Noisy Neighbours disturbing baby

[Mummie94]

Just looking for some advice on how to deal with our noisy neighbours. We’ve lived in our semi for a few years now and hardly spoken to the family next door — and when we have, they haven’t exactly been friendly.

They’ve always been noisy, but we never said anything. Now we’ve got a baby, it’s becoming impossible to ignore. Every single night between 10–11pm there’s banging, kids running around, shouting… the whole lot. It usually goes on for 10–25 minutes and then suddenly stops, so I’m guessing that’s when they finally go to bed.

Our baby’s room is on the opposite side of the house and they STILL get disturbed. Not always fully waking, but definitely stirring. We’ve got a white noise machine in their room and another one on the landing now just to try and drown it out.

We’re honestly at our wits’ end. We don’t want to complain and make things worse, but we’re scared that if we ask them nicely to keep it down, they’ll just get louder out of spite. They aren’t the pleasant type. We’re even thinking about moving sooner than planned just to get some peace.

What would you do? Talk to them? Go to the council? (They’re renting, if that makes any difference.)

It doesn’t really make any difference.
I think you’ve just got to get on with it if approaching them isn’t likely to be productive.

In our council they wouldn't consider the sound of children and other household noise before 11pm to be a nuisance. Most babies will stir through the night anyway.

If it isn't waking the baby it isn't an actual problem, just an imagined one. Babies can sleep through vacuum cleaners and all sorts. They are usually very deep sleepers once they are off.

If baby is sleeping through it, that's good! It sounds annoying, Op. I'd probably be planning to move, but what you are experiencing is par for the course unfortunately in a semi.

I wouldn't approach them, it's likely to escalate. I'd move. What did you mean by "they aren't the pleasant type".

Are they noisy the rest of the day? If it's just 10-25 minutes at bedtime, I'd say that's not too bad. Their DC will get older and quieter and yours will get noisier.

I doubt there's anything you can do. Your baby crying now or in the future will be a disturbance to them?

It doesn't sound too bad if I am honest - 10-25 mins a day of 'life' noise. I was thinking you would tell us they were blasting music all day / night. I do understand though that being on edge about noise is as bad as the noise itself.

You could chat to them, but if you don't feel it would be warmly received, I wouldn't bother. Get out of a semi and into a detached if funds allow. You'll be so much happier. Don't bother trying to sound proof, you'll be wasting your money.

Yes they’re noisy most of the time but because we’re up and about it doesn’t sound as loud. The noise in the evening is because we’re all in bed trying to sleep.

What would you do? Talk to them? Go to the council?

What are the noise rules in your area? For example, where I am, your neighbour could have a full brass band playing until 11pm. You couldn’t make a complaint until it gets to 11.01pm but all areas are probably different? From memory we also have something like not before 7am Mon-Sat and 8am Sun or something like that. If not in the restricted time, anything goes.

They are curtailing it around 11pm though, no council will be interested in investigating this, even noise throughout the night is hard to prove. You need to disturb them a bit during the day, music etc. let them taste their own medicine.

Honestly, if they’re already unfriendly I wouldn’t knock on the door. It usually just makes things awkward or worse. I’d start keeping a simple noise log for a week or two and then speak to environmental health. They can write to the landlord or look into it without you having to deal with the neighbours directly.

Sometimes a quiet word from a landlord is enough to calm things down, but if they’re renting and it’s every night, you’re not being unreasonable getting the council involved. You need sleep and so does your baby.

Unfortunately, it sounds like this is their normal. As annoying as it must be, you can't demand they curtail their lives because you go to bed earlier than them. If it's before 11pm unfortunately it's unlikely there's much you can do, they probably hear your baby crying as well. Families who are generally loud and boisterous by nature don't usually notice the decibel level and to them, they will just be living their lives as they normally do.

The only answer if you are bothered by noise (and I am, so I do sympathise!) is having no adjoining neighbours.