe these are newly minted parents who have had pandemic babies and want somewhere to visit? I just do not see the appeal of bringing a baby to our Airbnb especially as we disclose potential safety issues, not to mention the risk of taking a baby out to a strange place without the option to vaccinate. Anyone else getting more requests for infants?

[Danielle1128]

Yes!  We are relatively new hosts (almost a year), but in the past few months we saw an uptick in new parents (and we bill ourselves as a romantic getaway so we are not child safe).  We allow them, but it wasn't something we expected either.

[Laura2592]

@Danielle1128 thank you for your perspective! We don't mind older kids and even have toys and a swing. But this is a safety issue and an insurance concern. I am puzzling over the increased interest and will think about re-wording our rules. But this person READ the rules or at least found the secret code hidden in them. And they specifically address the stairs, infants and capacity.

Lots of new babies out there I guess. And parents who have not yet adjusted to their new reality perhaps. 

[Brian2036]

@Laura2592 

No, but I have noted in several places that children are not allowed under any circumstances, NO EXCEPTIONS.

No matter how many disclaimers you make you are still liable, and if your insurance says children are not covered, they’re not joking.

 I reread Airbnb’s Host Protection and Million Dollar guarantee boilerplate and it is very discouraging. 

It is full of statements like “you MAY be covered,” and “we MAY be able to help,” etc. which is not at all comforting.

A particularly disturbing item is that intentionally inflicted injuries or damages are not covered. If guests decide to beat the crap out of each other or drown the kids in the bathtub you are on your own.

[Lisa723]

@Laura2592 I have a family member with an unvaccinated toddler who has used Airbnb a couple of times in the past year, for the first time, as a place to meet other family, within driving distance, without having to take public transportation or stay in a hotel. I'd guess that's not at all uncommon.

[Laura2592]

@Lisa723 Thanks for your reply! I guess I don't understand why people wouldn't just meet up at the actual family's spot with a new baby or little one? Seems risky and odd to take them to an unfamiliar space, especially one which is not set up for them. 

[Lisa723]

@Laura2592 in this case it's been a matter of splitting the driving difference, and getting out of the house, and neither family's home being large enough to accommodate everyone comfortably. And of course regarding setup/safety, (a) there's a huge range of expectations among parents about what that means, and (b) new Airbnb users who have not habitually rented vacation homes in the past are less likely to know that they need to review listings carefully and that there is a variety of expections and rules from host to host.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Laura2592  when I get a request for kids I say my Airbnb is not safe for kids so we don't host them and we don't have anything for kids - no cribs, no toys, no highchair, no plastic dishes... so it would be better if they find another place with all of that. And they all do, nobody insists

it was great while Airbnb has a so-called "Family circle" and we didn't get requests for kids at all. Then Airbnb removed it, unfortunately.

[Laura2592]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 we were in that "family circle" when we started. We had great guests until we had a couple who figured that "vacation" meant not watching their kids. When we asked about some damage they not so subtly threatened that our stairs were unsafe. And right around the same time we changed insurance carriers. It was the double whammy that made us jettison the whole infant contingent.

As I say we rarely got these requests and now 3 situations in a week. Hoping its not part of a larger trend. 

[Debra300]

@Laura2592,

I scroll this blogging looking specifically for new posts from you and @Inna22, because you all have the best experiences to share.  There is almost always a learned lesson to be had.

I don't get requests for babies, but often get them for dogs and small children.  In fact, my current long-term guest begged me to let her and her five year-old son stay in our apartment while her new house is closing escrow.  I eventually acquiesced, but charged her a deposit via the Resolution Center.  Thus far, he appears to be a pretty well-behaved child based upon a few Ring doorbell sightings.

[Inna22]

Thank you @Debra300 !

[Ryan2352]

We have gotten a few requests for infants which we do allow and even have one fold-up crib between our rentals that guests can reserve, subject to availability.  It's been a rather small fraction of our guests though.  I think one or two of them.  One needed a high chair (which we don't have) and we hooked them up with a baby equipment rental place nearby.  We'll probably go that route in the future for extra cribs, etc.

[Marie6762]

I dont have anything constructive to offer as I home host, 2 pp max ( though I have been ever-so-slightly weirded out by a mother-son then bro-sis sharing a queen bed...🤔)

I have read all of your recent posts and visited your wonderful listing.  Anyone & everyone coming to your area would love it, and inevitably some would be willing (entitled, oblivious, “special”) to test your rules for such a find! 

Sorry for the agro!

[Sarah977]

@Marie6762  You know, there are different cultural norms all over. There would be nothing particularly weird in Mexico for a mom and her son to share a bed, or a brother and sister. This happens a lot in countries where people can't afford a large home but have big families.

A friend of mine in Canada used to have a thing she did with her kids when they were old enough for adult books, where they would choose a book and take turns reading a chapter out loud to each other. 

They would often do this in bed at night, and sometimes they'd just fall asleep in mom's bed with her. So her son might be found sleeping with her in her bed at the age of 17.  There was nothing weird about it, and he's a perfectly normal guy, now in his 40's with a wife and 2 kids.

If family nembers are travelling together on a budget, they might very well book a place where they had to share a bed, if that was what was available. That doesn't mean they would still choose to sleep together if there were 2 beds.

[Marie6762]

@Sarah977

Yes - the sister and bro were from Mexico, and the Mom & son were from Paris.  🙂