If you had a toddler and lived above people would you be mindful of the noise they made indoors?

Question

Especially if your downstairs neighbours had a new baby and had knocked twice to ask you to be considerate?

(I ask this as my [new] upstairs neighbours let their toddler run about and scream and shout at all hours on the wooden floor they have above our bedroom - we have asked if he can 'play' elsewhere - they even have another floor above! However no amount of polite requests seem to have worked!)

Answer 1

i have to children a 5 year old and a 13 month old. My 5 year old is constantly running or jumping, I and my husband tell her running is for outside and jumping is for outside. We live on the second floor. It is not to much to ask to keep the noise down.

Answer 2

If I had a newborn baby who couldn't sleep through the noises of a child playing on the floor above, I wold either ask the manager if I could switch apartments, try to find a more quiet area of the apartment for my baby to sleep, try to muffle the noise, (by playing soft music during nap times or running a loud fan for white nose), or I would let me baby learn to sleep through the noise.

If I were a parent of a toddler who lived above a newborn baby whose parents have already complained about the noise, I would speak to the manager about moving my downstairs neighbors to another apartment.

Not to be rude, but the problem is yours...not your neighbor's.

If your neighbor was doing something like having parties all night or yelling and fighting loudly, then you would have a right to complain.  But you're speaking about a child who is doing what children do; run and play.  And yes, playing with toys cars at 6am is perfectly normal behavior for a two year old

**********ANSWER TO: If you had a toddler and lived above people would you be mindful of the noise they made indoors?

I would only be as mindful as I would at any other time for any other neighbor.  I would probably not allow my children to run and jump from like 9pm to 6am.  Any other time, I would allow them to act normal (which doesn't involve much running and jumping in the house in my home anyway.  But toy cars...most definitely!)

Answer 3

Well it depends on the time of day..if its normal hours then their kid is expected to be awake and playing. That is just the breaks of living in an apt/townhome. And they shouldnt be considerate of you just because you have a baby they should be considerate no matter who lives below them.  Maybe you should consider changing apts.?

Answer 4

I cant get over the rudeness of people who have wooden/laminate flooring in flats.  You can hear your neighbours farting it doesnt matter whether they have kids or not.

As for the kid, I'm afraid you will just need to grin and bear it.  Just wait until your baby is three and offer a house swap lol

Answer 5

I honestly don't know what you can do about this.  I would be very frustrated and upset about  how inconsiderate your neighbours are but since you have asked them nicely to do something about it it seems pretty clear they are not very accomodating.

Answer 6

We lived in an upstairs apartment and every other weekend we had my stepdaughter who was 2 yrs old at the time. I felt HORRIBLE every other weekend for my poor neighbor downstairs! But in our defense, you can hear a pin drop between the d**n walls so even if we tip toed it probably sounded like a herd of elephants was pounding through.

She would always jump off the couch onto the floor or off our bed onto the floor. And I would cringe with each THUD just because I felt bad. So we’d usually avoid any “rough play” in the mornings and try taking things outside more often. Rainy days we’d pull out art projects but hey, a kid can only do art for so many hours on a crappy rainy day. So we always did the best we could with respecting that someone else lives downstairs….

She never complained to us, but I’m sure she was happy as h**l to see us move out. LOL.

Answer 7

Your baby may be good now but I promise that will change.

Especially when he starts teething, or goes through growth spurts or turns into a toddler himself.

Then you willbe here making excuses for all the noises your child is making.

I am not being nasty but it is a fact of life. Children are noisy and Yours will be the same.

I am the mother of a 2 year old and I would not be happy for my daughter to play upstairs on her own. You never know what she will get up to, and I could not sit up there with her all day to keep neighbours happy.

As much as you can try and keep a toddler quiet they have short attention spans. So even if my daughter is looking at a book, or watching TV you can be sure that in a few mins she will be on the look out to do something different.

I used to live in a mid terrace house when my daughter was a baby. The walls between the three houses seemed like they were paper thin.

I could hear my neighbours son all day starting from about 6.30am till about 8.30pm. But we learned to live with it, and my daughter was able to sleep through the noise as she was used to it from a young age.

Your baby will be able too as well.

I would never have stopped my neighbour's son from playing, as that is what children do.

As for them buying carpets. Well carpets are expensive so perhaps they do not have the money to do that. I know that we have not had enough money to finish carpeting upstairs in our house yet, and have only just finished laying flooring downstairs

Also laminate/wood floors are great when you have young children who make a lot of mess. It is so easy to sweep and mop up.

Perhaps they could get a rug for him to play on, or you could get them one.

You could try reporting the noise to the council but it is almost guaranteed they will not be able to do anything. At the end of the day it is a toddler doing what they normally do. HAVING FUN

Answer 8

I think that you have already done what you can do.  You have mentioned it politely to the parents of the child, and they have obviously chosen to ignore your requests.  

It's not really reasonable to expect someone else to censor their movements within their own home or modify their home to suit your needs.  While I agree it's annoying, you should look to modifications YOU can make, and not how others can accommodate you.  Is the noise causing your child to not be able to sleep or is it just a nuisance?  If it really is as bad as you claim, contact your landlord to make a noise complaint or your local police station for the same reason if you don't have a landlord.  

