Neighbours kids playing outside early…

[FooFightersFan]

It’s the school holidays and I appreciate that by starting this thread I’m going to sound like a right grump, but here goes…

Our garden backs onto two houses, both of which are owned by couples with young kids. All four parents work from home full time.

The kids (youngest 3, all primary school aged) regularly play outside in the gardens. The houses are new build with literally no plants or shrubs. Just lawn surrounded by fence / brick walls. The noise just bounces around as there is nothing to ‘absorb’ it.

I accept that they are noisy when they play because they are young, energetic and kids!

Now that the school summer holidays are well under way, it’s become apparent that getting up and out into the garden at 8am is their routine. And they shout. A lot.
Then at 10am they go inside and there is silence for a while.

I can deal with it, I have 2 kids and I appreciate that’s what kids are like.

and here’s the “but”…

My son works full time and his room overlooks our back garden. He works 12 hour shifts a lot of days, in hospitality. Most shifts mean he is home around 11pm and in bed by midnight. He’s getting increasingly fed up with the neighbour kids’ morning routine.

During term time, the outside playing is just at the weekend. But now it’s a daily occurrence due to the holidays, I really feel for my son, because being woken up 90 mins before he needs to be up for his next shift is pretty miserable.

WIBU to message or pop round to my neighbours and see if they can encourage their kids to be quieter (a big ask) or to not let them out before 9:00.

I’ve become that grumpy neighbour 😩

8am is fine, it’s sensible to get kids outside before it gets really hot. By 10am it’s getting too hot for little kids to be jumping around.
8 am is when builders start work, so we have noise from 8am every day except Sunday at the moment as the neighbours are having an extension done.
the roads are full of dog walkers and runners at 8am.
its just children who are expected to live indoors in silence.
YABU use earplugs.

8am on weekdays isn’t unreasonable I’m afraid, the world is generally awake at that time and you’ll get all sorts of noise from then - building work etc.

I’m impressed the DC are out playing nicely for 2 hours, if only mine would do that!

I’ve recently got a new bedroom fan which is so powerful even on level 1. Would recommend! I’ve been sleeping like a baby with the white noise covering the hustle and bustle from outside.

Nobody’s wrong here op. Your son is not wrong for wanting to not be disturbed after a long shift and your neighbours aren’t wrong for letting the kids out at 8am.

Can you shuffle rooms around so your son can sleep in a quieter part of the house for the summer? It’ll be a short few weeks and then normal service will be resumed. I’ve personally never found earplugs easy to wear but some do, might be worth a go.

Sorry @FooFightersFan I posted before I saw your update. Glad you got a good response from your neighbour. I don’t think you were unreasonable - god knows if more people were decent and responsive like your neighbour the world would be a better place. We all need to rub along together.

Your son is a great lad to be slogging it in his job. Ignore the begrudging fuckers knocking you and him.

Has your son tried White noise?

I was making a point to all those who said the neighbours were so unreasonable, that ultimately if it was sooooooo bad then the council would intervene. But of course they wouldn't, so it's not unreasonable.😂

I know, children need to get burnt (mine burn at hottest part of the day even with high factor sunscreen as very pale) so the adult son can sleep in. Ridiculous!

Sympathies

Wax earplugs are very good.

You soften them from the heat of your hands, and then put them in your ears and they mould to the shape of your ears.

I definitely found these the most effective.

Ear plugs and white noise machine

I don’t let mine out until atleast 9:30 earliest. Because like your neighbours mine like to make noise.

@FooFightersFan no problem with them playing out early but most neighbours wouldn’t have a problem if you politely ask them to try to keep it down a bit if you say ‘works late so exhausted, not such an issue in term time, don’t want you to stop them playing out’. When I was young lots of neighbours worked shifts and all the kids knew, one of us would say ‘shh we better not make a noise, Bob’s doing nights’ if we got a bit raucous because our parents taught us to be considerate. But your son’s an adult so he can ask!

Do the opposite and start screaming and shouting in your garden when it’s the kids bedtimes!!

I don't think it would be unreasonable at all to politely ask. It would certainly annoy me at that time of the morning whilst sat out enjoying my first cup of coffee.
We have recently moved and one of the kids on the back is constantly screaming and very loudly whinging, (he is around 7 or 8, so old enough to understand) the mother is just as bad as shouting on top of her lungs, I shout over and say "other people are trying to enjoy there garden too"
The mother usually tells them to go inside.

I think that 8am is early for loud noise in a garden. I'd ask your neighbours if the kids could keep it down or go out a little later.

Mind you, they're probably making the most of the sun! It will probably be gone by next week...

Switch bedrooms with your son, temporarily? So he’s at the front of the house?

It’s unreasonable to ask for a later play time than 8am. If it was, say, 6am, it’d be fair enough. But 8am is not too early for people on a normal daily schedule.

It depends on what time and how much noise they're making - if it's normal children playing them YABU

If it's a radio blasting out full volume then you're not 🤷🏻‍♀️

Has he tried earplugs?

Really?

Machines can be used from that time.

Hours sleep is perfectly reasonable.

An 11 hour shift isn't uncommon at all, your son shouldn't be having any problems on that amount.

My husband did 28 x 12 hour shifts in last August and he's 60, not that it's a competition - he had 5/6 hours sleep a night.

This is unreasonable behaviour. Giving the kids a taste of their own medicine and deliberately stopping them from sleeping - as revenge for playing at 8am is frankly absurd. I would be reporting you to the council.

I sympathise with you - I have kids, and if they are getting loud I will go and tell them to tone it down. I’ve found others don’t care about other people - the garden that backs onto ours has kids that squeal and shout and scream all day long - it’s really exhausting!!! There is no need to scream all day, the parents have just let them get into the habit - screaming is for when you are in danger/hurt/scared, not just running around!

The only factual grounds for complaint here would be on the basis of noise at anti-social hours. 8am does not qualify. You have no case here.

8am isn’t early. Jeez at that time he’d be woken by normal road noise from people on their way to work, bins being emptied, even the other people in the house starting their day! It’s also not that early for kids to be in the garden in the summer holidays. In fact when the weather is warm it’s better they play outside at that time and late afternoon when it’s cooler rather than the middle of the day.
He needs to suck it up or get earplugs. I use foam ones for my husbands snoring and they work a treat 👍

Yeah there is nothing wrong in asking but it’s more the fact that she didn’t even try anything first.

8am is bloody early!!!!

You are NOT unreasonable - mumsnet is full of people who get up at stupid o clock/annoying bloody larks. My children were not particularly early risers (beyond toddler years). Early rising was actively discouraged in this house! I never let them play outside until after 9am and my neighbours have always done the same regardless of when their children woke up. 8 o clock is selfish and inconsiderate. Not everyone is an early riser after all. We always discouraged screaming as well - not always completely avoidable, but children can and should be taught to consider others. I have no objection to hearing children playing, but not that early.