Neighbour complaining about jumparoo

[SeaLeaf]

We live in a first floor apartment. Downstairs neighbour is complaining about 'thumping' noise when baby goes in jumparoo! I've put a foam mat under it and tried moving it to other rooms but she still complains! We have wood floors everywhere and I prefer to keep it in kitchen so I can cook!

He's 7months and uses it for about 30mins at a time, usually 7am, 9am, 1pm, 3pm, 6pm.

I feel she should put up with it, you can't expect silence in a building with families and what will happen when he's older and starts running and jumping?
Why should he be denied playtime in his favourite toy?

What do others think?

Some apartment blocks/divided houses have it written into the contract of sale that an upstairs flat should be carpeted. My mother suffered this in London with an upstairs neighbour who took them up and put wood floors in. The washing machine was a particular bugbear!

I live downstairs from a rented tenement apartment with stripped floorboards and no soundproofing. The last 8 years have been an ordeal. Unfortunately I own and can't afford to sell at the mo.

If upstairs installed a jumperoo and proceeded to use it 5 x a day I think there would be blood shed (OP's, not her innocent baby's).

OP, I think you have no idea of the level of noise produced by even normal activity on wooden floors for those below you. I also think you should be prepared for your downstairs neighbours to start engaging in really antisocial behaviour in a bid to drive your family out of the apartment. It wouldn't be right, but neither is what you're doing.

And she has a baby, the feeding and laundry will be constant

As it has been for me for the last 18 months. However, I do think that when you have a baby/toddler, you might as well accept that your house won't be like a show room anymore unless you're happy to clean and tidy constantly. If you are then fine, but it's not really fair to manage this by using a noisy bouncer which is upsetting the neighbour because it's happening for 2 and a half hours everyday. There are ways to keep your house clean without doing this, like leaving stuff till later. Nobody will die if the washing isn't put on or the kitchen isn't cleaned at 7am.

2.5 hours is too much, never mind the neighbour, it's not good for a baby's hip and leg development.

There isn't 2.5 hours' worth of cooking laundry and housework every day. OP has one baby not a family of 5.

OP I understand having a hard work baby, I really do but try to cut down the jumperoo time - I'd say 20 min 3 or 4 times a day is enough.

Other times if he is whingy you could taking him out in the buggy or putting him in a sling? Does he sit yet, I guess not - if not then I expect he will be much less whingy when he learns, so you could prop him with cushions to help him learn?

Rafa, try living in a small flat for a while!

I have for the last 15 years. Maybe my standards are low, but I genuinely can't see how 2.5 hours a day every day for cleaning is likely.

And if the OP isn't a single parent, she's not the only person in the house that should be taking a share of the housework or childcare.

Pans maybe it was a bit harsh but putting a baby in a jumperoo for 2 1/2 hours a day so you can do other stuff? I think that's a bit much to be honest. Neither of my two babies had one and I did the stuff like housework and cooking when they had a nap, you just learn to manage your time without doing stuff that is bad for the sanity of the neighbour and physical health of the baby.

How clean the OP's flat is, how she spends her time during the day etc is really of no interest to anyone but herself imo.

the OP asked if people thought her childs use of the jumperoo was acceptable or not. it isn't. no one thinks it is, for a variety of reasons.

this wont dawn on the OP until either she gets served notice by env health, or her landlord or her neighbour goes bat shit and starts retaliating at babies bed time. I really like my music loud especially when I am cooking. if I lived in a flat I would buy headphones. luckily for any potential neighbours I live in the arse end of nowhere where no one is disturbed.

its about modifying your behaviour to suit your surroundings. OP wont and neither will her child when it grows up if this is the example being set.

I honestly wonder why some people post in AIBU if they take absolutely no notice of the responses.

Feck, I knew you were going to say that. But regardless of the flipping jumperoo, I can see why anyone wants to clean up after themselves - small flat + baby making it even worse, there's no way I could leave it all in loads, I'd have to get it away otherwise there would be a mountain of crap on the one kitchen surface after half a day. Great that you're happy to leave it, but not everyone is and the OP is not harming anyone by clearing up.

