Should i be concerned about the boy next door

[Jacksmom4eva]

HI just looking for some advice please. There is a little boy living next door in a flat with his parents but hes never been seen! We hear him playing in frontroom and all over xmas hes been laughing and playing games from the sound of it but we share a back gate and in 3 months i've lived here no-one has seen him, they keep curtains closed and go to bed quite early (8ish), neither parents go to work and not talkative if u see them.

Would u be concerned ?

Yes ring for a welfare check.

Yes. How strange.

Get involved op. Better to be safe than sorry in my experience.

How do you know they go to bed at 8ish? Maybe they just quiet down then and go to bed a couple hours later.

8pm is a normal time for a kid to go to bed anyway. So why would you expect to hear the parents after that?

Who do you mean by "no one" has seen him?

Alternative thought... they don't like their nosey neighbours and avoid them :)

This you haven't happened to see him in the winter months but can hear him happy and laughing. Unless you're sitting watching for them 24/7 I wouldn't worry and I'm not sure why anybody would tbh

You've probably just got different schedules, unless you're obsessively watching 24/7.

You've heard him happy and playing, 8pm is a totally fine time to go to bed as well. I assume you haven't heard anything concerning like screaming and shouting or you would have mentioned it.

I wouldn't be concerned at all.

I never open my front curtains and this is exactly why. We stopped opening them when the NDN took to standing at the end of our garden staring into our windows.

Does he go to school?
I wouldn't overly worry if he does as kids these days just game at the weekend !

I actually bump into my neighbour maybe once every 6 months, she is always out and about and so am I, we just rarely see each other. It's pretty normal.

Why? Because a neighbour hasn’t seen him go out during the winter and they go to bed early? I haven’t seen some of my neighbours for months, I’m not going to start phoning to get “welfare checks” done on them.

OP do you know if the child goes to school? If you work 9-5 you might not notice them coming and going. This does sound concerning but I think a little more context is needed.

Thanks, my point is we share a back gate and a pathway, the parents dont speak and have their curtains shut 24/7, I am far from nosey and am far to busy to watch them 24.7, whenever i see the parents the child is never with them, this is at all sorts of times throughout the day, theyre lights go off about 8pm and you hear nothing til 6am ish as theyre frontroom is my bedroom, he doesnt go to school, they never have visitors but sorry for my post I will leave it there

None of the other residents in our block have seen the child we all share a communcal gate and pathway

Please don’t leave it there. Ignore the snarky PPs who are clearly projecting.

As you’re not the only resident who’s noticed this I think you’re right to be concerned.

Thank you,

How do you know there is an actual child living there ?
Have you ever seen a child there ?

No but hear him quite clearly through the walls,

So what is your actual genuine concern?

Could he be a visiting child? Like a nephew or something?

Could it be just a child's voice ie video, internet kids voices etc

As no one has actually witnessed a child going in the home, maybe the child doesn't exist.

You know what, always err on the side of caution. Be a nosey neighbour when it concerns children. Ignore the comments here, there’s too many events that happen when people ask ‘didn’t they neighbours notice or report it as that’s clearly odd…’. Sounds to me like this child is under the radar of everyone.

Do you see both parents out together without the child? So therefore they've left the child home alone?

How do you know it’s a little boy if you’ve not seen him?

Please contact someone such as your local health visitor service, who knows what weird stuff goes on behind closed doors. As some other posters have said, ignore the posts telling you to mind your own business.
You maybe doing this child a big favour, at the very least the child may be bored stiff being indoors all the time behind closed curtains.