Earliest reasonable time for a five-year-old to play in the garden

[DriveVerySlowlyPastNumber23IWantThemToSeeMyHat]

What is the earliest reasonable time a child should play out in the garden?

We live on a VERY busy main road - even at 2am, there are always cars and lorries trundling past.

DD is 5 and has a naturally loud voice 🙈

Well, you've certainly given me lots to think about, and I will spend the rest of my day contemplating how I am contributing to society's problems when I could be doing much better things like calling people jealous and ignorant for letting their kids go out an hour earlier than me or comparing perfectly normal people to Hitler. Thanks also for allowing me to reply, very benevolent of you!

I had my toddler out just before 7am yesterday without guilt. Because if the neighbours next door get up to swear at each other later, I had best get him in the garden before they can start their antisocial crap!

The neighbours on the other side have a baby who cries pretty loudly regularly, and their 7yo loves our toddler but will kind of bait him and wind him up over the fence.

It's all relative to circumstance IMO. If you're in a neighbourhood that's as quiet as the grave, then fine, aim for later.

But if people are antisocial at any time of day, they can only expect others to do what suits them too.

Part of being pro-social is accepting that sometimes you'll be mildly inconvenienced by other people just existing and that's ok.

Personally I'd rather be on a street with a bit of give and take than one that had curfews and curtain twitchers.

I think 8am is perfectly ok any day of the week. Even 7/7.30 during school holidays & heatwave times. But no obviously noisy activities until a bit later & work on the “quiet voices” (don’t be that parent that is noisier than the child by shouting at them to shut up)
You obviously get on well with your neighbours so easy to give them opportunity to let you know if there’s a specific reason why your daughter talking outside is upsetting “Hi neighbour, hope we didn’t disturb you this morning, this weather is just too good not to take advantage of”

You sound like a very considerate neighbour.

7am is fine. Most people are up by 7 to go into work.

To be honest, you're the one that's coming across as appalling. Many people have voiced their opinion - why target FatandFrumpy20?

Very rude indeed.

I think normally after 9 if they are really loud - but at 5 I’d expect they could know it’s earlier so no shouting out there if they want to go outside and I’d let them out earlier. I was after 10 on the trampoline as that used to squeak and didn’t think that was fair!

The council defines unsociable noise as before 7 which doesn’t even include children playing. 7 is perfectly reasonable.

Just been woken up by neighbour’s child in the garden. Why would people be so selfish? I get it that small children can be frustrating to entertain but waking up the whole street at 5:30 in the morning is so unfair.
i would never have let mine out until 8am at the very earliest.

Mine were early risers so sometimes I’d take them to one of the local parks. My almost 18 year old DS still remembers his 7th birthday when he went on the zip wire 16 times at 6am. He hasn’t seen 6am for a long time now 😂

DH just went outside and glared at neighbour who was out there in his boxers with child (this is outside in front drive of their house not even in back garden). The guy said “oh sorry” so dh said “it’s a bit early”. They have now gone back inside.

Just hope we haven’t started something (they are new neighbours). It’s been nice and calm since the last disruption in our street (other neighbour honking their horn every time they arrived and left the house - all times of day and night)

Perhaps they were woken up at 7am by a neighbouring child with a loud voice?

What was he doing out at the front garden with a child? Back gardens are for playing. Perhaps he was surveying the front garden with a view to gardening later, or car washing. That wouldn't bother me as long as not too early, people do have to do jobs at the front of a house.

8 weekend days 9 at weekend. Even after these times I would say no shouting or screaming allowed

Encourage a quieter voice rather than a foghorn.

Definitely no earlier than 9am, and tbh I’d say 10am in a Sunday. Mine were very early risers for years, but I wouldn’t dream of being an inconsiderate neighbour.

The garage was open and the kid was playing in front of the garage - assume with toys from garage? They have not long moved in. I am guessing dad brought kid outside to not wake up the rest of his house (multi-generational house) but instead has probably woken up the rest of the street. It was 5:30am - definitely too early!

In my area, a few people play in their front garden as it's a lot bigger than their back garden 😊

This is something we are working on 😊

In this heat wave I’d say 7:30 is fine. But if you can tell if your neighbours are up then whenever. (I have teens so no skin in this game).

7am - way too early
8am - reasonable
9am - ideally