Bawling baby + open window = headwreak!

LegacyUser

This a minor problem compared to many others but I would appreciate some outside perspective on it:

I live in an end of terrace house that is conjoined on the corner to another house, so that my and my neighbours bedroom windows to the front are very close together at a forty five degree angle. They are good neighbours in every other respect and I wouldn't want to cause any bad feeling, but the bedroom window closest to my own is where their baby sleeps and it bawls its head off several nights a week. I always leave my bedroom window open a crack for the sake of some air (I cannot sleep in a stuffy room) and my neighbours leave their baby's bedroom window open also.

I am truly sick of hearing their baby bawling in my ear when I'm trying to sleep at 2am and am up for work the next morning! The baby is literally about four to six feet away from me while it's bawling its head off, no doubt it's closer to me physically than it is to its parents.

It seems to be a choice between stifling to bits at night trying to sleep with a closed window or lying awake listening to their baby cry. Surely it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect them to close their baby's window? They could always leave the baby's bedroom door open and open thier window in the hall for the sake of air for the baby, but then I guess they'd have to be disturbed at night instead of me! (I don't have a hallway window in my house so that wouldn't work for me) I must admit I am getting pissed off at this stage. It seems very selfish of them to leave the window open when they know the baby is roaring its head off, and I am starting to resent this as to be honest if I wanted to listen to a baby bawling I'd have one in my own house!

Any ideas on how to deal with this diplomatically (that does not involve me closing my window!)

RandolphEsq

Casey Anthony could help.

But seriously, get earplugs or perhaps have some background music to drown it out? Or both!

iguana

Get a white noise machine or a fan for your bedroom. The noise of either will drown out the baby's crying and if you choose a fan, will allow you the option of closing the window.

I sympathise with your situation because any noise when you are trying to sleep is a disturbance. But my honest advice is to do everything you can to prevent yourself from hearing it, before you make a complaint to the parents. While there is every possibility that they will follow your suggestion about the window there is also as much possibility that they won't and then you will be back where you started. And if you approach your local authority you are very unlikely to be taken seriously when it comes to baby noise as it's not like other types of noise pollution, it isn't as if they can order the baby to shut up.

The "bright side" is it sounds as if these parents are practising a childcare method which means leaving the child in bed for 12 hours at night and never picking it up in that time, so it will learn to sleep through the night. So hopefully (for your sake) the baby will start sleeping more and more so won't be waking up crying for much longer.

Eta: If you do decide to approach them you could first try "casually" dropping the fact that the baby is waking you into conversation. Something like sympathising about how wrecked they must be as the baby has some set of lungs and even wakes you most nights, ha, ha. That lets them know that the baby is waking you without being confrontational. That may be enough to make them change their set-up.

Stinicker

Report the baby to the police for anti social behaviour. Failing that try sleep at the other end of the house.

metrovelvet

I think you should tell them that the baby is waking you due to the proximity of the room. They cant do anything if they are not made aware.

Maple

RandolphEsq wrote: »

Casey Anthony could help.

Stinicker wrote: »

Report the baby to the police for anti social behaviour.

Please keep your advice helpful and constructive going forward.

Maple

Stinicker

Maple wrote: »

Please keep your advice helpful and constructive going forward.

Maple

My apologies, I thought this was in After Hours when I posted the reply!

gubbie

I say close your window and open the door and open a window in another area of the house. I'd say the baby crying will last a lot less then pissed off neighbours

mikemac

I feel your pain OP, I used to work nights and when I got home, it was a choice of baking in a hot room or leaving the window open and trying to sleep with a child next door

Get headphones, not earphones
And listen to something soothing, like this
<snip>

Overheal

What if the child just didn't like the window open at night? :P It might be an awkward conversation but suggest that to your neighbors, that closing the window not only helps you sleep, but might end up helping the child. Just remember they are 3x more bother about the child crying at night than you are.

LegacyUser

I might try to slip it into conversation as Iguana suggested. (thanks for the long post Iguana)

The baby didn't cry last night at least. It just riles me that anyone would leave the window open in the first place in the full knowledge that their baby is making such a woeful racket. It seems a real thoughtless selfish thing to do.

It's possible that their nerves are so frazzled though that it just never crossed their minds, but to be honest I doubt that. We are all well aware when our kids are making a vocal sh!t-storm and I don't see how anyone could open the window night after night (when the neighbours window is in the sort of proximity I'm talking about) without that crossing their minds. Maybe they're just extraordinarily self-absorbed..

