Calling the police to check on a crying baby

Yeah, my baby was not a particularly big crier, but she did often cry for 30-60 minutes of an evening as the sun went down for the first 12 weeks. We soothed her constantly through this. At points she had nappy rash so we would change her, which would be the only time she wasn’t being soothed and probably intensified the crying. To me it felt like the crying remained intense and I doubt anyone would have heard the soothing as it was quiet. I am so glad nobody called the police because that would have broken me postpartum, but equally if OP had a gut feeling that can’t be ignored.

Who would subject themselves to any possible scenerio
Best to let them know police can follow up and stay out of it now days.
100m and can hear that.
Good on you Op.

My dd1 cried a lot! She was breastfed which did shut her up briefly but she really never could be settled awake until after 6 months or so, turned out she’s autistic. I’m sure our neighbours thought something was up though they would see one of on the shared balcony attempting to calm her regularly

You’ve done the right thing OP and in this instance police were the correct people to call. You were/are concerned a child is at immediate risk of harm.

Social services are not first responders - that’s the police. Social services are who will follow up in the morning.

The neighbours next to my partner would leave the baby crying during the night , but the screams would get louder and I could hear raised voices, this was over time, so I reported to children’s services , I didn’t care if I was wrong, if it was nothing then fine, but what if it wasn’t ? I’d do it again if I had to, I don’t know the outcome all I know is the baby sounded distressed and I’d rather intervene than do nothing.

You absolutely did the right thing. You were worried and so was your husband. Best to get these things checked out rather than wait for some devastating news report.

So if nothing was wrong, the likely exhausted family will feel targeted by neighbours calling the police on them for their crying baby. Poor sods. Hopefully they don't find out it was you.

This^^
OP called the police because she heard a baby crying for 30 minutes?? Wtf??!

Not just quite often, the vast majority of the time.

But people have confirmation bias, and the brain looks for patterns. If this turns out to be something, it will be a massive ego boost that tells them they have special senses and can just "tell".

If it is nothing, it will be instantly dismissed by the brain and never thought of again or registered as being wrong.

Neighbours always say 'Well yes i heard the baby / child crying. Yes i thought something was off'
When the police are investigating a child who has died

Always go with your instinct. No child ever died from a welfare check.

As a mum of 3 though there’s crying and there’s crying, and along with the slamming doors etc, better safe than sorry.

I don't think you were wrong to phone, but personally I wouldn't have without sending hubby down the road to ascertain more about what was going on first (having a dog for late dog walks are handy for this kind of thing) . Especially if there's never been any previous drama with said house in the past.

Everyone has their windows open atm, and sound carries a heck of a lot more than usual. Plus, from what you've said, I would want to know for definite the raised voices and car door slams were from the same house.

I'd maybe then have dropped a call to 101, and let their safeguarding triggers kick in.

Kids can be abused/neglected in warm weather too!

You did the right thing

Like others have said, I think the heat is an important factor here. My usually pretty chill baby has cried far more than usual today. She's totally fed up bless her, and me picking her up makes her cry more because I'm warm. Probably from a distance there have been points where it sounds like I'm not consoling her, when I've actually been trying different things. Including wiping her with cold wipes which has briefly made her cry more!

Not sure I agree with the "no harm done if it turns out to be nothing" responses. The mortification of having the police called out could be a real knock to confidence for a new parent. I think to place a police call I'd have actually spoken to the parents/carers first to work out if I think there's genuinely an issue and to sympathise with them if not.

Anyway, you've done it now. Hopefully it does turn out to be nothing and that baby is being well cared for.

Thank you for your reply @rubydoobydoo, but I am going to suggest that fights between adults, and not in a domestic situation, are less important than a baby potentially being neglected, and the possibility of the baby actually being abused, seems to be of more importance than a couple of drunk men fighting outside of a pub.

Burglaries in progress, do you get them reported very often? Won't your policeforce do just the same as so many others do now, and just give the victim a crime number?

However, I do agree with you ruby, that believed reports of someone openly having a weapon that can cause very bad, or even fatal damage, needs to be dealt with immediately. The same goes for anyone considered to realistically be in even potential danger of losing their lives. The latter being the where I would place @summermumma2021's phone call.

Yes, of course call handlers for all of the emergency services need to almost constantly prioritise one call over another, but imo, if the categories being chosen at any given moment, include the possibility that a child is in danger, then the child should be at the top of that list of priorities.

My neighbour's baby is constantly crying, you can hear him on the street and throughout our house, but you can only hear his parents trying to console him from the one room directly attached to their bedroom.

I wouldn't assume a baby crying 100m away wasn't being consoled because I couldn't hear an adult talking to it at a lower volume.

The raised voices and banging - did this sound like an argument or normal socialising? If they are new neighbours is there lots of coming and going with their belongings? People visiting them? If I thought there was potential domestic abuse I would call the police.

Some PPs are just too busy enjoying the role of witchfinder general on this thread to actually read properly.

Police dispatched at 00:47 and drove by your house 20 minutes later. They would have knocked on your door and they wouldn’t have mentioned other neighbours calling (but you said it’s just you close by). Sounds like nothing has come of it

Police most likely report to SS having being arounf and you then find yourself dealing with a visit from them. So much waste of time in our society today.
Because a neighbour didn't ask what was going on and had an explanation
Being a village all that or just being decent people not jumping to conclusions.

100% you did the right thing. If there’s something off and you did nothing and the kid dies then you wouldn’t forgive yourself. Act on your instincts, if it’s nothing then there’s no harm done; but don’t wait until you can’t hear the crying anymore. Get these kids the protection they deserve. If it feels wrong just report it

My dds six month old baby cried on and off most of last night. Has a throat infection, and poor thing was clearly in agony. She had been given antibiotics but they obviously take time to work. We would have been mortified if the police had turned up to the door. Babies cry for all sorts of reasons. Worried and sleep deprived parents can slam doors and raise voices in some situations. I think if it was a regular thing, crying etc on a nightly/daily basis, then I might call the police, but for a one off situation, I wouldn’t.