Dealing with noisy neighbours

All day long as I have tried to work, the toddler in the next door apartment has screamed his head off. I have tried really hard to shut out his screams but they has been relentless. Have you experienced such situation when a party/ loud music/ a couple rowing have kept you awake? it seems like a direct consequence of Urban life where most of us live on top of each other. How would you/ did you handle such a situation? did you put a pillow over your head and try to sleep or did you ask the neighbors to tone it down or did you call the cops?

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hhusted 2yrs+

I would go to the apartment, knock on the door, and kindly complain about the noise. I've done that a couple of times and found it works, as long as the tenant is reasonable. If the tenant is not reasonable, I will call the police.

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Uraniumfish 2yrs+

You could try kind of gently mentioning it to the neighbor, so they know the noise problem exists. However, in the case of children, what can you do? They're children and they're loud, so it would be especially unkind to complain too much about it.

In the case of loud music, it's probably something you can legitimately complain about because that can simply be turned down. There's no dial on children that gets them to turn it down.

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hhusted 2yrs+

@Uraniumfish: I agree with you to a point. I spoke to my lawyer about that when I lived in the Bronx and had a mother living next door with a child, who constantly screamed. I complained about it. The lady apologized. She did something because the child no longer was crying constantly. Anyway, I talked to my lawyer about the noise, and he told me they violated my right to quiet enjoyment of my apartment, no matter who lived there. Well, I expressed this to my neighbor and her child did not cry as much as before. I mean once in a while the child would cry, but not like before.

Perhaps the mother is not treating the child properly. Maybe she is abusing the child. You do not know what is going on behind closed doors. Although, I did complain, I did it nicely.

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NeverSleeps 2yrs+

@Uraniumfish It's true: you can't do much about the cries of very young children. If someone is partying till the break of dawn, call the cops.

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uptowngirl 2yrs+

@Uraniumfish actually I met the mum in the elevator a couple of days ago and she on her own apologized without me saying a thing. Seems her son is just one of those kids who cries a lot actually she herself seemed at the end of her tether . I guess I will have to put up with it until he calms down.. he's 16 months old so maybe he is teething or something.

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Uraniumfish 2yrs+

@uptowngirl That sounds like a good development. Not that you get relief from his crying, but at least you can feel some assurance that the mother knows the noise is excessive and is honestly doing her best. And maybe it will pass in a little while.

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uptowngirl 2yrs+

@Uraniumfish baaah he screamed his head off again yesterday sigh!!! I actually wanted to go across and offer my help to calm him down. I am quite good with kids but then I decided against it and put on my iPod to block out the noise.

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BroadwayBK 2yrs+

A new girl just moved in upstairs, and her room is apparently directly above mine. And she makes so much noise just walking around! I never even heard so much as a peep from the previous tenant. Can you tell someone that they are walking too loud? I don't think she's doing it on purpose, she's just...sort of heavy-footed.

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uptowngirl 2yrs+

@BroadwayBK LOL! I sympathize with you!

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ajadedidealist 2yrs+

I am a clumsy/loud walker (my gait has been compared to horses clomping and the French Revolution), so I can sympathize with your upstairs neighbor! It's not intentional - I swear! And I have TINY (size 5 1/2) feet! It's just my horrid posture - I wear out shoe leather in a matter of weeks.