Noisy neighbours - pregnant wife. What can I do?

blackwidowuk

Hi everyone,

I'm just after a bit of advice really.

We've been in our house for 16 months. We live in a detached house where our living/dining room connects to our neighbours car port (they also have a garage). Since we've moved in we've had to put up with the following:

• Next door neighbours children kicking a football or bowling a cricket ball against their garage door. This doesn't sound too bad but it causes so much noise in our hoise. We can hear it in every room
• Children playing outside at 11pm - the eldest is 13
• Children swearing and screaming outside at 7am in the morning

Now tonight, the eldest has been given a drum kit for his birthday and it's being played in their garage. I realise it's not too late, but my wife is 8 months pregnant and I'm just worrying about what will happen when the baby is born. If they continue with kicking a football or playing cricket against their garage then they will wake our baby up when we're trying to get it (we don't know the sex) to sleep.

We've spoken to our neighbour and she's said she just switches off when the kids are playing outside and making noise. She's said that she'll tell them to stop and it just continues. The next door neighbours children also run across our garden and walk across our wall.

I don't want to seem like Victor Meldrew, but I don't think it's on.

Can anyone offer any advice? besides telling me to chill out more


Thanks!

blackwidowuk

heather38

i too am heavily pregnant and my neighbours are even worse. they were playing music at 5am this morning, i also get shouting, arguing, banging, stomping and door slamming i've learned to tune it out but oh gets so stressed about it.
contact the environmental health dept at your local council and ask for their advice.

Alicesmum_2

Chill out more !! Sorry, only joking ! How annoying for you, and such a sensitive situation to be in. We ended up moving house 9 years ago because of problems with our neighbours and it was a horrible situation to be in.
I don't think I can offer much useful advice, just wanted to offer my sympathies. Having had 2 kids of my own I can say with some confidence that most babies will sleep through the sort of noises you have detailed - if it's normal to them and they need to sleep they will !! Honest I'm not fibbing ! You can even hoover round them and they don't wake up !
But I appreciate that it's particularly irritating to you and your wife. You have spoken to your neighbour about it already but seemed to have met with an 'oh whatever' response so it's tricky isn't it ? Maybe if you could hold on til your baby is born, wait a couple of weeks then have another word and blame your concern on having had a really awful couple of days with the baby crying and being very restless and needing to get some serious shut-eye for all of you so perhaps she could get the kids quiet/in the house before 9pm/stop the ball kicking etc ?
Sorry I'm not much help but appreciate how you feel and hope you can sort it.

scissorsister

hiya i hope i can help you. If you know the person next to you is a council tennent (sp) then contact the council.
When its loud music and its after 11pm call the police and ask for a crime ref no then keep note of time and ref no and give this to the landlord as many landlords have terms and conditions and report it to council health department.
try the following:

1: 1st try talking to neighbour
sometimes people dont realise how loud things are!
2: put something in writting to the tennent and landlord
We were told to do this by police before they would come out
3: keep a diary of times and dates and kind of noise
comes in usefull for council health department
4: if after 11pm and before 7am call the police and ask for them to come to your door 1st so you can get a crime ref no
5: contact the council health dep with all the info and hope for the best

after 7 years of living with noise we are getting moved
it only took for sleeping tablets allowence to be met :T

Stephb1986_2

Hiya sorry to hear about your problems!

Your best contacting your council about it or the police im sure they will get a ASBO or something for it

Good luck with the baby

Steph xx

Savvy_Sue

If there's a drum kit in next door's garage, I'd invite her to come in when her DS is playing it and see if she thinks she could tune that out! The sound may travel into your house differently to into hers. I'd certainly be asking her to get that wall better soundproofed!

Gingham_Ribbon

i don't recommend this, but when I was heavily pregnant with my first, my neighbour was a nightmare - even leaving his music on full blast when he went out at midnight, on repeat.

I went round and told him that I'd do him a deal. If he stopped making so much noise I wouldn't kill him. There's nothing like a crazy pregnant woman to get things done!

He knew I was joking but seriously upset. It might help if your wife has a quiet word and explains how difficult it is for her and how worried she is about the baby getting to sleep with all the racket.

I'd definitely get the neighbour round when the drums are going on. There's a lad up the road who plays his drums in his garage and we can hear it from the bottom of the street to the top of it. At least it's just during the day though.

ailuro2

fwiw it probably won't wake up the baby, they are very adaptable creatures and are used to noise from going everywhere in a fluid filled sac the past few months, they hear everything already.;)

It's not good for your wife's stress levels,though, to be bothered by kids noise.

It does sound like it started to bother you and now the slightest thing is getting to you.

You need to go back to your neighbour and explain that you have tried but you cannot shut out the noise, and invite her in to hear the drums being played. Putting towels in drums quietens them down a bit.;) Explain you don't want to go down the environmental health route but will if she won't limit her kids noisy hours a bit.

As for walking on the wall -well, it's their wall too, running through your garden isn't allowed but probably harmless. If they are damaging plants it's different.

Sounds like their parent(s?) need to take a bit of a tougher line with them, but they don't sound malicious from your original post.

Mandles

Oh, i feel so sorry for you. It can drive you insane as you just can't escape.
Firstly, it may be for nothing but i would start keeping a written record of times and incidents(sounds a bit over the top and drastic & may end up in the bin but just in case it escalates).

The good news is that newborn babies sleep through most things, even the hoover. Maybe speak to the kid when he is kicking the ball & say go in your house a minute and start welliying the ball against his garage and say, "see, im not being fussy, it is really noisy so can you kick it somewhere else!
Put baby in room next to him so that baby wakes him up in the night!
When i was pregnant i lived above a DJ who came in at 2am and put really loud music on & it thumped right through the house. Late nighters don't like the morning so i really enjoyed hoovering above his bedroom at 7 in the morning!
Hopefully he will soon get bored of the drums. Maybe start collecting egg boxes to help sound proof gargae for him.

All the best with the baby & if it is unbearable move. Again, drastic but my lovely nan died after having a stroke from the stress of new noisy neighbours that didn't care about her complaints. So not worth your health.

bunty109

When I was young our neighbours had kids that would throw parties until all hours (really noisy). My mum used to wait until they were all asleep and then about 6 or 7am she'd stick our stereo up against the wall that joined onto the lad's room and leave it on for a bit. He soon got the message!

I also suffered with a teenager next door when I was pregnant. She'd just be really noisy when her mum went out and there would be music and all sorts at funny times of the night. The day I came home from hospital she started with music etc in the middle of the afternoon. OH went storming round and before he'd even knocked on the door she'd sussed what was wrong and opened the door apologising. We'd never mentioned anything to her mum before and I think she was frightened we would.

I know this is different in that you've spoken to the mum and gotten nowhere, but you could try mentioning it to the kids as it may just be the mum isn't bothering to do anything. Failing that, I'd make the mum come round and listen when the drums are being played.

If all else fails, put the baby in the room next to the mother when s/he arrives and give them a taste of their own medicine!!!

Savvy_Sue

The trouble with the 'retaliation' is that if I've understood what the OP has described, the only party wall links their garage to his living room ... One howling baby isn't going to disturb kids playing drums or football against that wall very much ...