Answer 9

well if i was living in a apartment with a toddler, i would be mindful of the noise we made if there was a baby living downstairs (congratulations on your little boy ;-) )

I dunno what you can do though if you have asked politely and they have ignored you, maybe find which bedroom THEY sleep in and when your baby has colic (or a crying fit) make sure you take your son into the room below their bedroom ...they may just get the message..

good luck x

Answer 10

Definitely.  I live on the second floor.  My son has now decided that one of his favorite things to do is bang on the floors.  During the day, it's okay... But at night if he does it, I try to stop him, just to be considerate.

But... now that I'm moving it won't matter anymore, lol

Answer 11

If you rent, you can speak with the property manager.  I think by speaking with the neighbor you did the right thing.  However, asking the toddler if he can play elsewhere is over stepping your boundaries, it's kind of like your neighbor asking if you can live somewhere else.  when your new baby becomes a toddler, you'll become much more tolerant of the unimaginable.  Maybe they do not have the money for carpet--the cost of an inexpensive area rug might be "priceless" to you and your sanity.  Not being in the situation, they probably have no idea of the noise volume--toddlers are active and no matter how much parents ask, beg, kids have a mind of their own.  Maybe you should invite one of them down for tea, while their child is running around--then maybe they'll understand.  Good Luck.

Answer 12

My daughter is in this situation of living under a flat with laminated flooring, it was how they were built, no idea went into the planning of these constructions, did they think of soundproofing flooring etc? Theirs  is quite modern which they have bought, but they are  thinking of selling after a year after sleeping with ear buds in every night. But the ones above even put the washing machine on at midnight! they can clearly hear the flush and every foot step clearly, not mentioning music radio stereo etc.  I blame it on the building requirements that are not reasonably stated to build the properties to certain requirements.  

Answer 13

I would be mind-ful but there may not be anything you can do if the noise is during "regular" hours of lets say 9am to 9pm when any neighbor might be likely to make noise also.

Answer 14

I used to live in a flat and the neighbours above had wooden floors. It was a nightmare and you could hear them thuddling about all night (they were up until after 12 everynight). When we checked the deeds to the flat there was a stipulation that all floors had to be carpeted. We mentioned this to the neighbours and they got carpets. It didnt cut all the noise out but the majority. Have you checked to see if this applies to you also?  

Answer 15

YES!! My son is absolutely NOT allowed to run in the hallway, which is where the laminate is. He is never allowed to scream all day, and although obviously he plays, if I feel he's getting too loud he's told no.

If polite requests aren't working then I would suggest speaking to their landlord. If that doesn't work then get environmental health out to record the level of noise so you can put proper complaints in.

Answer 16

I understand you fully here, I would ask them once more and if I did not get the response I wanted I would take it further. I would contact the relevant people and get it sorted. As I do not know the circumstances then the relevant people are the council? landlord/ police.

Answer 17

The joys of living in an apartment.  I admit with a three year old, it would be very hard.  I don't have the opportunity to take her ouside all the time.  But, however, if I were your neighbor and I knew you had a newborn I'd put forth some effort to be quite.  If you were civil as you say you have been I'd even go as far as try to work craft/ art time and other quiet activities aound your nap schedule.  Unfortunately that is a very hard thing to request another parent to do.

Answer 18

I live in a townhouse with unbelievably thin walls, I have a 2year old and a 5month old and my neighbor has a 4 year old and a newborn.  So we're both in the same boat as far as noise.  We actually have worked out our kids nap times together so our toddlers can still play and not disturb the other ones babies.  That might work out for you, if they are willing to do so.  It's hard to expect a toddler to play quietly at all times, but it's also unreasonable for them to not be willing to accomodate your new baby (especially if they have another floor, that is weird they won't just let the toddler play upstairs).  That toddler was a baby too once, the parents really should be more understanding.

I find when it comes to neighbors, it's best to try to work something out together as opposed to just complaining.  If you just bang on their door and tell them to keep it down, it comes off as accusatory and they'll probably just ignore you.  It might help if you could actually sit down with them, let them get to know you, and explain what the problem is.  You might want to consider a "peace offering" too, maybe a quiet activity for their toddler like a coloring book and crayons, or play-doh, you don't need to spend more than a couple dollars and it will make you look like the "nice neighbor" as opposed to the whiny one.

Answer 19

Did you ask say after 10 (or whichever time would be best) at night if they mind not having the little ones run around?  If you could win that battle (of not having to deal with it at night), it's a step.  You could always try talking to the apartment managers and see what they say and if not, hate to say it, move.  And if you do move, pick the second floor so it doesn't happen again.  

******You could try checking out moveforfree.com so you wouldn't have to worry about that part of it.  My sister in law did it but opted for the cash instead.  You get the same price for the apt as you would if you just walked in without a reference, but the apt complex pays the company money out of what they would use for promotions.  You know, how in some apts if you refer someone you get $50+ off your rent?  I've actually been in apt where it was $500 for a reference.