Noisy neighbour children

[AvenueQ]

They spend a lot of time in the garden and are incapable of playing without CONSTANT screaming and shouting. The parents never ask them to play more quietly. Usually the parents are inside with doors shut.
Is there anything I can do???

Happy playing noise is fine.

Screaming and screeching can get very hard on the ears, I can understand why it annoys.

We have to particularly screams girls in a neighbouring house. Not only do they fight and screech at each other, the pitch and volume is pretty much almost at a level only animals can hear.

I'm pretty chilled about it but I wish the parents would occasionally just say shush to them!!

About 7.00pm when they were getting ready to calm down after 9 hours of "fun" I went into the house and opened all the windows and played Lily Allens "fuck you" (after a suggestion from here) full blast on repeat for about an hour. He stormed round and we had the most almighty row and I explained in finite detail the extent of the noise over the years

Marianne Faithful "Why'd Ya Do It" is another good choice.

Oh - and if you can't keep to a reasonable socially acceptable volume and/or parents your children do buy a house in the middle of nowhere.

I have issues with the kids in the garden which backs on to mine. They are at each other constantly - shouting that they hate each other one minute then hysterically laughing and screaming the next, shouting out the lyrics of pop songs, kicking things against our shared fence, shouting to get the attention of their friends who live two gardens over. They are out for hours a day, and their parents are never anywhere to be seen. I deal with it by shutting my windows and wearing headphones, but it’s miserable when they continue into the evening. We can’t hear each other speak in our own garden when they’re out.

It’s certainly not an issue with all children. The neighbours next to me have lovely kids who play out often but manage to speak to each other at normal volumes. And the ones diagonally opposite are the same - nice kids, never an issue. The difference is their parents have raised them to be considerate, and are on hand to intervene if needed.

I don’t mind the noise of children playing, screeching I agree is annoying but most irritating is performance parenting, from both parents loudly, every single day from dawn until dusk 😠 With zero effort made to stop the fights and distract them with something else for the children to do. Instead singing a nursery rhyme, louder and louder and louder at the screaming child seems to be the solution near me.

Ask them to keep the kids quiet ? We are all entitled to a quiet life . Our neighbours used to do the same with their dogs and dh went round and asked them to not leave them in the garden barking for bloody hours on end .. they were fine and it stopped.. I don't think they realised because they couldn't hear it inside 🙄

Don't play inappropriate music to keep neighbours children awake as some form of revenge, that's awful.

We are all entitled to a quiet life

Are you though? You are entitled to complain about excessive or dangerous noise that continues for a long period of time, but not if that noise is part of everyday, normal life (which children playing, whatever the volume, probably is). Otherwise motorbikes, crying babies, Heathrow and the M25 would all be banned.

I don't mind children playing but I do mind parents who never once ask their children to tone down the screeching and screaming

I've been trying to record the narrative over an hour long powerpoint presentation for TWO WEEKS now...

I have yet to find a time of day where this is possible due to my neighbours kids one side and the loud gobshite on the other who has to shout down her phone, in her back yard, for hours every bastarding twatting day.

Each time, I am picking up growling, screaming toddler, threatening to (variously) pull her brothers willy off, bash him over the head, being told off for these, trying to drown him in the paddling pool, feed him sand, bury him in sand or screaming as a result of being told off.....

I absolutely appreciate that Mum next door is having a fucking stressful time, but I am about to have to give back a deposit and lose out on £300 of paid work as a result.... it is more than a little irritating :(

It is hard for everyone at the moment and, like all things, there is a happy medium.

Personally, I prefer to hear children shrieking at 7:30AM than at 9:30 PM (when my own children are trying to sleep).

I cannot stand the argument that we all need to be tolerant of whatever noises our neighbours choose to make or buy a big house in the middle of nowhere. In cities, the only way to live enjoyably is to exercise restraint and be considerate of neighbours, both with respect to children and general noise (especially playing loud music, which is the worst of all).

Children can be taught to play while chatting at a sensible volume. Clearly, this is easier at 7 or 8 than 2 or 3. But it is plain lazy parenting to just allow it to happen. It is very generational and situational. When I was a child, I just knew that shouting was not an option. In Paris, if there is a lot of noise in the morning or evening (post 8PM), people will get very cross and can call the police (and they will come).

Our neighbour is usually alright but since lockdown began she's had parties every day and been pissed up by 3pm. Yesterday she sat out in her garden singing Fields of Athenry on repeat on her karaoke machine for so long that I now know all the words by sheer osmosis.

Noisy neighbours are arseholes. Eveyrones DC make noise sometimes - mine included - but it's the decent thing to try and keep it bearable. Not everyone loves the noises your DC make maiming one another on the trampoline.

