To want neighbours to keep World Cup noise to a minimum for sake of our newborn?

[Elastigrrrl]

This is a bit of a preemptive Aibu (and my first, so grateful for gentleness).

Our PFB is due any day now. Our neighbours like football and often celebrate/moan loudly during matches, just over what will be the baby's room (don't really have the luxury of using a different room). If this happens during the relatively late night World Cup matches, WIBU to ask them to keep it down? MIL says baby is more likely to be woken by his own movements and needs than any external noise source, so it probably won't be an issue. Would you agree, and alternatively if the noise does bother him (or us), is it ok to have a polite word? If the polite approach doesn't work, what would you do?

By the way, it is highly unlikely that the baby crying will disturb them, because noise travels down not up in our block of flats.

Before you say anything I would wait and see whether your baby is the standard-issue awake-all-evening variety ;)

Loud music regularly or things like that - fair enough, I can see how it would drive people to madness.

A 90 minute football match on the other hand doesn't seem unreasonable. There will probably only be 4 or 5 games spaced over a month or so, can't you just live and let live?

Each game will only be 90 mins long so quite reasonably perhaps you can expect 2 - 3 hours of relative noise on each occasion if they have a few people over to watch the game. If a specific game falls very late at night then can you go round and say that you realise that during the game there will be noise and you're not expecting them to be quiet as a church mouse, but in the lead up to the game and afterwards would they keep it down?

You'll have plenty of advance notice of when the games will be so can plan to be elsewhere or something.

Thanks ladies, very sound advice all round. I will see how it goes with a general assumption it won't be an issue.

Totally agree if it's in their own place they have a right to make noise, but not after 11 pm as that's the policy in our block. You are right some noise is probably a good thing, it was just hard to know what will actually disturb the baby. their shouting at one stage was so loud and mournful, I literally thought someone had just been found dead!

Re SIDS risk: We are taking turns sleeping in the same room as the baby, so hopefully following the guidelines but allowing each of us a bit extra sleep, though obviously I'll have to wake for feeds anyway. Having reviewed the evidence, I'm not entirely convinced it's a necessity actually and rather think it is up to individual parents to decide, but this is our plan anyway to be 'on the safe side.' I digress!

To those who have pointed out that the baby might disturb the neighbours: as I said in the original post, the noise travels down not up in our flats. Long story but it won't be an issue for the downstairs neighbours. Thanks for the perspective though.

Thanks all round for your thoughts, especially the kind congratulations

I think that (unless the noise is totally horrific) I'd be biting my tongue as you need your neighbours to be prepared to overlook your babies crying for the next few years months. If you complain about them for nose over a couple of weeks of the world cup, they are going to be much less tolerant of your baby crying indefinitely.

The baby won't be bothered by the noise.

It might even be a good thing - if the baby can learn to sleep through/not be bothered by that noise, hopefully they will sleep through anything.

When MIL brought dh home from the hospital, she put the phone under his cot, so he'd learn to sleep through noise. It worked - all too well - he can sleep through anything! I used to have to elbow him in the ribs, in a 'turned-over-in-my-sleep-and-elbowed-him-accidentally' way, so that sometimes he'd wake up to deal with wailing children in the night.

Just to add, England will probably be out after the group stages anyway so there won't be too many matches to deal with..

Only the match on 14th kicks off at 11 - the rest are all earlier in the evening so not breaking any rules although you'd think common sense would indicate there are going to be exceptions, but I digress.

You are rather presuming that you will get a baby who is awake in the day and asleep at night - good luck with that!

But have to agree with everyone else, babies sleep through all sorts of noise, you don't need to worry about a bit of cheering / groaning from another flat disturbing him/her - much more likely to be your baby disturbing the neighbours.

worst thing I ever did was not make more noise around my DD sleeping. i.e. not putting the hoover on etc etc....

Just see how it goes and see if baby is affected. You might find it doesn't bother it at all and baby sleeps very soundly.

YANBU.

I had loud neighbors when my PFB was born and asked them to please keep it down (it was during "sociable hours" but the music was BLARING and it's not necessary IMO). I was told "you aren't the only person in the world to have a baby, get over yourself" .

We moved a month later.

To add: baby will be fine. It will be a sleep deprived you who won't be able to sleep through the unnecessary noise.

First game is this Saturday at 11pm so try to have the baby then & you'll get away from them

Next two games are at 5pm & 8pm