Hi,
In my listing I didn’t specify allowing families to housesit because I’m not sure what ages I would be ok with. I’m open to it somewhat, but also concerned about how kid friendly our house/property need to be. Any experiences people can share?
Thanks,
Monty
I have kids myself and we’ve had animals all their lives. We’ve also swapped homes every summer with other families. So in principle I would recommend.
Are there something in particular with your home or pets that is something you worry about having children visit in general, or is it «the unknown» with children you don’t know?
For a home with adults only normally, one can for instance say children 12+. Often they are then more aware of animals needs also Even without having Pets themselves. You could however look for families where there are older children that have pet experience.
I have heard from two owners I’ve housesat for and remain friends with that their experiences with families was dreadful & they wouldn’t repeat it. However, the children were quite young. There are a few families here on the forum who have older children & consistently get great reviews. Hopefully they’ll respond here.The best way with any applicants, including families, is to read their reviews and have a video call with them.
I sat with my grandchildren for the first time this summer. They are 8 and 13. We had a wonderful time and I am very thankful the hosts took the chance on us.
Having dogs themselves they were great with them but fascinated with the Guinea pigs, rabbits and cats. Both were very respectful of being in someone else’s home. They knew not to go into any of the drawers and wardrobes in their bedroom and they had their own toys with them so didn’t touch anyone else’s. They loved to walk and the after dinner activity was finding tomorrow’s walk.
It was such a success the older one is planning where we are going next year. I haven’t told her yet but I have secured a three week sit in Cornwall beside a beautiful beach.
I once was on a sit with two energetic labradors that were too much for me to handle at the same time. Then @Debbie came by with her sons. On a long walk, the boys taught them to behave together. After that, those two dogs were a delight.
We sit as a couple, not as a family. However, on a wonderful return-sit in France this year, our lovely hosts gave permission for our daughter and our two grandsons - aged 9 and 12 - to join us for a week.
The pet is an old-lady cat who essentially lives outside and only comes inside to eat (this is her routine, as stated in the welcome guide and as witnessed during our last sit). She is a scaredy-cat, not at all aggressive but is very anxious about personal contact and avoids it wherever possible (including with her pet parents). Until she met our 9 year old grandson, that is. For some reason, she made a bee-line for him, jumped on his chair and didn’t just allow him to stroke her, she actively demanded it; brushing her head against his hand, climbing onto his knee, kneading him and purring like a little engine and then throwing herself on her back beside him! We videoed this lovely exchange and sent it to the pet parents, who were as astonished as we were!
I have to say, our grandson is always quiet, calm and gentle with animals. During this interaction - which was repeated many times during his stay and always initiated by the kitty, he rarely spoke, just allowed her to express affection and reciprocated accordingly. It was truly lovely to watch, and a real testament to the potential bond between children and animals.
We had our first family sitting this summer, a couple with 4 year old twins.Like you I was very concerned about child proofing- my own kids are teenagers now so it’s a while since the house has been child proofed! As with almost everything I figured the way to approach it was to talk it through in the video chat. The mum came across as a super capable unflappable person with loads of experience of petsitting and their reviews were excellent. They had been travelling and petsitting as a family for several months and she assured me that I didn’t need to do any childproofing, she always explained boundaries to her kids and they were used to being in other people’s houses and not touching stuff they were told not to touch. I got such a confidence-inspiring vibe from her I was happy to take her at her word. On my own initiative I did borrow some little bikes and wheelie toys and a box of random indoor toys that were about to be given away from family members and they were extremely surprised and appreciative of those. The sit went really well- they sent regular updates and the animals were clearly thriving on all the extra love, fun and attention from the children. Our shy dog really bonded with the little girl. The cats can be quite aloof but again she had reassured me that the kids knew not to bother cats and I could see from the updates that the cats were actively choosing to spend time around them.
The house was fantastically clean and tidy when we got back. There was one breakage: a small ceramic candleholder. We got back to find it had been cracked, glued back together and €20 left to replace it. She texted me to ask if this was ok and I told her I wished she’d told me when it happened so I could have told her it was one of three in a pack I got for €6 10 years ago! We agreed I’d spend the €20 on a nice bottle of wine for my sister-in-law next door who had lent some of the toys and let them use her swing set.
Edited to add, my teenagers initially weren’t keen and were anxious about kids going into their rooms- I simply explained in the video chat that those two rooms were private and the doors would stay closed, and it seems to have been completely respected.
