House mate’s morning alarm

[WeGoHigh]

I am so tired and this might be clouding my judgement..:

I live in a house share, someone new moved in in November. She has quite a hefty commute so an early start in the mornings, and has an alarm clock that is so loud it wakes me up from one floor below. This would be fine if she didn’t leave it on for sometimes up to an hour. Once I can hear it I can’t STOP hearing it if you know what I mean, so I’m regularly lying awake from 5am when it goes off.

I mentioned it to her jokily after the third or fourth time it happened, and she was apologetic but explained she doesn’t hear it and that’s why she sets it so early and it sometimes goes off for an hour.

I had a little bit of time away over Christmas and then again at the start of the new year and got back a few days ago. It starting up again after a break from it has made me realise how much it’s affecting my sleep.

AIBU to ask her to get a different alarm that will wake her properly and she can turn off? Or do I just need to accept that this sort of thing is par for the course when house sharing?!

Earplugs. The soft spongy type. Though give her one more chance to be a good housemate and find a different sort of alarm, like a vibrating one that goes under the pillow. Failing that, evict her at the first opportunity and add the morning alarm question to your interview questions.I assume the test of the housemates interview applicants for vacancies? If not, start doing it, I reckon. It saves s lot of grief!

Or... Sneak into her room and disappear/disable/dismember the alarm clock, assuming it's not her phone!

Whst a selfish flatmate. Ask her to get a small vibrating alarm that goes under her pillow and to go to bed earlier!

Oh I didn’t know about the vibrating ones! That could be a good way around it.

I don’t have anything to do with interviewing new people etc, one person owns the house and will just let the rest of us know who is moving in/out.

Think I need to bite the bullet and have a (non jokey this time) conversation about it.

Get her to get a vibrating alarm. fitness trackers/smart watches work well as they're silent but buzz like crazy right on your wrist.

You're much more patient than I am. She needs to do something about it but in the short term I'd be tempted to go and wake her if she doesn't turn it off after a few minutes. If she's being disturbed by it it might focus her mind a bit on finding another way.

Can you turn it into a fun activity ... can you get an even bigger alarm that goes off even earlier (or at a time annoying to her) ... to demonstrate how annoying it all is ... "Oh dear, I'm sorry, I didnt realise, perhaps we all need to review alarms so dont disturb each other"

I feel for both parties. I would happily sleep through an alarm when you get so had to have a really loud one. Even then it would be going off for over 20mi s before my brain registered there was an alarm going off. I had a job I HAD to get up for and shifts so at least it only disturbed people of a morning 25% of time at most (as I worked a lot of double/triple shifts and also grabbed some sleep at work between close shifts). I even had neighbours across the toad complain at one point.

A vibrating alarm would not have registered for me. What did work though was organising an alarm call service and having phone over other side of room. My brain would register the phone but not an alarm. Neighbours were less bothered by phone. Immediate neighbours could still hear it when all was really quite very early morning, sound didn’t travel across the road as alarm did at the volume I had to have it to register. Immediate neighbours still preferred phone to alarm. It’s a hard one all round.

Good grief, Pavlova, you're the nightmare neighbour/housemate with your alarm, aren't you?! 😉

I hope OP's housemate will find a vibrating one that works. If the owner is living in the house, though, they are the person who should tackle the anti-social alarm. It is really inconsiderate behaviour!