Guests arrive with baby

Louise I find your aggression offensive apart from the fact that you have totally misunderstood. I have absolutely no issue with mothers breastfeeding - anywhere. The mention of breastfeeding was to indicate the age of the child. What I object to is the dishonesty or deceit of not mentioning that you’re coming with a child, especially when it’s clear in the T&C’s which have to be agreed to before a booking.
Further, if you read my posts I had no intention of charging for an infant, that was someone elses suggestion.
If you’re unable to be polite and civil, please refrain from posting.

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Thank you Chris, you understood my post exactly. It’s the noise as well as safety issue, in my case of steps in and around the studio.

Breastfeeding isn’t an age. There are many who breastfeed til age 2 or 3. It came across as a negative, not an indicator of age. I expect they considered Airnb similar to hotels in that infants and young children are not usually listed on the reservation. There are adults only resorts, but they are very clear in the advertising. If your condo doesn’t allow children as overnight guests, it might be an idea to make that clear in your listing and any messages via Airnb.
The problem with posting online is that there is no tone, I’m sorry if I offended you. Just find it hard to accept so,much anti-children attitudes.

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Calling people money grubbing is not the way to win them over and has nothing to do with tone. I disagree with you that charging for children is anti-children. Do you expect all restaurants to offer free meals to children, theatres to give free seats to children, etc.? I love having children as guests, but it baffles me that parents don’t think they should pay for their children. If I have a couple who sleep in the same bed and use the same towel, I still charge for the extra person. I don’t understand why this should be different if the extra person is a child.

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I believe that attitudes toward charging for children are yet another example of the differences between many European countries and the U.S. In several European countries the government is incentivizing having children because shrinking generations mean slower economic growth. In the U.S. the government has done much less to incentivize child birth so we are not used to children and families being subsidized publicly or privately.

Since we host in our home, infants add to the expense of our peace and quiet. In my experience they cry - a lot. We have to listen to it. The diapers create more trash which prompts me to have to go downstairs to empty the trash every day when I normally wouldn’t. My extra person fee is small - but it offsets the drain on our energy listening to the crying, sometimes through the night.

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Young infants are definitely not “zero impact” in an accommodation. Based on my experience of traveling with my own babies:

  1. diapers can leak. I traveled with puppy pads to slip under the fitted sheet but once her diaper leaked when she was on the futon. I cleaned and dried it and told the host. Breastfed baby poop is a bright mustard color) and runny (sorry) and can get on sheets, and takes some effort to get out if you don’t wash it immediately. Babies almost always use several towels.

  2. you have to wake up a few times a night to feed which usually meant I was out in the living room with lights on, etc. I was also home more during nap time so it’s just more use of the apt and utilities.

  3. Babies spit-up, sometimes puke, and drool a lot. This can get on couches, pillows, and blankets.

  4. diapers in a garbage can really stink and if they don’t dispose throughout the day, the smell can permeate a garbage can for quite sometime

  5. Even short trips meant i needed to do laundry because infants go through a few outfits a day.

  6. Crying babies can bother the neighbors.

  7. Babies over 6 months are eating solid food which means kitchen use and food that’s thrown on the floor, etc.

I don’t charge for babies but that’s purely due to my hyper-sympathy towards traveling families – It doesn’t make economic sense at all. But I honestly think a non-mobile baby possibly consumes even more resources than an adult.

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I think you’re stretching a bit there. The US government subsidizes children and families by offering child tax credits, tuition being a tax deduction, allowing healthcare coverage, etc. You also have different tax filing status for singles and couples/families. Let’s also not forget concessionary pricing for children at restaurants and other venues (e.g. hotels, airplanes, etc.)

Many wants me to provide own bedding, towels, cot etc…

Please correct me if I am wrong…but didn’t you make the decision to not provide towels for your guests because you would need to raise your rates- as the dryer costs in your area are sky high? I completely respect that it’s your decision.

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On charging - or not for infants:
http://blog.airbnb.com/more-host-controls/?utm_source=November_Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=November_Newsletter_2017

thank you for contributing to this…as I know you are a young mother. And yes, my guests renting the whole home do stay in the the home much longer than a couple sans kids. My current guest is the first one who asked if it was possible for early check in and check out because his one year old needs naps. Keep in mind they live less than an hour away, so most likely just a means to ask anyway…lol.

Regardless of their request, you are correct in that more time will be spent in the home with a baby. And yes, I have discovered the permanent diaper stink thing in the bathroom garbages…ugh!

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thank you for the link Glad. For those hosts who even care about the latest shenanigans…Voila!:

Part of what makes welcoming guests exciting and rewarding is the chance for unexpected connections and shared experiences. But there are certain parts of a booking that shouldn’t be a surprise. And hosts have told us that sometimes they don’t have key information about who’s going to arrive for a reservation, or what time they’ll be getting to the listing.