Thanks for the advice.

Morag

Given that irish houses do not have air conditioning and that babies have to be kept between a certain temperature range how the hell else are parents going to try keep a child from over heating in this weather, unless they open a window.

Can you move bedroom? Can you move your bed? is a fan a option for you?

bubbaloo

One of the main reasons for cot death is overheating. You cannot ask the parents of a baby to close the window in warm weather like this, just because you don't like the noise. Maybe you could close your own window and get a fan?

Stinicker

bubbaloo wrote: »

One of the main reasons for cot death is overheating. You cannot ask the parents of a baby to close the window in warm weather like this, just because you don't like the noise. Maybe you could close your own window and get a fan?

I disagree, being a parent does not give people a cop out from these types of things. Portable air conditioners are both cheap and efficent, matter of fact I have one of them now cooling my own deskspace. Children are born all over the world in deserts and tropical countries which makes our "hot" weather pale into insignificance.

I keep my own windows closed quite simply because one atom of pollen and I will explode into a mucus ridden mess of sneezing and runny eyes with hayfever, the airconditioner then makes up for it. I wouldn't consider today hot by anymeans.

I hate the way people expect other people to make such allowances for them having kids.

metrovelvet

They could always bring the cot into their own room and respond to its crying.

emschlem

If you go the earplug route, I'd recommend this particular brand,

http://www.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://mccabespharmacy.com/shop/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/e/a/earp003_quies_ear_plugs_natural_wax_7pr.png&imgrefurl=http://mccabespharmacy.com/shop/general-health/snoring/quies-ear-plugs.html&usg=__FFvQing8rk5ZpeYXcWWrmMFk2PA=&h=379&w=392&sz=133&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=bMlUxkfCRM06AM:&tbnh=158&tbnw=163&ei=pOweTryxFtC1hAeG4ezHAw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dquies%2Bear%2Bplugs%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1440%26bih%3D675%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=386&vpy=134&dur=344&hovh=158&hovw=163&tx=90&ty=62&page=1&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&biw=1440&bih=675

woodchuck

emschlem wrote: »

If you go the earplug route, I'd recommend this particular brand,

http://www.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://mccabespharmacy.com/shop/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/e/a/earp003_quies_ear_plugs_natural_wax_7pr.png&imgrefurl=http://mccabespharmacy.com/shop/general-health/snoring/quies-ear-plugs.html&usg=__FFvQing8rk5ZpeYXcWWrmMFk2PA=&h=379&w=392&sz=133&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=bMlUxkfCRM06AM:&tbnh=158&tbnw=163&ei=pOweTryxFtC1hAeG4ezHAw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dquies%2Bear%2Bplugs%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1440%26bih%3D675%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=386&vpy=134&dur=344&hovh=158&hovw=163&tx=90&ty=62&page=1&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&biw=1440&bih=675

seconded!

nesbitt

If I had this problem I would have to say something to the parents. After all the child may be ill and neglected. Simply ask them if little 'Johnnie/Jane' is ill at the moment because you hear them crying for a considerable time each night. I would drop it into a conversation as a friendly by the way type of remark. Otherwise as others have said close your window, use ear plugs. The joys of living with near neighbours!.....:):(

temply

Stinicker wrote: »

Report the baby to the police for anti social behaviour. Failing that try sleep at the other end of the house.

LOL

Silverfish

Reminder, off - topic and unhelpful posting can earn you a ban in this forum.

Please read the charter, and do not ignore moderator warnings.

Overheal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_infant_death_syndrome#Air_circulation_with_fan_use

Only one mention about air circulation, and the study was deemed to be inconclusive. Nothing about temperature. Not that I understand how the mid 50Fs is considered dangerously warm to the child's health. If anything they should be shutting the window to keep it from getting too cold.

greengirl31

OP, while I do sympathise with you cause I HATE my sleep being interrupted and the slightest little noise keeps me awake, I'm going to respond from the parents point of view.

When my little girl was between 9 and 15 mths she went through a terrible time teething - there would be nights where she's be SCREAMING in pain for hours during the night and while you might think that the parents are blissfully unaware of the babies crying, it's likely that one of them is in there with the baby trying to soothe it so that everyone can get some sleep. I also lived in a terrace house and my baby's cot was up against my neighbours bedroom and I'm sure they could hear her screaming at night and they probably thought like you do that I was fast asleep but the truth was I was almost sobbing from tiredness and frustration.

