Neighbours complaining about baby crying in my rental flat

[Luncharmstrong]

Need to be brief and can give more detail later. I rent a flat on Airbnb.
The upstairs neighbours often complain about noise from guests.

They complain about noise when I am there with my grandkids.

I try very hard to keep the noise down. I stress to all guests that it's a shared space and to stay quiet as poss.

It's ALWAYS children the neighbours complain about.

I really like my neighbours by the way. They are retired. They only live there half the year as they have a house abroad.

So much so I agreed not to have children as guests any more but have to honour current bookings.

Last night the neighbour knocked on the door of the flat because there was a baby that had been crying for 45 min. He asked the guest to get the baby not to cry. It was 11 pm. I am sure he asked very nicely as he is honestly a lovely man.

However I'm scratching my head at this . Isn't that a bit OTT ?

I know we are mothers and probably biased but is it normal to complain about a baby crying ?

Thank you one and all.

My Airbnb is completely legal and above board . Thanks for your concern.

"You rent flat that you don't live in on airbnb so you obviously don't give a dam about your neighbours"
We clearly have not met. I care about my neighbours. I consider them friends.

I'm very choosy about who I let stay. I refuse about a quarter of requests. I have met many of my guests and they have been universally lovely.

For the person who said short term renters don't care about the property you perhaps need to educate yourself on how Airbnb works. It has a robust feedback system. Bad guests / hosts are soon weeded out.

In 3 years I have had only one disrespectful filthy person. He was a privately educated (yes, that came up in conversation) posh English bloke who I let stay an extra night free.

The neighbours are used to silence. Previous owner of my flat was retired with a home abroad. I bought the flat ten years ago as holiday home. Visited about twice a month with my kids. So it was very under occupied l

I am glad some of you think my neighbour was not that unreasonable. I was starting to feel like a downtrodden mug!

I agree 45 min is a long time for a baby to cry, unless as others said I was lucky.

Neighbour claimed he was concerned baby might be home alone !

Neighbour has complained about noise at least 20 times in the past few years . Including when I was there.

I do get the bit about not really wanting different people coming and going . It came to a head when a guest contacted me last month extremely upset as she claimed my neighbour was harassing her during her 4 day stay. I met with my neighbour to discuss. He claimed a child was running and jumping through the flat causing the walls to shake and a big mirror to fall off the wall and break.

Guest claimed they hardly made any noise at all and neighbour was rude and spoiled their holiday . I wasn't there so I don't know who is right . What I do know is the neighbour is my friend , I do care about his wellbeing even if he is a bit precious. Not allowing children seemed like a reasonable compromise although it will massively impact on my bookings / earnings .
I wonder if I compromised too much ?

Also neighbour has 2 holiday flats abroad that he uses for short term rentals.

I did say to my neighbour I could rent long term or sell and they might have dogs and babies and all sorts living there full time !

He claimed that would be different as he could negotiated what was acceptable long term. As opposed to now when in the summer months a different group of excited children might arrive each week and have to be educated about rules .....

Once your own children have stopped crying a lot you become more aware of the irritation of other babies crying. I know that babies can't help crying, and trying to console a baby who won't stop crying is horrendous, but I admit that a solid 45 minutes of non stop crying would drive me up the wall.

I grew up in a flat and know how awful it is to have noisy neighbours. I'm glad I don't have to put up with it now.

couldn't agree more about once your kids have stopped that crying thing....but I don't ever recall my children crying for 45 min.

So is my neighbour bur or not ?

I think he is
It's really not his business.
I lived in my mams 1 bed flat for a few weeks with my ds 1 at the time.
Precious neighbour called down every day to remind me the child was too noisy running around.
She was above us!
Anyway I felt really intimidated and didn't enjoy my time back home as much because of her.
We tried to be as quiet as we could.
In the end my mam moved out.
She was saying g it in a friendly way but still every single day. It felt awful.

Maybe I'm biased but I think he should keep his nose out of your business.

I live in a terrace and one of my babies was a crier - could easily cry for 45 minutes if she was in that sort of mood. My neighbours were "sleep training" there baby from about 4 months until they moved out when he was 18 months or so. That training involved leaving him to cry himself to sleep for however long it took and sometimes it took a very long time. We could definitely hear each other's children but we never complained. If you live close to people, in a flat or terrace then you can hear them - your neighbour is being a dick and needs to accept that he will hear the neighbours or move to a castle.

I think he is unreasonable - baby could have been teething and do they mean grizzling of full our yelling????

I think that a level of noise is acceptable even at 11pm And frankly its just tough. If he has an issue then he needs to think about more sound insulation. It is a flat so a level of noise is higher than if it were a house etc and you do just have to put up with it as part of living in close quarters. I find older people really intolerant of family noise.

