Noisy neighbours - how do you cope when you can't get to sleep?

[GillL]

I know this isn't about baby's development but I get really frustrated and may find comfort if I know I'm not the only one in this situation.

For the last 3 years my neighbour has been playing music extremely loudly at all times of the day and night. It has been on as early as 7:45am and as late as 2.45am.

DD (6 months) is really good and sleeps from about 8pm to 6am. I normally go to bed at 10pm so I can try to get 8 hours sleep. At least twice a week my neighbour plays loud music til at least midnight which means that I don't get enough sleep. A lot of the time I can't even catch up in the day time because either dd only naps for 30 minutes or the music is back on.

This means that I am constantly tired and drained of energy. I also can't eat when the music is on because it makes me feel sick. I work full time so I am constantly on the go.

We can't even escape the music because it's so loud you can hear it in every room. My husband (who works shifts) only got 2 and a half hours sleep after his night shift on Monday because the music started at 9.30am.

We've been on to the council and it's got as far as telling her that they're taking her to court but this seems to have made things worse. I am so depressed at the moment and find it difficult to stay happy and entertain dd.

ok well firstly go and see your neighbour and ask if he can keep it down

then, complain to the council and environmental health.
they will come and assess the noise and may be able to force him to lower the volume

Sadly we have been doing that for the last 2 years. It doesn't help. The council are taking her to court but now she knows she's being prosecuted there's nothing to stop her from carrying on. Also, the council only come on a Saturday night between 9pm and 2am. They actually come round during the day monday to friday but the fact that it wakes dh up doesn't matter because they don't consider noise upstairs in the day to be a problem.

oh poor you here's hoping that taking her to court will stop it

i think i would move! you've put up with this for years!!!
i think that you can use egg boxes on the walls as soundproof if that's any help!

I would love to move house. I really wish we'd never moved here. We would need money to redecorate as most rooms look awful. Dh won't move because he's put so much time and energy into decorating the nice rooms. Also, who would want to live here? We would have to declare the fact that we have a problem and the buyers would pull out at the last minute. Lots of people have told me that someone will buy it but I don't believe it and how many people will pull out before we find someone who doesn't care?

Sorry to be so negative but I just hate this situation. I hated being on maternity leave because of it and couldn't wait to go back to work. I should be enjoying being at home watching my baby grow and develop.

i understand how you feel.. wehave probs with uptairs neighbours, but not on your scale...
i really do feel for you.

i really hope that they do everything possible when they take this woman to court. I have heard of all music things being cofiscated if court orders are breached... so fingers crossed eh!

unfortunately i have no other real advice

Thanks. I appreciate just having a shoulder to cry on.

Must go and do some washing. Life goes on after all