I did mention it to my neighbours and apologised if we were disturbing them and they were very nice about the whole thing and told me not to worry about it which in a strange way made me feel a little better cause it was one less thing to worry about. I still didn't want to keep them awake but it was nice to know they weren't going to get snotty about it. I think if you say anything to them it'll will add to an already stressful situation for the parents and won't solve anything for yourself either. Try to be patient with them, cause however bad you're feeling they're feeling it worse and it won't lasts forever ...

LegacyUser

Hi, just to give y'all an update: Since I last posted about this I took some of the advice given and mentioned hearing the baby crying to its mother, by way of enquiring after the child. I asked was he okay with his teething he must be going through and discussed hearing the crying at night etc. She just responded that the child was "fine" and left the window open that night, as always. It has not been shut one single night (regardless the weather)

Sometimes the baby cries, sometimes it doesn't. But last night for example, I was awake till 3.30am, slept though the alarm for work and was late in. I have, in desperation, finally closed my own window and have found that although it aleviates the racket somewhat it's not very effective while they've got thier baby's window open. The baby is practically on top of me remember.

I'm at my wits end boardsies, please help! How do you deal with selfish pricks of parents like this?????

I am a friend

Have you another room you can move to? Did you try ear plugs?

You could always try the non subtle approach and tell her what happened last night and ask her to close the window.

implausible

In fairness, the mother is probably not getting much sleep either and maybe doesn't realise how the noise travels straight into your room. If it was my young fella, I'd probably be so exhausted by it that the neighbours would be the last ones I'd be thinking of.

The only thing is - it's temporary. This won't go on for ever, either the heat or the crying. You don't choose your neighbours either so you'll just have to put up with it for a while, take the advice of lots of boardsies here and get some earplugs.

Overheal

when it cries how long is it crying for? Are they just ignoring it?

bertsmom

Jesus thats headwrecking altogether! OP as far as I'd be concerned you have tried being nice and mentioning it etc now id just get a small radio and put in on your windowsill and play music at roughly the same level as the baby crying but only once the kid has already started.
Once the kids parents realise that they wont get the kid back to sleep with the sound of your music hopefully they will cop on and close the window and you can turn off your radio

Overheal

http://www.google.com/search?q=noise+canceler&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#sclient=psy&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&tbm=shop&source=hp&q=noise+canceling+speaker&pbx=1&oq=noise+canceling+speaker&aq=f&aqi=&aql=1&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=10539l11990l1l12119l11l8l0l2l2l0l413l1258l0.2.1.1.1l5&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=bcbc13ee211f73ef&biw=1920&bih=913

greengirl31

bertsmom wrote: »

Jesus thats headwrecking altogether! OP as far as I'd be concerned you have tried being nice and mentioning it etc now id just get a small radio and put in on your windowsill and play music at roughly the same level as the baby crying but only once the kid has already started.
Once the kids parents realise that they wont get the kid back to sleep with the sound of your music hopefully they will cop on and close the window and you can turn off your radio

How childish !!!!!

greengirl31

OP, while I sympathise with your situation and believe me I really do because as I said before, the slightest thing keeps me awake and I'm not a happy bunny when I don't get my beauty sleep. But, I have to say I'm a little surprised at the harshness of the attitudes and responses to this thread.
The parents aren't being selfish pr1cks - I can guarantee they're getting less sleep than you are and they're not letting their baby cry just to p1ss you off - if they could stop that child crying they would. It's common when babies are teething that they run a temperature too so perhaps they have to leave the window open for that reason. You said yourself that when you closed your window that you could still hear the racket so if they close the window and you leave yours open you'll still be able to hear the crying.
This is one of those situations that you cannot control but it's not going to last forever. Get the earplugs and turn up your alarm clock

LegacyUser

Greengirl, while I appreciate you taking the time to reply I think you need to appreciate that this situation is not identical to the one you've experienced. For a start I can guarantee you the parents here are NOT getting less sleep than I am because they are sleeping at the far end of their house (lucky them) and they've got two closed doors and a long hallway between them and their baby. I've got about three foot of fresh air and, from thier side, an open window.

Continuing to open the window after having thier baby's cries put to them IS thoughtless and selfish, regardless what way you want to paint it, and my alarm clock is already set to the fullest extent of its volume - believe me in this situation it would bloody well need to be. It didn't do me much good this morning though when I was woken a full two hours before it was due to go off by a baby bawling straight through their open window. I have been awake since 5.30 am, which is why my eyes are hanging out as I type this.