As we work to better match hosts to guests, we want to make sure you have the right controls and information to manage your listing. We’re gradually launching new controls in your House Rules for children, infants, pets, and preferred arrival times.

You can choose how to use the new settings. Here’s how they may impact your reservations:

Infants (under 2 years of age) will not count toward your guest maximum. You can specify whether your home is safe or suitable for infants, and note the maximum number of infants you can accommodate, in your House Rules.
Travelers won’t be charged additional guest fees for infants or pets. If you want to charge an additional fee, put those details in your House Rules and collect the fee using the Resolutions Center.
Children (ages 2-12 years) will continue to be counted and charged in the same way adults are. You’ll be able to set the maximum number of children you can accommodate, and should also mention this restriction in your House Rules.
You’ll be able to put in a window of time when you prefer for guests to arrive. We’re updating how your check-in time appears on your listing page and making it more prominent when travelers book your space.
If you have Instant Book turned on and a traveler is making a reservation that starts within 2 days, they’ll have to confirm that they’ll arrive during your preferred check-in window. If they can’t arrive during that range, they’ll have to request a reservation.
To help you prepare for your guests’ arrival, we’ll be showing you how many guests are coming, how many of them are kids and infants, if they plan on bringing pets, and their check-in time if guests know it. This information will appear in your reservation requests and booking confirmations.

Guests will see these new settings and all your other House Rules before they complete their booking and are expected to agree to them. If you turn on Instant Book and you’re ever uncomfortable with a reservation, you can cancel penalty-free. We want you to feel confident that the guests you welcome are a great match for your space and your hosting style, especially when you offer the convenience of allowing them to book instantly.

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bahahaha…is Air so ARRrogant (pun intended) that they truly believe everyone is going to open their doors to everyone’s screaming kid and piss ass dog? And not charge? Because we all have friends who WILL and they DO claim to having house trained dogs, and they are far from it. I honestly don’t even know how pet-friendly rentals with wall to wall carpet even survive. So many people lie about their dogs. Maybe piss cleaner is better these days??

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Thanks, better way to share!

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Glad…it’s actually pointless most times to bother to share. People will continue to ignore that Air is not their friend/partner, etc. They will justify that by saying “see…Air is still allowing me to charge in my house rules.” - They will gobble up all the nonsense Air feeds them. And they will truck along until the droppings come to a halt, and they have no idea that Air is purposely spreading the bookings around. It is Homeaway fiasco repeated all over again. But everyone will continue on UNTIL it affects them personally.

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I had a friend of my partner and his wife ‘book’ the room (said they didn’t know how to book online) and bring their toddler, 1 and a half. (Although I have a not suitable for children policy as there is an unfenced pool in our complex). What a disaster. The mother proceeded to toddler proof the room, and the whole house, by hiding everything within his reach. Still cant find where she hid everything as she didn’t put it back - the remote for the TV in the room is still missing. When they left (they ‘forgot’ to pay, twice) I found stains (?) all over the lounge chair in the room and the stained (?) mattress protector stuffed into a cupboard. The house was full of mosquitos as the toddler liked to leave the front door wide open. Still think toddlers are no trouble?? Never again!

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Louise in the Western world the vast majority don’t breastfed to 2 or 3 years, In the US for example only 20% are still breastfed at 6 months.

The issue for @Glad here is that the parents turned up announced with a baby despite the fact the house rules clearly don’t allow under 2’s - rude and arrogant.

No point just mentioning to the husband. Mention it to both of them. Something like that you were surprised to see them turn up with an infant in tow, when your listing clearly says not suitable for under 2’s. This is because of the environment you live in with noise carrying which can upset your neighbours.

That of course you will accommodate them but feel it would have been courteous if they would be spoken to you before confirming the booking to see if this would be okay rather than just turning up and presenting you with a fait accompli.

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Guests with babies ought to be given instructions about how to dispose of diapers so they don’t ruin your garbage cans (most families have diaper pails at home but will just throw dirty diapers in your garbage bins when traveling). At the very least, give them additional plastic bags (although they should be traveling with these anyway) and several plastic or paper bags to put the wrapped diapers in – they should be told how to dispose of this everyday in an outside garbage can. Diapers should never be placed into regular garbage bins in the bathroom, etc. as the smell will permeate the plastic and it doesn’t come out without soaking or airing for several days which is totally unfeasible when new guests are checking in the same or next day. Newborns can go through up to 10 diapers a day.

One of the many reasons I don’t own plastic wastebaskets. My guest rooms have metal bins, that I line with [shudder; hate the environmental impact] plastic liners.

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