We have this here. It drives me crazy. Apparently it also does the neighbors as one of them is now playing Eminem in the garden and another is playing metal. Mother has taken her children in probably because of the sex references and swearing. I think everyone is fed up at the moment and have heard a lot of arguments between neighbors here recently

Theres kids enjoying and laughing and being loud, and theres kids who just scream, shout and cry for hours. Trying very hard not to judge but when it gets to the point when my boy who has autism has to wear his ear defenders out our garden because the noise is so bad its makes him upset. There's no need for it and the parents should know better.

All the people talking with authority about how they raised their small children to be quiet in the garden did not do that through weeks of lockdown, so may want to wind their necks in.

I am so glad we (and our two small children with no volume control) have such kind, tolerant neighbours.

If you don't want children next door, perhaps consider moving away from an area with lots of family homes.

It's even more difficult than normal the moment. People are trying to WFH and provide childcare at the same time. Plus the weather is hot, people have been stuck home for 10+ weeks straight.

Screaming children is shit and no it's not ideal but I do have sympathy for parents at the moment. If you have to work and your children are safe in the garden, then it must be extremely tempting to just chuck them out and let them get on with it!

My kids are outside in the paddling pool and there’s a lot of squealing and shrieking. I step in when it sounds like someone’s being murdered out there but otherwise if they’re playing nicely and not being obnoxious I leave them to it well I’m in the kitchen so I can see them. If I told them to stop every time they raised their voices no ones going to have a nice time outside including the neighbours 🤷‍♀️

@Jjttmm I should have been clearer - we only have two neighbours & they are both up at silly o’clock for their own reasons.
My point about 7:30 not being early when you have been up for a couple of hours is more my own recent thoughts.
I used to think 10am was early, but after 3 years of conditioning from my DS, suddenly the thought of waking up with new baby, due soon, isn’t much of a challenge!

I get it totally. It is the constant screaming. Yes kids make noise, but some parents activity encourage it, performance parenting and screeching at full volume children on constant repeat is bloody awful. On a street full of families - there is always one. It is different to the normal sound of children playing.

Next move I don't want any neighbours, can't risk it again.

*If you have little to no tolerance for noise from neighbours (including children) then buy a house in the middle of nowhere.8

It isn't about complete silence though. No one expects children to be quiet as monks, just to not scream at the top of their voices all day. There is a happy medium most of us can live with.

I really hate parents like you. Your kids are not the centre of the world and if you can't control them so that they can play nicely without screaming, shouting, crying and winging, then YOU are the problem as the parent.

Well aren't you a delight.
DS is 3, hes taken lockdown pretty badly. Hes not a boy that can be kept inside, hes got bags and bags of energy and needs an outlet.
His routine is disrupted, he cant see family, he cant play and see his friends at nursery. Everything he loves doing has been taken away from him and he isn't old enough to really understand why. He is prone to the odd tantrum as a result and has started having nightmares.

I would never allow him to play outside at disruptive hours and always try to get him to keep the noise down, but hes 3. 3 year olds cry, they "winge" and they occasionally scream. You can only do your best in these tough times but sadly right now, what you demand is hard to achieve.Now that the sun is out hes enjoying playing in the paddling pool and does often get a bit over excited but theres no way I'd begrudge him as that's all he has right now. I also have a 10 month old DD who is teething and needs me in a completely different way.
So please excuse me if I cant be Mrs perfect Enid Blyton parent right now.

My children aren't the centre of the world, but they are the centre of my world. I'm considerate as I can be to others in the circumstances. I am far from the problem.

My children are quiet. But, I personally have no issue with noisy children at my house or next door, even when working all day with the windows open. If I want quiet, I'll put a noise cancelling headset on and if needed, I'll speak to the neighbours and ask if it can be quiet during a specific call, but only one or two and they'll only be a short call. They could take them in for that 1/2 hour and do a quiet activity then - no harm. Maybe you could speak to them and ask for that?

Its lovely hearing children just having fun. Not as good when they're left to scream and cry though - I feel stressed when that happens.

Some people on here are so odd! The majority of normal people have no problem hearing children playing but screaming and shouting for prolonged periods is not on. Some parents are lazy and selfish and don't bring their children up to be considerate. Teaching manners should start at an early age and frankly some people can't be arsed to parent their precious darlings. The solution isn't to tell others to live in the middle of nowhere! Anyway isn't half of mumsnet rural?

Toddlers is one thing.

I'm talking kids of 10 and 6 here. Old enough to be told to shush when they are being noisy.

I'm definitely not a "children should be quiet" person, but some families seem to have very little awareness of the impact on those immediately around them and it's selfish.

Yeah I think you are entitled to some quiet .. a few hours of shrieking . Hours and hours on end must be bloody awful!!