Overheal, the baby can cry anything from ten mins (long enough to wake you up) to hours on end. Yes they are deliberately letting it cry, which to be honest I think is either foolish or cruel depending on whether or not they've considered that these are teething cries, not the restless cries of a newborn. In other words, they are trying a behavioural correction technique that is useless here; this has nothing to do with behaviour, it has to do with pain. Ignoring the baby is causing nothing but misery for the baby and the person listening to it (yours truly) and will do nothing to alleviate its cries.

Someone suggested they could always take the baby into thier room and attend to its crying. That's what I did when mine were babies, there's no way they're into doing that as it would disturb thier sleep to the extent it is now disturbing mine. That's not something I'd suggest to them as it's up to them what way they raise their baby, but the very least they could do is close the bloody window.

ash23

OP I had a similar situation and it's frustrating and annoying but alas, children cry and to be honest, there's very little that can be done. I rent and in the first place I lived, I moved into the box room which was the opposite side of the house.
In the last place i lived, that wasn't an option so in the end I just got earplugs and that was grand, I got used to it and got some sleep. I moved when my lease was up, to a detached house. Because I hate noise it was the only real solution. If you live in a terraced house, a semi or an apartment, you will always have neighbour noise. The only real way to stop it is to move into a detached house.

greengirl31

ringinginmyears wrote: »

Greengirl, while I appreciate you taking the time to reply I think you need to appreciate that this situation is not identical to the one you've experienced. For a start I can guarantee you the parents here are NOT getting less sleep than I am because they are sleeping at the far end of their house (lucky them) and they've got two closed doors and a long hallway between them and their baby. I've got about three foot of fresh air and, from thier side, an open window.

Continuing to open the window after having thier baby's cries put to them IS thoughtless and selfish, regardless what way you want to paint it, and my alarm clock is already set to the fullest extent of its volume - believe me in this situation it would bloody well need to be. It didn't do me much good this morning though when I was woken a full two hours before it was due to go off by a baby bawling straight through their open window. I have been awake since 5.30 am, which is why my eyes are hanging out as I type this.

.

So do you think that these parent's are blissfully unaware of their childs howling every night ??? I seriously doubt it and unless they're living in an absolute mansion, they can hear their baby. I would put money on the fact that one or both of them are up with that child.

Another point is, you have absolutly no control over what these parents do or don't do in relation to the childs crying. You can request that they close the window but they don't have to. You can request that they move the child into their room but again they don't have to. And i'm sure they wouldn't appreciate the requestes either but I'm sure you're past caring (underatandably). It may also lead to long term issues with neighbours and that's never plesant !! If you can, move room on a temporary basis - Again, this crying isn't going to last forever !!

LegacyUser

greengirl31 wrote: »

So do you think that these parent's are blissfully unaware of their childs howling every night ???

Of course not, but I also know they are nowhere near as affected as I am.

greengirl31 wrote: »

I would put money on the fact that one or both of them are up with that child.

Greengirl you've repeated yourself on that score a couple of times now - as I've told you before, they are absolutely NOT in the room with that child.

Ash23, I've lived beside lots of people over the years and thankfully most of them have not been a bother to live beside. I'm a city-woman so living in a detached house isn't viable right now.

iguana

Have you tried using white noise of a fan yet. Seriously this will make a huge difference and, tbh, it's stubborn of you not to. Get a cheap fan in Argos or an electrical shop, switch it on to the highest setting and shut your window. You will be cool, the noise from the baby will be reduced by the window being shut and the noise from the fan will drown out the remaining sound from the baby. And the noise from the fan will be soothing and help you sleep.

Seriously, you can either waste your time being pissed off or you can make a few small adjustments that will reduce the problem to a level where it may no longer be a problem. Only one option will result in you getting any sleep.

LegacyUser

If I was stubborn Iguana I'd never have closed my own window in the first place. I shouldn't have had to - the noise wasn't coming from my house. I'll give the fan a go but it's not going to stop me considering my neighbours a pair of selfish pricks.

greengirl31

ringinginmyears wrote: »

Of course not, but I also know they are nowhere near as affected as I am.



Greengirl you've repeated yourself on that score a couple of times now - as I've told you before, they are absolutely NOT in the room with that child.

How do you know they're not as affected as you are ??? Or that they're not in the room with the child ?? You're not even in the same house and you're affected !! Give them a break - Life's no picnic for them either at the moment I'd imagine.

implausible

ringinginmyears wrote: »

If I was stubborn Iguana I'd never have closed my own window in the first place. I shouldn't have had to - the noise wasn't coming from my house. I'll give the fan a go but it's not going to stop me considering my neighbours a pair of selfish pricks.

