Noisy toddler next door

[Sukie272]

I live in a small flat and my next-door neighbours have a toddler who is about 2. This child seems to stay up all night as well as most of the day- he screams, cries, yells, bangs toys on the walls and runs around their flat constantly, until around 3am.
The walls are very thin, so he wakes me up repeatedly. After 6 months of being woken 4-5 times a night (the sound of him running on hardwood floors sounds like someone is hamnering nails into the floor) I complained to landlord. He agreed this level of noise at night is unacceptable and spoke to the family. For a few weeks the noise calmed down and they seemed to make an effort to keep him away from the partition wall at night, but now the noise is unbearable again.
I've tried politely talking to the parents (who are Eastern European and don't speak much English), I've also put leaflets under their door about SureStart and other sources of help. At times I bang on the wall in desperation. I just want some peace and quiet!
Is it normal for a 2-year-old to cry for several hours every day, and to run around screaming for hours at a time, several times a night? I'm worried he may be being abused/neglected... should I contact Social Services? The parents rarely take him out of the flat, so maybe he is just bored?
I'm in first trimester of pregnancy and currently off work sick, so I can't escape the noise even in the daytime. I feel so angry that these people let their child cause such a disturbance! Earplugs make little difference, and I can hear him in every room in my flat, even though my bedroom is not next to the partition wall.
What can I do about this? Does anyone have a similar experience?

OP's neighbors sound really selfish. They know she can't sleep but they still let him run near the party-wall! They are causing the noise not her why should she move. When we had DD we lived in upstairs apartment with wood floors to be honest we were naive about noise and let DD run about a lot. She liked to run up and down living room and the hall in eves and sometimes at night too. Neighbors below complained! I admit I thought they were exaggerating how could DD make that much noise? They said come down and listen, I stood in their bedroom she sounded like a large pony galloping around! So we agreed noisy time was 7am-7pm and after that it was quiet time so neighbours could enjoy their eve too and sleep. at 7pm we moved to her bedroom and played in there until she went to sleep, no running. OP ask your neighbours to come into your flat so they know how loud he is!

Gold and Fairybell... Thanks for your advice

Gold... I see your point about contacting professionals, just in case the child is suffering or in danger. I was starting to think I must have over-reacted to the situation... but I guess it's better to err on the side of caution and let someone with more experience look into it.

Well if you are worried he is being neglected then yes, call SS.

But if the walls are that thin soon it will be your baby disturbing them too, maybe just think of the sleepless nights as practice?

they sound like hideous neighbours to have, whether their toddler has additional needs or not. Doesn't sound like theyre doing anything to reduce the impact on their neighbours

Zombie thread!
Although would be interesting to hear how the op is getting on with their baby sleeping now.

Thank them for getting you ready for your little one! Get a detached house. I don't envy you one bit though.. sounds hard to live with