Calling the police to check on a crying baby

[summermumma2021]

Just had to call the police to check on a new neighbours baby. What would
you have done in this situation?
New neighbours live down our road around 100m away from us and could hear loud very distressed crying for over half an hour.

It sounded like a newborn or young baby crying and so I assumed they’d settle or some attempt to comfort them would be made but the crying stayed at the same level for ther period time. I could also hear raised voices and car doors slamming and I asked my husband if he’d heard it too (he was downstairs) and he said yeah he was worried as well.

Anyway in hoping it was nothing and the little one is fine but it just didn’t sit right and it sounded like no attempt to comfort them was being made at all.

i have no idea who the new neighbours are as it’s quite far from our bit of the road but for it to be that loud from this distance didn’t seem right. I have also had three colicky babies so I do know babies can cry for periods of time but as I said it sounded like no attempt to help them was being made.

Anyway police treating it as a priority case and checking things out. Just wanted to share really as worried.

I think what I’m trying to say is given how serious the OP sees the situation with the crying., that a sudden stop in noise from the baby if it’s not due to police knocking on the door and parents pulling themselves together and attending to their infant , is another concerning factor

Save your sarcasm with me duckie
i get it -lalong with verbal and physical abuse on a daily basis in person and it’s boring online

Im not the one who posted about calling the police, Im engaging with the person who did who clearly feels strongly there is a child in need
so taken to its logical conclusion- if baby has stopped screaming all of a sudden, and there are no police outside/or visible distractions, then if the OP wants to escalate their concerns as a moral duty that’s up to them

Personally I had 6 kids between 18:30 years ago and did sleep training wholeheartedly/ so my house was at one point or a other for a day or two crying/screaming baby central ar night c

And you weren't wrong.

Maybe I should request a transfer! I really do hope everything is ok with the baby.

We would but ok we have both worked for years in schools, hospitals, volunteered in different organisations for families and trained in safeguarding. Having 3 crying kids ourselves.
Not too afraid to go, say hallo and assess the situation tbh and if needed call the police.

You absolutely did the right thing @summermumma2021
The police will have assessed the urgency of the matter and prioritised it accordingly. If they’re in attendance now then they were either sitting twirling their thumbs when the call came in or they assessed the situation and felt it warranted a speedy response. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. You don’t need to investigate the matter, you just need to rely on your instincts. Your call may be a piece of a bigger picture and if not, your conscience is clear.

I think you’ve done right. If nothing is happening brilliant. If someone needs help, then they are there.

It could be a baby being neglected. They could be hurt. They could have had their jabs and are struggling with heat. The unknown is hard, it’s great that you care enough to do something and not just listen.

No, but I shall suggest as you've called out another poster for not checking their spellings tonight, that you check your own.

My DH would have had a recce to see what the raised voices and slamming was about. If he'd have thought it appropriate, he'd have likely said hello if they were outside and have asked how they were settling in, if possible. Then, he'd have decided whether to call the police.

Good Lord, what an insane overreaction.

My dds six month old baby cried on and off most of last night. Has a throat infection, and poor thing was clearly in agony. She had been given antibiotics but they obviously take time to work. We would have been mortified if the police had turned up to the door. Babies cry for all sorts of reasons. Worried and sleep deprived parents can slam doors and raise voices in some situations. I think if it was a regular thing, crying etc on a nightly/daily basis, then I might call the police, but for a one off situation, I wouldn’t.

100% you did the right thing. If there’s something off and you did nothing and the kid dies then you wouldn’t forgive yourself. Act on your instincts, if it’s nothing then there’s no harm done; but don’t wait until you can’t hear the crying anymore. Get these kids the protection they deserve. If it feels wrong just report it

Police most likely report to SS having being arounf and you then find yourself dealing with a visit from them. So much waste of time in our society today.
Because a neighbour didn't ask what was going on and had an explanation
Being a village all that or just being decent people not jumping to conclusions.

Police dispatched at 00:47 and drove by your house 20 minutes later. They would have knocked on your door and they wouldn’t have mentioned other neighbours calling (but you said it’s just you close by). Sounds like nothing has come of it

Some PPs are just too busy enjoying the role of witchfinder general on this thread to actually read properly.

My neighbour's baby is constantly crying, you can hear him on the street and throughout our house, but you can only hear his parents trying to console him from the one room directly attached to their bedroom.

I wouldn't assume a baby crying 100m away wasn't being consoled because I couldn't hear an adult talking to it at a lower volume.

The raised voices and banging - did this sound like an argument or normal socialising? If they are new neighbours is there lots of coming and going with their belongings? People visiting them? If I thought there was potential domestic abuse I would call the police.

Thank you for your reply @rubydoobydoo, but I am going to suggest that fights between adults, and not in a domestic situation, are less important than a baby potentially being neglected, and the possibility of the baby actually being abused, seems to be of more importance than a couple of drunk men fighting outside of a pub.

Burglaries in progress, do you get them reported very often? Won't your policeforce do just the same as so many others do now, and just give the victim a crime number?

However, I do agree with you ruby, that believed reports of someone openly having a weapon that can cause very bad, or even fatal damage, needs to be dealt with immediately. The same goes for anyone considered to realistically be in even potential danger of losing their lives. The latter being the where I would place @summermumma2021's phone call.

Yes, of course call handlers for all of the emergency services need to almost constantly prioritise one call over another, but imo, if the categories being chosen at any given moment, include the possibility that a child is in danger, then the child should be at the top of that list of priorities.

Like others have said, I think the heat is an important factor here. My usually pretty chill baby has cried far more than usual today. She's totally fed up bless her, and me picking her up makes her cry more because I'm warm. Probably from a distance there have been points where it sounds like I'm not consoling her, when I've actually been trying different things. Including wiping her with cold wipes which has briefly made her cry more!

Not sure I agree with the "no harm done if it turns out to be nothing" responses. The mortification of having the police called out could be a real knock to confidence for a new parent. I think to place a police call I'd have actually spoken to the parents/carers first to work out if I think there's genuinely an issue and to sympathise with them if not.

Anyway, you've done it now. Hopefully it does turn out to be nothing and that baby is being well cared for.

You did the right thing

Kids can be abused/neglected in warm weather too!

I don't think you were wrong to phone, but personally I wouldn't have without sending hubby down the road to ascertain more about what was going on first (having a dog for late dog walks are handy for this kind of thing) . Especially if there's never been any previous drama with said house in the past.

Everyone has their windows open atm, and sound carries a heck of a lot more than usual. Plus, from what you've said, I would want to know for definite the raised voices and car door slams were from the same house.

I'd maybe then have dropped a call to 101, and let their safeguarding triggers kick in.

As a mum of 3 though there’s crying and there’s crying, and along with the slamming doors etc, better safe than sorry.

Always go with your instinct. No child ever died from a welfare check.

Neighbours always say 'Well yes i heard the baby / child crying. Yes i thought something was off'
When the police are investigating a child who has died

Not just quite often, the vast majority of the time.

But people have confirmation bias, and the brain looks for patterns. If this turns out to be something, it will be a massive ego boost that tells them they have special senses and can just "tell".

If it is nothing, it will be instantly dismissed by the brain and never thought of again or registered as being wrong.