But you are being stubborn! Lots of people have advised you to get earplugs, but it seems you'd prefer to give out about you neighbours and their parenting than actually take this advice.

iguana

ringinginmyears wrote: »

If I was stubborn Iguana I'd never have closed my own window in the first place. I shouldn't have had to - the noise wasn't coming from my house. I'll give the fan a go but it's not going to stop me considering my neighbours a pair of selfish pricks.

Look I really do have a lot of sympathy, I can't bear selfish people and I hate having my sleep broken. But the fact is you live in high density housing, you will hear your neighbours, the odds are, that even when you don't realise it, they can hear you. Unless you live in a detached house, situated on the middle of a large plot of land, you will hear your neighbours all the time.

It obviously suits you to live in a high density environment at the moment so if you don't want to hear your neighbours you need to take the necessary steps. I know, I lived in London for years. I loved living in a big high density city, loved the buzz and the choice but I hated the noise at night. I moved there in the middle of a heatwave when the temperatures were in the high 30s each night, and I happen to share my bed with a human furnace (otherwise known as my husband). No joke but we used to go to bed at night cuddling ice packs, yet we often had to keep the window closed due to the constant noise. So as soon as we could, we got a fan (which took weeks as they were sold out everywhere and had to be pre-ordered). And once we did we found that we no longer had trouble sleeping. The air was cool (by chance we got a type you could put ice into so the air being blown about was chilled), we could shut the window and the noise from the fan drown out the other noise. And best of all there is something extremely soothing about the constant white noise that induces sleep.

I'm very grateful for that heatwave because if I hadn't needed a fan I'd very likely have lain in bed night after night sulking about all the loud w@nkers who weren't being considerate to my needs. Not sleeping, not acknowledging that I lived in a high density area and as such had a responsibility to my own needs that I wouldn't have had in a different environment.

LegacyUser

greengirl31 wrote: »

How do you know they're not as affected as you are ???

Because as I've told you repeatedly I am three feet away from their baby on the other side of an open window. They are 20+ feet away from the baby behind two closed doors.

greengirl31 wrote: »

Or that they're not in the room with the child ??

I think we can all make out the difference between the sound of a screaming unaccompanied child and a screaming child who's being soothed. Even if we could not, an amusing incident happened the other night that further confirmed what I already knew: A bloody dog stood howling outside the baby's bedroom window at mad hours (even the dogs are finding it distressing!) and next thing you hear lazy-arse flinging open her bedroom door, trundling down the hall, opening her babys bedroom door and then you see her hand flying out and slamming shut the bedroom window in annoyance - like the dog had no business barking at her baby!!!!!

Truth be told I got a good laugh out of that. Just goes to show though she's well able to close a window when it suits her.

greengirl31 wrote: »

You're not even in the same house and you're affected !!

Wish I was in the same house. I'd be much further away from their baby than I am at the moment.

LegacyUser

I do intend to try the fan Iguana, but at this stage it will be for the sake of a bit of coolness in the room. It's not because closing the window makes a huge deal of difference to the noise - you would need TWO closed windows for that.

Also I should say I've lived in high density housing my whole life and never come across people so inconsiderate before. It's one thing hearing your neighbours, it's quite another to be continually woken out of your sleep by them.

Overheal

greengirl31 wrote: »

So do you think that these parent's are blissfully unaware of their childs howling every night ??? I seriously doubt it and unless they're living in an absolute mansion, they can hear their baby. I would put money on the fact that one or both of them are up with that child.

Another point is, you have absolutly no control over what these parents do or don't do in relation to the childs crying. You can request that they close the window but they don't have to. You can request that they move the child into their room but again they don't have to. And i'm sure they wouldn't appreciate the requestes either but I'm sure you're past caring (underatandably). It may also lead to long term issues with neighbours and that's never plesant !! If you can, move room on a temporary basis - Again, this crying isn't going to last forever !!

If theres no change in the child's crying for minutes or hours you can bet they aren't tending to it.

OP at this point I'd have knocked on their door at the wee hours of the morning and asked them what was up. If your neighbours are pricks anyway theres no love lost. Do that often enough and maybe they'll discover it's not worth the trouble.

Ditto to the fan white noise.

But you are being stubborn!

So are they!

LegacyUser

Thanks Overheal. I think the only thing left to do here is to ask them to close the window because they refuse to take a hint and a fan might cool me down but it sure as hell wont shut up that baby!

greengirl31

Overheal wrote: »

If theres no change in the child's crying for minutes or hours you can bet they aren't tending to it.

