Dealing with Noisy Neighbours

Does it seem like just when you get your toddler to finally agree to go for an afternoon sleep one of your neighbours wakes him up with his lawn mower or loud V8 engine roaring past the house? It can be even harder to get your toddler to go to sleep and stay asleep if you are living in an apartment where even the slightest sounds, such as a vacuum cleaner down the hall or someone climbing up the apartment stairs, can sound like a freight train. Most people will respect the wishes of other neighbours and keep it down during the night hours but what about during the day? What can you do to ensure that your toddler actually has a restful sleep without having to move into the country away from civilization?

Getting Your Baby Used to Noise

Of course you don’t want to be tippy toeing around all the time. �Before your baby was born, the womb was a very noisy place indeed – so coming home to a silent house isn’t ideal. �Don’t stop doing the normal day to day activities such as vacuuming or talking. �But the real issue we are talking about here – is EXCESSIVE noise – so let’s get onto that!

Neighbourhood Noise Issues

There are a number of noise issues that you could be dealing with on a regular basis. Playing loud music, revving the engine in the driveway, late night or excessive partying can all cause sleep complications as can barking dogs, chirping birds and domestic arguments. If you are living in a small space such as apartment complex even things like talking on the phone, watching television too loudly or walking with high heels on can wake a sleeping toddler up.

What you can look into doing is adding as much padding as possible to your home. A heavy area rug can block out some of the noise as can certain blinds and curtains in an apartment. Make sure all the windows are shut when it’s naptime or bedtime to block out the traffic and outside noise. Your toddler may also sleep better if play soothing music or even nature sounds. It might be worth a shot if you are constantly struggling with keeping him asleep with all the disturbances around.

Putting on some soothing music in your toddlers room may also help to drown out some of the other noises.

Raising Concerns With Neighbours

Excessive noise can cause serious tension between you and your neighbour. This is not something that you want to complain about but you might have to, especially if their loud noise is complicating your life. If, for example, the excessive partying is going on past 9pm at night, then this is going to disrupt your child’s sleeping habit. Furthermore, if your neighbour chooses to mow the lawn at 6am, this can also be a problem if your child is a late sleeper.

The right way to deal with this problem is to talk to them about it. Go over and knock on their door. Let them know that the noise is disturbing you. Pick your battles -asking your neighbour not to watch television during the day is a little unfair; however, informing him that his dog is constantly barking throughout the day while he is at work is not. There are some noise complaints that your neighbour may not even be aware of. Furthermore, if you have not already introduced yourself, he may not even realize that you have a toddler living next door.

For many toddlers, once they are asleep it can be difficult to wake them up. However, not all children are like this. Some are light sleepers from Day One which can be difficult when you are living in an area where there is a lot of outside noise. Blocking out the noise as best as possible during the day and speaking to your neighbours about excessive noise issues can help your toddler get a decent sleep and allow you to actually enjoy a few rare moments of quiet in between the chaos of raising a toddler.

If they don’t come to the party…

If you can’t get them to comply, think about getting even – legally of course. �If they have been up partying all night – start mowing at 9am. �Get the kids out into the yard and play a noise ball game early, on a Sunday morning.

Then try and approach them again…..

Clare Whitfield Chief Editor

Clare Whitfield is the Editor of Stay at Home Mum and a recognised voice in practical home management for Australian families. Based in the northern suburbs of Sydney, she balances editorial leadership with life as a stay at home mum to two school age children. Her background in home economics and more than a decade of experience in recipe development, family budgeting, and household systems inform her work.

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