WIBU to ask upstairs neighbours to stop their kids jumping up and down?

[OtterAndDog]

I live in a small ground floor flat and have a family living above me. They have two young children who are always running around going crazy and jumping up and down. It is extremely loud, I think they must jump directly off their beds and sofas onto the floor because the whole ceiling shakes at times! It doesn't really bother me as I know kids are just like that, and it's just the effects of kids having so much energy and being cooped up in a small flat. Sometimes I hear their giggles and it actually even cheers me up!

However, I am 37 weeks pregnant and baby will be here soon. I am first time mum so I don't know how babies react around sudden loud bangs, but I'm worried the noise will keep scaring him and upsetting him. If that happens, would it be unreasonable for me to knock and ask them to stop their kids from jumping up and down? Or is it just the nature of living in a flat, and I'll have to put up with it?

They run around til about 9 o'clock at night x

They were both lovely families. We all shared a converted house. But my god those little elephants were noisy. She was a harassed single mum and she did her best. I did talk to her about it kindly but also accepted it as part of living in a flat. The twins were lovely and I heard an occasional night cry when the windows were open in the summer, but that was it. The only mildly annoying thing was the huge double pram used to block the hall! But we never said anything about that and also defended the family when the landlord tried to be a dick about it. We all muddled together.

You cant stop small DC moving around. They grow out of it eventually. Just as you cant stop babies and toddlers crying.

That does sound really annoying - especially as it goes on late into the evening but, unfortunately, it is just part of living in a flat. Most aren't particularly well built and sound carries. I wouldn't worry about the noise waking your newborn up - it's better they go to sleep with some noise rather than you trying to make everything absolutey silent.

I live in an upstairs flat with a small child and we've taught him not to jump and bang around so that we don't disturb the neighbours. Is that not the norm when you live in a flat with a kid? I don't think it's unreasonable to ask them to keep it down, but do consider that your crying baby will probably bother them in the early hours. Might be best to call it evens!

As for the noise bothering the baby, you might be surprised! I remember when DS was tiny I would hoover under the sofa where he napped and he wouldn't wake at all.

Perfectly ordinary movement in an upstairs apartment can sound like elephants stomping around to someone on the floor below. So they may not actually be jumping up and down.

I was in this exact situation when my son was born 4 years ago. The noise didn't bother him at all! However one thing I would recommend is if you are having a rough patch with sleeping and need to nap in the day it could be worth chatting to them to ask if they could try to keep this kids from racing around / jumping so you can get some rest. That was the only issue I had. My son is now 4 and we have a no running / stomping in the hall rule as that's where sound travels the most and I remember only too well how loud it could be!

You really don't want to start insisting on quiet while the baby sleeps. We vacuumed, sang, talked, just got on with stuff, and the children were always able to sleep through anything.

Same here. Now aged 12 she complains if it’s too quiet she can’t sleep!

Your baby won’t be scared by noise. It’s a good thing to get babies used to noise especially sleeping through it. If you have other kids later on your baby will then be a toddler who has to sleep through a baby crying. If babies don’t learn to sleep through noise it can create sleep problems later on. If you do complain be prepared to be in a similar position in a couple of years time. I wouldn’t say anything as your baby will most likely keep them awake at some point.