So in short, it was a really positive experience, on both sides I hope, and I would be very positively disposed to having a family again, but I would always assess case-by-case and go with my gut.
Edited to add @Monty0 I just looked at your gorgeous listing and I can see that as a ceramic artist, you have a lot more stuff than I do that you would understandably be upset about if it was broken! So I could see that you might be a bit more risk-averse than I am especially with younger kids.
Edited: I should have looked at your listing-I see you do have house full of breakables! if we were to apply for your sit (it looks amazing, but we are in the uk!!) I would be talking to you about any concerns I had about breakables. If I’m honest, I’d be surprised if you got applications from families with younger kids- as a parent I’d be stressing about them knocking something over or breaking something, it wouldn’t be worth it!
Hi! We usually sit as a family of 4 (kids 10 and 12). I do choose sits very carefully though, and get refused for loads cos i think people do generally prefer single/couple sitters(which is fair- we will be needing sitters for our cat in the future and i would prefer less people just for ease when getting ready to go away!). We definitely gravitate towards family houses but certainly not exclusively. I think out of about 11 sits 6 have been child free homes, but they all been listed as family friendly. I’ve also definitely developed a sense of the type of place that wont work for us; we avoid anywhere that is too shiny, or talks too much about how cleanliness is important- not because we aren’t clean but because it would stress me out unnecessarily.
I don’t think there’s anything in particular you need to do if you are willing to have families to stay unless you have a house full of breakables. But I would say consider the ages you are happy with and what works for your pets- are nthey used to kids? I know I’d be ok with babes in arms for example, but I wouldn’t want toddlers up to about age 5 - I think it would stress our cat too much and I’d be worried about such young children unattended with any pet.
I would also consider what rooms you are ok with having children sleeping, and how much work it is to prepare the house for a family- is it worth it for you? At the end of the day, it’s totally fine to have preferences.
What i will say though is i am always really grateful to people who do take a chance on hosting us as it can be incredibly hard to find family friendly cat sits during school holidays ( my oldest is terrified of jumpy, barky dogs so we tend to sit for cats only). I’m probably more careful because of the kids - I definitely clean more while sitting than I do st home! And I’m always very conscious of what we consume, and if I can’t replace for any reason always leave some money.
Also, it’s worth considering that your pets get so much more attention when there’s a family to stay than with a solo/couple. We usually fight over who gets the cat and my son ALWAYS wins because cats love him. We recently looked after a lovely old cat and the owner messaged the other day to say how much her cat misses us because we gave her so much attention, way more than she usually gets poor thing!
We once stayed at a return sit (not via ths) with some friends and one of the kids stood on what they thought was a wooden stool, which promptly broke. (None of us was with them so didn’t see what happened exactly)
It looked quite old so Panic ensued, we went all over to find wood glue, sanded, fixed, all the stuff and it was good as new. I messaged the homeowner because it felt wrong not to say we broke it but it’s fixed- she messaged back saying her kid stood on it before they left and it was probably already half snapped when it happened! 
Our listing is unfortunately not open to children and we only accept 1-2ish people at a time due to space but there are tons of great families on the platform.
It’s best to have a think through what you think makes sense for you and then just spell it out in your listing so people who look at your listing don’t waste your or their time unnecessarily. You can also call out that your home is not suitable for kids under xyz and state why.
You can also just say you’re open to sits with families on a case by case basis. I think if we did accept children, our cutoff would be that anyone who stayed would have to be old enough to be able to read and understand our welcome documentation for themselves so they understand the house and pet guidelines. But again, so what works for you.
That sounds like my son. No matter where and how long we went on vacation he would attract all the cats in that area. He’s long an adult now but always has tight connection with cats. Right now he’s very close with a 18 year old Siamese mix and I am already afraid if that sweet little kitty will go how it will haunt him…
I believe you need to vet any families very carefully. Some will be great. But i sat for somebody who had a terrible experience. They arrived early( had asked) but wasn’t really convenient. The woman seemed to work from home and her partner jiust lazed around. The children jumping all over the place. They treated the place like their own, turning central heating up without asking etc. Owner wasn’t happy leaving them but had no choice. Didn’t think her dogs were given much attention or taken out much. When she arrived back they stayed another three days and she could not get rid of them. Kept making excuses and she said she felt like a lodger in her own home, as they walked around doing things, as if she was not there. Heating, TV, oven, hob etc. all being used as they wanted and just doing there own thing. This was a couple of years back now. Hopefully you won’t have these problems.