noisy toddler upstairs

Of course, I wasn`t talking about your post.

I do not feel a need to be wound up. I can barely put thoughts together with the ongoing pounding going on upstairs, which is apparently MY fault for not being able to see the future. Oh well. Sucker me.

Where I use to live in central Switzerland, there was also a couple with a 3 yr old child upstairs who was incredibly loud (mostly late at night...after 11pm!). This was horrific. This couple also had no courteousness in regards to keeping the child more quiet at night when most people had to go to work the next day! I also do not believe that is fair to the other neighbors who also are paying rent to live there! It drove my ex incredibly crazy. However, eventually the rental company got rid of this couple (maybe with enough pressure from my ex and other neighbors. The couple next door & the man who lived below us were also bothered by them).

Well, look at the bright side, it could have been worse. Your apartment could have been located next to a church.

You are obviously the only person who sees what my life is like. Thank you for your kind words. It`s not pleasant getting beat up for seeking advice.

NO! I wish it were! Trust me! Those sounds a human can get used to. Trains, planes, etc. all acceptable.

I HOPE it gets better for you!!!! Like my ex did, maybe talk to other neighbors. It is possible they are bothered by the noise as well. If it is that noisy, I would think that others surrounding you are hearing it as well.

Good luck elabrandon!!

There is no need for you to have seen the future. Nor is there any need for you to get into such an emotional state. If you'll take a minute to read what I actually wrote on the previous page, you'll see that that is exactly my point.

You cannot change the child. You cannot stop him being a child. The problem is therefore yours to solve.

At the moment, you are allowing the situation to escalate in your mind, you are getting angry, emotional and over-sensitive about an issue that really isn't worth the bother.

You came to the forum to sound off about it, and rightly so - this is the place to have a good moan. But you don't seem to be willing to accept the reality that the situation is only a big deal to you because you have allowed it to become a big deal. You snap at people who are trying to remind you of this fact, you accuse us of being argumentative, when all we want is for you to face the reality of your situation: That a small child is simply being a small child in his own home.

Why are you letting it get to you like this? Calm down, think about the situation, and try to see a way through it.

The options are as follows:

Emotional: Learn to accept the situation, ignore the noise, or even learn to welcome it as the sound of human life around you (the option I went for in my own flat).

Practical: Soundproof your own flat and wear earplugs. Perhaps with limited success, but worth a try for sanity's sake, so that at least you feel you are doing something.

Extreme: Look for another flat, making sure there are no party-animals, small children, loud snorers, Greeks or Italians living in the surrounding flats.

Pointless: Continue being a stress bunny about it, complain about it all the time, insult those who try to help you.

The ball's in your court.

Hi, my symphathies to you. As someone who really dislikes children, I can understand your difficult situation. I cant see this getting any better, because the older the child gets the worse the noise will be. All I can say is look for another flat, and before you sign the rental agreement, ask the rental agency if there are any kids in the building. We are now shifting to an appartment that has no kids (mostly older people) which is fine with us.

The bottom line is that kids have lots and lots of energy and it is very difficult to make them stop running and making noise. And if you live in an apartment block where there are kids it is something you will have to learn to accept regardless of the level of rent you pay.

The reason you are not getting much support here is that most of us have kids and know what an impossible task it is to get them to be quiet at home. As far they are concerned home is where they can be themselves!

I really would not expect that you will find a solution, so if you can't accept it, then your only choice will be to look for somewhere else where they don't rent to a family.

Best Regards,

Jim

When we moved to CH we rented the ground floor apartment in a converted farm. For the first 6 months all was peace and quiet (literally) but then a family with three boys moved in upstairs. It being an old house, the only thing between us and the neighbors upstairs were old oak beams and floor boards and we, just as elabrandon, were afraid that they would fall through the floor and up in our couch – so when I red the initial post it brought back memories ... and made me smile. In the end my daughter spent more time upstairs than at home and we had 4 kids running about but it was easier to ignore somehow.

Some people are more sensitive to noise than others, for example some people can work in an open space while others find it really hard to manage. Now, if you find it difficult to shut out noise, take this as a hard learn lesson and rent a top floor apartment with no neighbors above next time.... In the meantime, think that children do grow up (by the age of 13 it is a struggle to get them out of bed!) and also that renting is not for life.

Maybe the does not help, but I do fully sympathies with you!

I would assume that you are unfamiliar with DB and his advice. He has no intention of being mean or beating anyone up, so to speak, he just tells you his opinion if you have the guts to ask for it. He is actually a very nice gentleman, and he is also a teacher, which is most likely the reason he understands the child's point of view so well. You are also up against parents - the most ferocious breed that there is when it comes to peotecting our kids. Do not let yourself get discouraged though, I have read all the posts and there are good arguments from both sides of the argument, but ultimately, I would rather move if I was you. It really is not worth the stress and upset that you are going through. Note to self..... do not choose an upstairs unit when we get there

Well if not going to listen to the wisdom here on the Forum from us parents and if you're not going to buy the child a bike, you could ask the parents to do this and see how far you get.

Please don't let that be a goose or I'll have Papa G. on my case later..

Don't want to deviate from the topic but I must comment .... SO SAD...

I do not have a good record of negotiating the deals on my apartment here in Switzerland save enough argument at hand to make my neighbours understand that the noise from upstairs bothers me. Simply language barrier. And here are so many rules at place that I realized that better off is to just get a new quiet place. The risk is though that it might be difficult to find a better one meeting your criteria, because Switzerland is very much family orientated environment with prams and toddlers present all around. That's part of life here (I guess also elsewhere) that one has to live up with

Changed that for you ;-)

Although not in Switzerland, I've had experience where we swore the noise/disturbance was coming from the flat above but wasn't.

Whilst living in an apartment we were getting slightly frustrated by one of neighbours' children playing Jingle Bells on the piano the WHOLE year round! This was the only tune the child could play and although played it well, Jingle Bells in July does have a tendancy to drive one bonkers.

My mother eventually went to the flat upstairs and whlist acknowledging the many talents of their child politley asked if they could simply play a dfferent tune. To which the neighbour informed us they did not have a piano and were also slightly derranged after having listened to Jingle Bells for weeks on end.

Turned out it was the flat below (which meant it was going through at least 2 flats) needless to say, the child quickly learnt Fleur de Lise and we listened to that for many more weeks instead

Sorry Sada, but no-one said anything about a baby crying, the OP was saying the child was noisy running around all the time.

Also as my son had colic when he was a baby, and i could not stop him from crying i had complaints from neighbours, but when i explained i have tried everything to stop him from crying then broke down in tears from being so tired they where very understanding. It is very hard for a parent when a baby as colic and is crying all the time, and also you feel helpless, i know i rang all my family, friends, Doctors, Nurses begging for advice what i should do to help him and all i was told wait the 3 months out .

Ok sorry did not want to hijack the thread, back on topic.

Thanx - made me laugh...

I just hope that those people who hate children, or the sound of children playing, are prepared to let their pension funds change their urine soaked bedsheets when they are old and incapacitated, rather than some gentle young nurse who might have lived in the flat upstairs all those years before...