I would bet they are tending to it - Have you delt with a teething baby lately ????

I know if my neighbours had knocked on my door when my daughter was howling in pain in the middle of the night, I wouldn't have been impressed!! On the other hand, i may have invited them in to see if they could do any better !!

The point I'm making is, regardless of wether the parents are in the room with the child or letting the poor thing scream it's lungs out, there's nothing the OP can do to control their actions. She can't make them close the window or move the child or anything else. The OP hasn't even tried any of the suggestions of the fan or other white noise or the earplugs but has come on here slating the parents for being so selfish and keeping her awake - She lives in a city so there is always the potential for noisy neighbours.

LegacyUser

I've tried several of the suggestions on here Greengirl including mentioning the crying to the parents, closing my own window and buying a bloody fan which I have asked my sister to pick up for me as I am in work with my eyeballs on the desk and she is in town shopping today - I dont have the strength or the energy to head out shopping after having been woken up at the crack of dawn.

As I am now blue in the face repeating, they are NOT tending to the baby. They are letting it bawl its lungs out alone in a room, that is, by definition, REFUSING to tend to the baby.

You said you'd be willing to put money on it that they are tending to the baby. Well I'll tell you what Greengirl - you'd be welcome to come round to my house late one evening to check it out for yourself cause truth be told I could do with the few bob!

I am a friend

deemark wrote: »

But you are being stubborn! Lots of people have advised you to get earplugs, but it seems you'd prefer to give out about you neighbours and their parenting than actually take this advice.

She shouldn't have to use earplugs in her own home though due to her neighbours lack of empathy. So many Irish parents think their little darlings wants / needs/ existence is more important than that of an adult - it's not!!!

Op I would ask them to shut the window and / or move room. It's nuts carry on

Overheal

I know if my neighbours had knocked on my door when my daughter was howling in pain in the middle of the night, I wouldn't have been impressed!!

Yeah but your neighbors arent impressed with the howling either, especially when the parents can control the noise pollution (shut the window, buy their own damned fan) and they already have controlled their own sleep by being at the far end of the house behind several doors.

There are noise pollution laws arent there? Noise ordinances?

iguana

Overheal wrote: »

There are noise pollution laws arent there? Noise ordinances?

I'm not sure of the exact laws in Ireland but the noise from a baby's cry is very unlikely to be governed by them.

greengirl31

Look OP - I understand your frustration, I honestly do. I don't doubt that you're exhausted and I would too if I was in your shoes.
Maybe your right and they're leaving the child to cry, perhaps they can't hear the child cauese they've 2 doors and a hallway between them. I was just trying to give you a reasonable parents (i think) point of view. Because once I was that parent with the screaming child. She's scream for anything from half an hour to 4 hours a night. I lived in a terrace house and her room was next to the neighbours bedroom and I know they could hear her. I did everything I could to try to stop the crying. I'd pick her up, give calpol for the pain, sing to her, read to her - anything and everything i could think of and still she cried !!! It didn't happen every night but often enough and for a few weeks. But perhaps they're not reasonable parents and can ignore their screaming baby ....

I hope the fan works for you OP and you get a good nighs sleep

LegacyUser

I just felt the compulsion to log in and confess that I am feeling like a bit of an arsehole today. Yesterday after work I pulled into my parking space and saw my neighbour standing at her front door with the baby on her hip and by God, he was howling like there was no tomorrow coming with big fiery red cheeks on him. I said hello to her and she turned to greet me and by Jesus, the eyes were hanging out of her head. God love her.

Yeah she is ignoring the baby at night but obviously because she is so drop down exhausted it's the only bit of peace she can get. Her husband is out working all day so she has to deal with this most of the time on her own. Yeah I will ask her to close the window after 10.pm but I'll put it to her gently along with a bit of advice. This looks like a desperate measures situation and if that was my baby I'd have been rubbing a drop of whiskey into its gums by now.

And Greengirl, sorry for ranting on. I didn't get the full picture of the situation. Sometimes babies are night criers and sometimes they're day criers but this baby is just crying round the clock and I wasn't aware of that till yesterday as I'm out at work all day. Morto...

wild_cat

They had the baby though... not you....

Fair play to you for being more understanding than I would be. But I probably would have just closed the window or complained to the management company. (I really can be a prick.)

Unlike barking dogs etc. Children grow out of persistent crying.