I just think she can do it without using the jumperoo!

I am also guessing the 2.5 hours includes the OP actually taking five minutes to have a cup of tea, stare out of the window, water the plants, post on MN.

but anyway - the jumperoo and lack of consideration for neighbour is the issue here, not how the OP spends that 2.5 hours.

Most housing associations will not allow laminate or wood flooring above ground level in flatted accommodation for the sole reason that day to day life on a floor like that causes antisocial behaviour (noise nuisance) and that's without the rhythmic banging of a happy child in a Jumperoo....

I imagine you're going to be one of those mothers at toddler groups and soft play whose child runs riot, creates chaos while you smile indulgingly and insist that he's 'just learning' .

Someone made a valid point up thread about the fact that perhaps he cries a lot because he's sore after 2.5 hours a day in a jumperoo.
And being a private tenant doesn't give you freedom to behave like an inconsiderate arse to your neighbours

Sorry but you just can't make unessecary noise of any sort in flats or terrace houses. It's part of that type of living

We live in a top floor flat with 2 children. They aren't allowed to make lots of noise either. I simply wouldn't have something like a jumperoo in a flat, it's takes up space and far too noisy.

You need to find ways to do things in different ways.

Laundry - sit him next to pile on floor whilst you sort. He can play with clean socks

Shower/ bath - take him in with you. At 7 months he can sit on bottom away from spray or share bath with you

Cooking - pop him in highchair with snacks, or on floor with plastic bowl and dried pasta and spoons. Or cook in evening and batch cook.

Cleaning - do in evening. Or give him a wet cloth with just water to wipe around, or a clean dustpan and brush or similar.

Running about - never allowed indoors. Take to park or other outside spaces daily to run.

Shouting - again. Not allowed indoors, take to open spaces outdoors.

Jumping around - again outside. You can't allow jumping around in a flat ( or why would you even want to in a house)

Noisy toys - don't buy. They can use them at play groups, nursery later, activity places.

That's kind of what I am saying, lorelei. There's other ways to manage is all I'm saying, and one of them is just changing the time or the amount of doing things.

My home might not be immaculate but no one has caught ecoli or anything in it. Dirty washing goes in a wash basket and goes on when I have time. I've also found the older kids get, the more mess they make (my living room was tidy this morning, now it looks like we've been burgled). If I run around and tidy it up it will look exactly the same in half an hour. So why spend the whole day doing that when I could just wait till he goes to sleep and do it the once?

I never thought I would be like this - I used to be house proud - but having a child has made me realise that you just have less time, you can't change that, and it's easier to adjust your standards and let some things go because you would literally never stop cleaning if you tried to maintain a sterile, spotless home. If someone comes around and the kitchen worktop hasn't been wiped down they can judge away because I'm tired and I can't be bothered to care!
Maybe I am alone in that train of thought!

Yes the jumperoo is the topic here, but OP is justifying the need to use with all this 'stuff' she needs to do.

That I'll agree on lorelei Time to yourself as SAHP with a small baby is a necessity for MH. Although I can understand why she wouldn't want to mention that in case of flaming.

I do wonder if the OP has a partner and how much he's helping. There might be a bit of scope for him helping more with housework/cooking/laundry/childcare when he is around so it doesn't all fall on the OP. So perhaps 1 takes the child out for half a day at the weekend, while the other batch cooks the baby's food for the week.

It might free up a bit more of the OP's time to herself during the week.

Actually the kitchen worksurfaces do get wiped down more than once a day, thinking about it.

I think with a clingy baby you do have to let some stuff slide and/or become slightly proficient at attempting some things one-handed with a baby perched on one hip.

I have 4 grown up children. I managed to do housework, washing (no washing machine with first 2 and no disposable nappies) cooking and having a life all without the aid of a jumparoo. You seem to have become very reliant on one thing, it won't be the end of the world if he cries occasionally and it will encourage him to learn to roll, crawl, play with all those toys. I pity the neighbour and think you should have a bit of consideration especially at 7 am.

Oh wow. I would be seriously fucked off waking to that racket every day. You really need to drop the 7 and 9 bounce and stick to 20 minutes a day.
30 seconds listening to the racket on YouTube was bad enough.

