Is 6.30am too early for young children to play in the garden?

[Getbackinthebox]

It is light early in the morning and young children often wake early. The weather is warm at the moment so being outside in the garden in the early morning can be attractive to some people. However, if you had a young child wake early would you have them out in the garen playing at 6.30am, bearing in mind that young children aren’t often able to play quietly and keep their voices down? Also, would you raise your own voice to join in their play and interact with them at that time or do you think it is too early to let them into the garden? If so, what time do you think is acceptable?

Yawn, it was a generational norm to turf children out of the house from dawn to dusk with very little regard for safety, where they were or what they were. There is no need for this constant moaning about the modern way.

Shockingly selfish and inconsiderate

I can't beleive some people are saying it's fine, people have barely slept and will have windows open, ignorant fuckers!

Playgrounds are locked at night and opened again in the morning, I’ve never lived anywhere where this wasn’t the case.
Sometimes the playground would be open at 8:15 on our way to nursery, other times it was still padlocked.

9 am at the earliest.

It wouldn't bother me at all, I am city centre based and there are rubbish trucks and everyday noises at that time anyway. Normally I'd be asleep at 6.30 but my alarm goes off at 6.45 so it wouldn't be much earlier than I usually wake, and I likely wouldn't hear as my bedroom faces the front. Construction noise on a building site on our road can legally start at 8am so it seems silly to have to wait as late as 8.30 or 9 as some people are suggesting.

Yes all our local parks and playgrounds have opening and closing hours . I’ve no issue with children playing early in their gardens like I’ve said Im just glad I’m not the one having to look after them at that early hour (been there done that lol). Playing music etc is totally different and that’s anti social but young children playing outside minding their own business wouldn’t bother me.

Wouldn’t bother me. Especially in this weather, makes sense to get them out early before it gets ridiculously hot

I never let my kids out in the garden before 9am out of consideration for the neighbours. If they got too loud, they were brought back inside.

I can see why a parent may allow it in the current weather conditions, but the adult should be whispering and encouraging the children to play quietly too - the should not be joining in with the loud play! If you’ve heard your neighbours are all up already, then that’s less of an issue.

I know when I’ve struggled to sleep in the heat, from around 3/4am until 8/9am ish I’ve found it slightly easier when it tends to be a little cooler and I’m exhausted by then lol. I would not have appreciated being woken up in the way you have been today. Adding in any music is completely out of order, but I’m guessing these neighbours aren’t known for their neighbourly behaviour?

Yes it’s too early. Our old neighbours used to let their kids out between 5-5:30 which was a killer. They’ve let now thankfully. Although we still have the other neighbours the other side who stay up late playing loud music, kicking balls against our fence and watching their outside tv until the early hours of the morning. People!

I think it's fine this week. Dogs should be walked and young children exercised as early as possible, before hiding indoors for the rest of the day. I was disturbed by my neighbour's dog barking when being taken out at 6am but didn't think anything of it.

Usually, of course, children should not play out before 8am on weekdays and 9am at weekends imo.

I’m usually up and about at that time or shortly thereafter, so personally it wouldn’t bother me too much. But I would never have let my children out into the garden at that time, especially DS1 who was always very loud. Not shouting or screaming, but talking energetically in an annoyingly loud voice😅 I found it very cute, but it probably drove my neighbours up the walls. I think 8.30/9.00am is probably reasonable.

Yes sorry to say this. I’m finding it hard enough to sleep atm as it is. Just take them to the nearest park.

On a normal day surely only shift workers are in bed until 8am. My kids leave the house to walk to school by 8am (as did I a million years ago) and I leave at a similar time to get to work.

I don't have a problem with the neighbours kids playing in the garden, nor do I have a problem with the neighbours chatting into the night. Having grown up on a farm in the middle of nowhere I can tell you all children playing or people chatting is far less disturbing than tractors going past all night (especially when it never properly gets dark).

Normally 8 am

But in heat waves it makes much more sense to adopt a Mediterranean lifestyle and play and work early morning and in the evening with a rest in the afternoon.

Not practical for many, of course,

Utterly selfish. 9am during the week 10am weekends is reasonable, with the caveat that screaming, screeching and excessive noise is never acceptable. People need to learn to actively parent their children, which includes being able to engage them in quiet activities when required.

WFH. One older teen. I don’t need to get up before 8am.
As others have said, sometimes that’s when sleep has finally come.

Mine went out then when it was hot. People didn't seem so grumpy about such things in the 90s. Also my children didn't scream.

Too early. Sat outside having breakfast, quietly talking or reading is fine. Noisy play after 10pm and before 7.30/8am just isn’t fair.

Of course that’s not the case! I work from home and usually wake up at around 8.30, or at least I did until my neighbours decided to build the mother of all extensions and employ buikdwrs who ignore the local authority’s permitted working hours and turn up at 7.30 every day. Thats bad enough but being woken up at 6.30 would make be very very angry. My husband is retired and wouldn’t normally get up at 8, any more than any other friends we have who are retired.

I think people are confusing what they would like with what is reasonable. Normally most people are up and getting ready to go to work from around 7am, and so you're going to get the noise of people coming and going. So 8am seems to me a perfectly reasonable time for children to play in the garden during the week. It doesn't matter if you're a night owl/wfh/do shifts/, your schedule is your schedule, it doesn't dictate whether your neighbours' behaviour is reasonable or not. We do have to put up with other people, including families, living their lives.

But excessive shouting/screaming/loud music is never reasonable, regardless of the time of day. So I'd be annoyed if I were in your position, OP, because it sounds like your neighbours are inconsiderate arseholes, rather than just on the other side of the 'what is reasonable' spectrum.

Far too early. Play Eminem and NWA just loud enough for the little darlings to hear the lyrics and im sure Mum will get them back in the house.

Too early

Far too early! I’d say 8am at the earliest

I think it depends on your neighbours & where you live. We are literally surrounded on all sides by young children, lots of them were out by 6:30 this morning and yesterday morning, we all have young children so 6:30 really isn’t early for any of us, it wasn’t waking anyone up so I don’t mind it.

Where my parents live though where it’s all older families or people without children, they wouldn’t be happy with it because 6:30 is practically the middle of the night still for them.

Even then though it is a one off though and they aren’t usually out early I wouldn’t mind because I can appreciate that in these temps it was cooler outside at 6:30 than in the house.