Screaming child in tent next door

[Sittininafield]

AIBU to think the parents are selfish knob heads. Fourth night in a row. Toddler screams from 10.30 till 11.30 ish every night and then periodically every couple of hours. Not sad baby crying but toddler tantrum screaming and shouting. I am beginning to think it is the spawn of satan. Why would you go camping if your child doesn’t sleep, and why wouldn’t you go home out of consideration for others after a couple of nights? They are quite now but I’m awake since the last screams at 3.30. Should I go and shake their tent in sleep deprived, demented re-wenge?

If I heard a screaming toddler in a neighbouring tent, I'd be feeling really sorry for the toddler and the parents, who I know will be struggling to settle the child. If this went on for more nights, I'd likely find it wearing, probably very wearing, and I would try and do something to mitigate the impact - move tents, buy earplugs etc.

What I would really hate to happen though, would be for that family with the screaming toddler, to feel like they must go home.

Virtue signalling. That I don’t believe! Easy to say bet if you were in the next tent to a shrieking toddler by night 3 your halo would slip!

The "right" to a holiday is a recent thing. No-one has the "right" to a holiday especially if they are destroying other peoples'. When I was a child we couldn't afford a holiday and the UK had just discovered Spain. Then, we had our baby and tried to go to a couple of UK places which were family friendly and, for the record, no they weren't. No high chair, restrictions on what you could order from which part of the menu, cold food and food poisoning. So, with little money to travel, we stayed at home and took the kids out for the day. It is much better for very young children to do so. When they are older and can appreciate where they are going then that is different.

Try living across the street from the screaming toddler.

Every evening from 6ish to 1130, the family sits out in the garden and the screeching starts. Just when you think it's gone quiet and settle in with your book, the child starts up again. I don't know it it's a sibling teasing the child, the child is over tired? There are adults out there with the children and they just ignore the noise and carry on with their conversations, teas, an hookah.

I can't sleep because of it. I get up at 0430 for my job and am lucky to get five hours of sleep.

At least at a campsite one of you will go home soon.

I feel for you, I really do. Your inability to be reasonable must cause you a lot of irritability in life.

We had a Dutch family next to us who were surprisingly the most rude people we have ever met camping

^
Ya think?!

When I had a caravan we came back to a tent pitched a foot away from our hitch, if it had just been the usual campers it wouldn't have been so bad but they had a pitch with electric & had brought the television & games console which was on from 8.00 in a morning to 2.00am at full blast. I complained at the site office but the warden hadn't the balls to tell them to quieten down & the owner was only interested in the money. I was ready to dump the television, games console & the idiot playing on it in the lake, ds was only a toddler & we got no sleep.

Macks silicone earplugs are brilliant. They block out any noise - including an offensively loud snoring husband! 👍

Can’t believe this thread is still making people so cross (aka virtue signalling). I don’t believe that any of you would be happy if a family failed to at least acknowledge that they were disturbing the holidays of approx 30 other families after 4 nights of their child shouting at top volume. I have an image of you all lying there with your halos, thinking ‘ah bless them’. There is some interesting projection going on - it’s their only holiday (so it is for lots of us), parents are separated (no), they are very poor (no, they have lots of expensive equipment), child has SEN (doesn’t appear so, in the day it wants it’s parents phone, maybe that’s what the shouting is for in the night). And some assumptions - that I’m camping with my partner (no I’m on my own with DC) or that I’ve never camped before ( I have camped many, many times). Most people who camp in the smaller sort of sites that we visit are lovely , and people (including me) are very aware and f the impact of their behaviour on others, campsite etiquette if you will. Some people seem bizarrely angry that at 5am after four nights of no sleep I might vent my frustration on here - I didn’t moan to the shouter’s parents at all - I smiled every time I saw them, but they did not smile back (different language). It’s our much anticipated holiday too, and we are all knackered after no sleep (and no it’s not because we are camping, we all sleep well through standard campsite noise, and no earplugs wouldn’t help), and you can’t just ‘move pitch’ every where is full - and it’s a small place - the screaming filled it!With hindsight I should have spoken to the managers after the second night night, as I said before it wasn’t a family orientated campsite. As I also said before I was sympathetic at first but I am really surprised at the number that of entitled people who think the behaviour of the parents was ok - they ruined the sleep of so many people and showed no sign o f concern. Anyway we are at a different campsite now and just had a lovely long sleep.

You're right. Happens to me regularly.

Many posters don't understand camping etiquette OP. I do. A child shouting for a long time in the middle of the night, night after night, would bother me. I might not say anything, but it would peeve me. I am in our caravan now. I consider other people when I'm camping. Last night was boiling in Dorset. I had all the windows opened. So when I wanted the watch some of the swimming, Birmingham games, only for an hour or so early evening, I turned the volume right down low. Consideration.

I’d rather eat my own arm than go camping. Thanks for making me see I’m still not missing out!

I feel the same now, we go camping every year and I’m even more anxious now and paranoid that people are gonna be judging us 🙄.

Exactly. I got up to exercise (not camping but are others in nearby apartments) so had sound on mute. It’s decent to be aware of others. Life only “works” if the majority do this and when the minority don’t do it it’s very noticeable and the decent majority really resent it. You are breaking the unspoken code of behaviour that enables us to all co exist close together and yes people are pretty much hating you if you break it.

Last night was boiling in Dorset.

Last night was rain of biblical proportions in this part of wales.

I could have hosted last night of the Proms with all the windows open and it wouldn’t have disturbed anybody else on the site.

J P Sartre!

Same goes for dogs that bark at the slightest sound. Don't take them camping!!

YANBU
That would do my head in also.
But as others have said get some earplugs, they are lifesaver.

Exactly.

Thank you for being a responsible and reasonable parent.

That sounds a nightmare!

I don't blame you being cross in the slightest.

The virtue signaling on here😀All these saintly paragons of virtue who wouldn’t think, let alone shout stfu at these anti social families with their screeching brats is hilarious!

J P Sartre!

We know. The first of many corrections was made five posts after poor old Oscar Wilde was incorrectly credited.

This is NOT my idea of being in the “Great Outdoors.” One or two nights of unhappy toddler might be okay, but four nights is unfair to the child and anybody within earshot, including yourself. For a child to cry on the first and second night in a strange place and unfamiliar routine is understandable, at least from the POV of the child, but for the parents to keep the child a third night in happy circumstances is stupid, and by the fourth night, borders on abuse. I would let the parents know in no uncertain terms that if the child continues to register loud complaints, you will call the authorities on a complaint of child abuse, and THEN DO IT. The parents are clearly selfish clods and need to wake up and realize their vacation pleasure comes at the expense not only of innocent strangers, but their own unfortunate offspring, who will grow up—unless the parents are checked in their foolish ways—to continue the pattern of narcissism. Good luck!