When you live in flats or anywhere with neighbors you have to be considerate and understand just because you are awake at X time, doesn't mean everyone else is.

I was amazed at how noisy jumparoos were when my grandson was in one and that was in a house on the groundfloor with carpets. Hate to think what it must sound like under a wood floor.

Noise can do funny things to people, careful she doesn't go psycho on you, crying baby might be the least of your worries. Many years ago I was working on a murder investigation where a neighbour was so fed up with neighbours music he put a gun in their window and shot them. I also knew someone who was very fond of classical music and he got shot by a neighbour as well. Maybe I just come across very noise sensitive people?

On the sling subject - a Tomy or Baby Bjorn kill you after the baby gets to this sort of age, but a soft structured carrier (Boba, Ergo, Maduca etc) are designed to make it easy - you can do a back carry, and a lot of the weight is on your hips due to the design. I'd investigate that if you have a velcro baby. I could carry mine until DS was almost 4 in one without that being a problem at all, and he was huge for age (still is).

Weaning foods - if you're spending hours making them, maybe investigate baby-led weaning? As long as you eat homemade food rather than ready meals most of the time, it's massively less faff and not in any way bad for the baby - in fact there are arguments that it's better for them. No baby needs purees at 7 months, anyway; we assume they do because we used to wean at 3 months or so, when that was all a baby could handle. That might free you up a bit? Even if you go to a coffee shop and watch the world go by, I find that a lot easier than being stuck indoors anyway. And it's fun for the baby, people-watching.

I'm afraid I also agree that a jumperoo is horribly noisy in a wooden-floored flat, and the 7 am one is really selfish I'm afraid. It's hard managing a baby in a flat - I know, as I've done it - but you can only make it work if you try to think about what you can do to ease a baby for them, as even when you do do that to the absolute best of your ability, there will be irritations they have to swallow. Does the neighbour work? Maybe restrict the jumperoo when you know s/he's out? If you ask them to let you know their routine so you can accommodate it, then you're showing willing which will also help you if they go to formal complaint level.

I sympathise on the screaming colic front though. DD is a huge screamer and I am mortified for our neighbours, but there is genuinely nothing we can do - all our bedrooms border a neighbour's, as we live in a terrace. I used to take her downstairs on especially awful nights but that isn't an option available to you.

If you can afford somewhere with a garden, then that's massively helpful as a parent anyway as the baby gets older, and would eliminate the neighbour issue. Maybe start to have a look around to see what else there is? Spats with neighbours are miserable for everyone.

I'm naturally going to prioritise him over neighbour

Oh. You're one of those people. Your baby doing what it wants to do is way mor simpletons than anyone else's comfort. Baby wants to scream in a wedding? Sure, let's just let him scream. Baby wants to smear food all over the floor in a cafe, sure, let's let him do that. He wants to and messy play is good for his development.

better make sure your not being to loud when in bed LOL xx could not resist posting this sorry
xx

Sorry haven't read previous posts.

5 x 30 min sessions a day is too much. It's really important that they have a variety of activities including lots of floor time for their development. 2.5 hours is a big portion of their daily awake and alert time.

Plus 7am is toooooo early to be banging away on your neighbour's ceiling. Just because you don't have a clause in your tenancy agreement to say you should have floor coverings and be considerate, it doesn't give you free license to be an arse.

Plus you'll have lots of unavoidable shrieking and running up and down noise in the future as your child grows so it's important to keep relations with your neighbour as civilised as possible for now.

OP didn't like the fact that everyone on here thought she/he WBU so hasn't come back. have just watched a jumperoo on youtube.

poor, poor neighbours.

Having lived underneath a toddler whose favourite toy was a drum your neighbours have my deepest sympathy.

This little chap used to get up (at toddler time so 06:30) and immediately start playing it on the floor beside his bed which was unfortunately above my bed. The noise was terrible.

His parents took the same line as you. It got very awkward as I felt aggrieved that they were constantly Interupting my sleep and they got very aggrieved that I was daring to criticise their child.

I moved but that is only possible if you rent and is fairly expensive.