We love to travel. We spent 2 years in Ecuador in a farming community. We have 4 kids ages 9, 7, 5, and 3. Pet and house sitting sounds very appealing to us… Many opportunities for experiences and memories. Have you been selected even though you have a large family?
Hi there
I am not a sitter with a family but you will find people on here who do housesit with their children. While the opportunities will be more limited, they are out there. Owners have the option to label their sit ‘family friendly’ so people with children know they are welcome to apply. You can also filter the search by this label as well.
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I appreciate the response! I have done searches using that filter, but just wanted to see if anyone with 4 kids has had success getting accepted by HO before I pay $ to sign up. I feel like 4 kids can seem overwhelming to some people. I’ll make sure to describe how amazing my kids are in our profile. Thank you.
Hi @trailglazers meet Jessica & William, The Swensons an inspirational family of 5 they continue to pet and housesit
One tip, owners put great store on references and reviews … have a coach, teacher or someone who has “professional” contact with your children to write a short reference on each having someone other than parents vouch for them is more powerful. Also share pics of them with pets, after all that is always the priority of owners how safe and happy will their furry family be.
Another tip we have families who apply for listings which don’t say “family friendly” obviously the home, location and environment has to be suitably big enough to accommodate a family of 6 and of course the animals have to be used to being in a busy household .
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Wow!! Thank you so much!! What a relief!!
Have you joined? We are a family with 3 children, and we are finding it difficult to find sits so far.
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I have this same question as a family of 5! I am both a HO and pet sitter and so far have only had success with myself and one child securing a sit. Recently, I had one HO tell me they wouldn’t be able to accommodate although the sleeping arrangements on the listing showed otherwise and another HO simply deleted their listing dates (changed their mind?).
In my application, I am upfront that it seems like a lot of people for their pet but that it would also mean more attention. I would love to hear from other HOs what criteria would attract them to host a family with kids!
I’ve noticed it’s fairly common ‘downunder’ that a family maybe doing a lap of Australia rocks up in an RV to do house sits…they pop into various FB groups to offer to sit and are pretty successful.
Thanks for the reply! Are you saying that these are THS families who are securing sits by joining local Facebook groups?
Well some are THS members with reviews to show HOs to give them confidence on FB house/pet sitting groups so yes… but booking a sit outside of THS is a risky business as no reviews or insurance at all. My impression of pet/house sitting is that Australia is a bit ‘wild west’ and much more relaxed as I suppose Aussies seemingly love going a bit walkabout and home schooling their kids… but just an impression I’ve got really. I don’t know if this helps at all?
The kind @IHeartAnimals is a family of 5 @ilovecheesenuggets and they’re pretty experienced and accomplished at getting sits all over the globe 
#connectiontime
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@ilovecheesenuggets how old are your children? This is likely to affect whether some hosts feel comfortable accepting you. Often families with similar aged children like to have other families to stay.
I did check for your sitter profile, but you only have a link to your homeowner listing. I admit to being a little surprised that a family of 5 who hope to housesit have not marked their own listing as family friendly and only offer a daybed and a blow up mattress.
Maybe consider what would make you comfortable accepting a family like yourselves as sitters in your own home? What reassurance could you give to hosts in your application that might address whatever concerns are holding you back from accepting a family yourselves?
Ultimately, some hosts will not be comfortable with or even expecting an appication from a family, however much space they may have. We"ve had those rejections too. If they are not ready for a family of sitters, it’s not a good fit.
It is just a case of keeping on trying. Once you have some good reviews it gets much easier. And you will almost certainly need to do some more ordinary sits before being accepted for more sought after ones. Getting reviews for a sit with just part of the family will be a good start.
I’m sure you would receive some useful feedback on your profile if you are able to link your sitter profile, to see if there is anything you can add to ot that might help.
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Okay thay makes sense and certainly sounds like a viable option. Thanks for your perspective.
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@Cuttlefish Everytime I see your profile photo, I start having cravings for squid lol. Hi @ilovecheesenuggets We also have a family of 5 and have completed 20+ sits since last March. I tried looking at your profile page to see if I could offer some advice but I only see your HO listing page. My first suggestion is to adjust your listing to include “Family Friendly” and then think about how a family would benefit your listing and then write up your sitter profile page to notate those family benefits. We’ve had all sorts pet parents who really appreciated our children taking care of their pets as I send lots of videos and photos that clearly show how much fun their pets have with our kids. Good luck
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As a HO, I’d be more likely to choose a couple or single vs. a family… only because it then requires a lot more effort and prep on my part to get my children’s rooms ready before leaving on a trip. It’s hard enough with the house and our rooms… but to add the two messiest rooms of the house and two extra beds is a lot on the morning of leaving.
Also- I’d be more likely to choose a family with older vs. younger children because my kids are a little iffy about having anyone “mess” with their things. It’s just easier to shut their doors and not have to deal with it!
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Hi @Debbie, I didn’t realize that my listing didn’t have that marked so will make that change. Thanks for noticing! “Family friendly” can mean a lot of different things for people - the accommodations we have set up for our own house would be a set up we would be comfortable with for our own family as we understand what living in a city is like. I do understand other HO offer their entire house but the hours to clean up an entire house prior to a sit is what precludes me from offering it at the moment. Also, I live in a touristy location so have mainly received applicants who are traveling solo…
I did include details for the sleeping arrangements because I also understand people will have their own experiences and assumptions of what a daybed or air bed is. It’s a regular bed mattress (not sure what a daybed mattress is like) and it’s a $350 air bed so not standard. We’ve hosted many people this way and have yet to have a complaint (& yes I acknowledge friends can be biased but we have know some direct people who would tell us otherwise ;). And I found out how to add the link!
These are the exact reasons I would have too so I appreciate you confirming. As a HO, it took me hours to prep for a single person to sit for us a few weeks ago. For a bigger family, I worry that the kids bedrooms will not be up to standards. I wonder if we’d have better luck in less touristy locations….
You don’t want to clean your own house for families, but you want others to do it for you and your family? Not sure you’re sending out the right karma here 
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@andrealovesanimals No, I would clean it for a family if I had already agreed to a sit but I would need to make extra bandwidth. It’s usually pretty chaotic prior to a trip, so I’m being realistic that it’s near impossible for my family to get the house to a standard I would want for a sitter.
So, the sentiment I’m getting is that because I’m a HO I should also offer my house to large families because I am also a pet sitter and expect the same. Fair point. However, I think it’s equally fair to say that live in a location that attracts more single applicants than large families so I don’t necessarily have to put in that extra effort (I say large because I think some profiles will have a parent traveling with 1 child). My original question was what would attract a HO to host a large family — I don’t think my willingness to host has anything to do with that. I understand the argument but that logic doesn’t add up for me.
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Thank you @Cuttlefish for the connection and @IHeartAnimals for your feedback. I think my profile is added now
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