Noise From Flat Above-Concerned About a Child

thequant

I've been having problems with noise from the flat upstairs. the noise begins at 9 am and continues to about 11pm at night. The noise consists of banging and running across the floor. What is very worrying is that there is very lfew breaks in the noise, probably 5 mins peace at a time at best. So how can someone make that amount of noise continously without ever getting tired?

after complaining to the residents upstairs several times, my partner went up and enquired and the mystery was solved. The people upstairs are a young family living in a 2 bed flat.

what they have done is stripped the living room bare and have turned it over to their 4 year old child who i gather is being left in there on his own. The living is the same size as ours and consists of a good 40%-50% area of the property.

So what do they do about a living room? the parents are using their bedroom as a living room aswell a bedroom and just sit in their all day while the child is running riot in the rest of the property.

I dont think the child is being abused or neglected and he seems happy enough. However the whole situation seems very unhealthy, not to mention our own health.

The noise is causing me to develop severe migraines and my partner who has MS its making his condition worse.

What is the best course of action ?

I'm tempted to contact police/ social services about the living arrangements above, however it does seem a bit extreme when I have no evidence the child is coming to any physical harm.

poppysarah

Are they new to the area?
Offer to take them to the local park to show them round?
Invite them in for a brew?

ian_h

I'd explain to them the problem and ask them to politely make sure it doesnt happen again.

If they dont comply go and tell them its stops NOW or you'll notify social services that the child is being left in a room on its own while the parents hide in a bedroom.

Its a form of neglect and they need to stop it for the sake of the child and your right to a peaceful existence.

In any event shouldnt a 4 year child be in bed by 9pm?

CloudCuckooLand

when you say "stripped bare", is there carpet or is it floorboards/laminate?

consult your lease, or ask the freeholder what the rules are on maintaining soundproofing flooring.

Errata

If you have concerns about the child's wellbeing you can phone the NSPCC and ask for their view and guidance. You don't have to give your name.

Joyful

Much easier to ask them to carpet the floor.

ILW

it does not sound like a good idea to bring child abuse into the scenario when the issue is just that the noise from upstairs is disturbing you.

whitesatin

ian_h wrote: »

I'd explain to them the problem and ask them to politely make sure it doesnt happen again.

If they dont comply go and tell them its stops NOW or you'll notify social services that the child is being left in a room on its own while the parents hide in a bedroom.

Its a form of neglect and they need to stop it for the sake of the child and your right to a peaceful existence.

In any event shouldnt a 4 year child be in bed by 9pm?

I am all for speaking to the neighbours politely. As for bedtimes and neglect, well I think social services quite possibly have more pressing cases.

I would always advise reporting suspected neglect of a child, we owe it to them, but I think I would like a bit more to go on in this case. The OP has already said that they don't think that the child is being abused or neglected and that he seems happy enough.

We all have our own views on appropriate bed times but it is not always easy to apply those, e.g. if a child still needs a nap in the afternoon, they are not going to go down early in evening, necessarily.

I don't envy the OP the problem but I would take a softly softly approach :rotfl:and suggest (nicely) that they carpet the room before doing anything rash.

Hammyman

ian_h wrote: »

If they dont comply go and tell them its stops NOW or you'll notify social services that the child is being left in a room on its own while the parents hide in a bedroom.

Its a form of neglect and they need to stop it for the sake of the child and your right to a peaceful existence.

Wow, a child being given the larger room as a play/bedroom and being left to play in a room while the parents are in another. Is there no end to the cruelty that parents will subject children to?

Form of neglect my backside. I bet your kids love having their prison guard parent constantly watching every move they make. Do you let them go to the toilet unaccompanied? After all according to you, to leave a child unattended is a form of child abuse...

I suspect that if you told the social services you were worried because the child was playing in its bedroom whilst parents were in another room, they'd laugh down the phone at you but they won't because insidious people like you tend to make things up such as its always crying and in dirty clothes etc...

thequant

They have carpets down, however that is the only furnishing in the room.

i agree with both sides of the argument regarding the potential neglect and hence why I am posting asking for advice.

on the one side, their living circumstances are not normal or healthy, but on the other side there is more serious cases of "neglect" out there. not to mention that "neglect" is such an emotive word and I dont want any parent to be unfairly branded with that word.

another thing, about the living conditions upstairs is that they dont have a door on their living room. so what is happening is kid is not just running riot in that room, but also into the kitchen, bathroom,& hallway. with the parents sat in their bedroom/living room.

puddy

i work in child protection, it doesnt sound like neglect or even child in need. it may not be the best parenting in the world, the child should be receiving adequate stimulation, possibly going to nursery and have more appropriate routines but is unlikely to make anyone worry too much

the parents (if this child really is allowed to 'run riot') will soon see that their child's schooling is affected if the child isnt able to concentrate, follow routine and instructions and doesnt get enough quality attention and may be forced by that new situation to learn how to parent properly

but all this is surmising from the OP, this child may simply be playing and may have late bedtimes. if they are getting up late then the late bed time still gives them enough sleep

best to focus on carpeting, and asking them to be aware they have downstairs neighbours