Anyone tried housesitting

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I want to spend between 6 and 8 weeks in Germany next year with my six year old. We are flexible on location as long is it is easily accessible on public transport from the airport and also flexible on dates, anytime from mid June to the beginning of September.

Considering house sitting as a way of keeping accommodation costs down but I am unsure if people are willing to have small children in their house or if house-sitting is normally exclusively for adults on their own rather than families.

Also unsure if we would be able to find a place for so long or of places are normally offered for just one of two weeks.

If anyone has ever tried it, it would be great to hear experiences.

Does it count as unpaid 'work' under EU law? It does in the USA and they've been detaining people on arrival and deporting them.

Do you speak German? I'd imagine people handing over their homes to housesitters want someone who speaks the local language.

This sounds really fun! What a great idea.

i have used house sitters who are actually pet sitters. So if you offered to look after goldfish / cats etc then that will increase the range of options available.

I would be happy with a child staying as it’s just you two and not a large family, especially if it was emphasised that the child was calm and responsible.

most people will go away for two weeks rather than the whole six weeks so if you are willing to move about a bit then you can expect to have more options.

Trusted pet sitters is the site I have used for pet sitting. They also do trusted house sitters where no pets are involved, but there must be less demand for that!

We have no problem looking after pets.y son would probably really enjoy it. He's always asking for all kinds of animals as pets.

We both have EU passports and speak German although my son's German is not at the standard I would like which is why I want to do the extended holiday there. No family or friends in the country to stay with though.

Would you also consider house swapping? Maybe there is someone in Germany who would like a couple of months in the UK to improve their English. We have done a lot of house swaps (I did an AMA about it on here) and never had a bad experience, although the longest was 3 weeks.

Wouldn't rule out a house swap but I would be more cautious about it and it's something I would have to research a lot more regarding the implications for my insurance policies and mortgage contract.
We alre also not in a particularly attractive area and our house is not amazing so not sure we would have any takers.

Just in case anyone is interested. I have been on trusted house sitters this afternoon and they have an option for filter for family friendly hosts and there were some options there but most of the things on offer were for less than two weeks so not really what I am looking for although I will check back again nearer the time to see if I get lucky.