And fancy going mithering parents dealing with a crying child and telling them to shut it up!!! Really what does he want them to do drug it

He is a miserable entitled old cunt. And I never use the E or C words.

But as other people have said, it's not about a neighbours baby cryIng or even a baby cryIng, it's about him living above an Airbnb with as you say yourself

As opposed to now when in the summer months a different group of excited children might arrive each week and have to be educated about rules .....

Speak to him to resolve the issue or he could cause a lot of issues for your holiday guests

I'm disappointed at the lack of understanding from people on here. I would hate to live above an air bnb. In fact I would hate to live in a flat.

Parents of babies and young children are immune to the noise they make and forget how irritating the sound of their children are to the child free. DD (17) has even less tolerance than I do to noisy children.

That's a hard one. Very hard.

Clearly the sound insulation isn't the best.

However a baby crying for45 minutes is hardly unprecedented and he's being disingenuous in claiming he thought the baby was home alone, I think.

Ultimately owner occupiers and holiday lets in adjoining flats is a recipe for disaster, I think.

"Get your baby not to cry to make me happy" is such a massively unreasonable request you should make a point of telling them so. Even if a lovely person does it, it's ridiculous and obviously as a request it deserves nothing more than a laugh/gasp.

Babies crying and dogs barking are the two most irritating noises, and a baby crying for 45 minutes at 11pm would have me truly incensed annoyed.

I'd also hate to live next door to a place being continuously let on Air BNB.

"What I do know is the neighbour is my friend , I do care about his wellbeing even if he is a bit precious."
So you accept he is being precious about noise? (And more than just a bit, in my opinion.)

"The neighbours are used to silence. Previous owner of my flat was retired with a home abroad. I bought the flat ten years ago as holiday home. Visited about twice a month with my kids. So it was very under occupied"
And because they are used to silence, they feel entitled to silence. Well - they're not. They CHOOSE to live in an upstairs flat, and have done so for over a decade. It was complete chance that their downstairs neighbour has generally been absent (and therefore silent). Complete chance.

"I did say to my neighbour I could rent long term or sell and they might have dogs and babies and all sorts living there full time ! He claimed that would be different as he could negotiate what was acceptable long term."
Negotiate? As in, pester and harass and complain endlessly?

Honestly, I think your neighbours are being very unreasonable. THEY LIVE IN AN UPSTAIRS FLAT. If they want silence, they need to move to a detached. Or put in some sound insulation. Or just get a fucking grip.

I think you are being far too accommodating. Noise is a part of normal daily life, and you should not have to go around your flat shushing your grandchildren and having this INTRUSION on your enjoyment of your home. By being so accommodating, you have reinforced your neighbour's belief that he is entitled to silence. Give an inch and they take a mile. You really need to be firm, and tell him to bugger off consider that other people have a right to enjoy your flat (you, your grandchildren and your AirB&B guests) and that he should show some consideration to others. And some manners!

I'm amazed at how tolerant some of you are to noises in flats. I grew up in a flat and was used to the noise at the time, but I wouldn't choose to live in one now.

I don't think the neighbour is being unreasonable or precious to want a quieter life. I agree that a flat wasn't the best idea, but calling him precious for wanting peace and quiet is rather unkind.

Can you move to a detached house?

HIBU and a bit ridiculous. He can't negotiate with you who stays. He has no right to do that at all.

Neutrogenia it's my holiday home and I bought it for its location.

I have agreed not to rent to guests with young children in the future. Probably age ten and under. This is purely out of respect for my neighbour. I want to be a good neighbour !

Interestingly I met another neighbour there today and she came over and said what a lovely family they were ! That is the family the other neighbour complained about.

lol. because the parents want the baby to be crying at 11pm ofc. neighbour needs a grip

"Interestingly I met another neighbour there today and she came over and said what a lovely family they were ! That is the family the other neighbour complained about."
Well I hope you give that a long hard think. Your complaining neighbour is taking the piss. he's trying to nag you into having your flat as unoccupied as possible, so that he can continue to experience the advantages of living detached, with the savings of living in an upstairs flat.

The problem is all his. Why are you letting him make it yours?

Are these people putting on their reviews of the place that there is a noise intolerant neighbour that will knock if the noise is too much?

Was he aware of the bookings you were already committed to? That may of been another thing adding to his annoyance

Yes he was aware I had committed to bookings. I also told him I would not be banning friends and family with young children from using the flat.

Thankfully no one has mentioned it is a review. I have had several private messages about it though. Mostly guests apologising