General Etiquette > Family and Children
children - how much noise is too much?
wetblanket:
I just know this is going to stir everyone up... but...
If a family with small children lives in an apartment, with neighbours above, below and beside them, should there be any limits on how much noise they can make and when? Should they be allowed to make more noise than other tenants because they have children?
Is having kids a free pass to make all the noise you want?
Or if there should be limits, what should they be?
MsEva:
I think that the children should pretty much be held to the same expectations as adults. No loud noises from 10PM-8AM. Never any noise that is so disturbing that the neighbors have to turn up their TV or stereo just so they can hear them. Children can be taught the proper way to behave - I always made exceptions if the child was sick or it was a baby that cried. I did request that if my neighbor above me had to walk the floors at night that she do it anywhere but her bedroom which was right over mine. She thought I was evil until she moved to the first floor and found out that the building was put together with spit and kleenex. And, yes, I could hear everything she did. :o
CocoCamm:
Should they be allowed to make more noise than other tenants because they have children?
Absolutely not.
Is having kids a free pass to make all the noise you want?
Once again, absolutely not! If you live in an apartment then you have to be respectful of the volume of the noise you are making. I have 2 big dogs in an apartment. I dont allow them to go buck wild constantly and make all sorts of noise. Thats not to say they have to be silent either, I think there is a happy medium. I have been able to find it w/ 2 dogs I think people should be able to manage w/ their kids.
Or if there should be limits, what should they be?
1) No running, yelling ,screaming or general noisiness before 8am during the week and 10am on weekends. No running, yelling, screaming or general nosiness after 9pm.
Of course this is all relative as to how the sound travels in the apartment and how sensitive your neighbors are. In general I think the rule above is acceptable although I wouldnt be happy being woken up at 10am every weekend and 8 during the week, EVERY SINGLE TIME!
Lisbeth:
Unless the children are sick or they are very small (let's say under 2), I think it is fair to expect everyone in the family, regardless of age, to keep the noise down from about 9pm to 7am during the week and 10pm to 9am on weekends and holidays.
By this, I mean:
1) No screaming
2) No TVs or music at top volume (should not be louder than normal conversational tones)
3) No loud bangs, running motors, or moving large items
4) Walking quietly (no stomping or wearing noisy footwear-normal walking noise is reasonable)
FoxPaws:
A lot of parents become desensitized to the amount of noise their kids make, and really aren't aware of how loud it actually sounds. Except in the case of infants, I think children and their parents need to be made aware of when they are being too noisy. The concept of "indoor voice" needs to be taught as soon as the kid becomes verbal.
Also, if either party - the noisemakers or the noise hearers - are new to apartment living, they may not have realistic expectations about acceptable noise levels. I've lived in an apartment for over 20 years, and I don't hear anything anymore unless it's way out of the ordinary. I also know how loud I can turn my TV and music, and not to vacuum before 7:00am or after 10:00pm, and not to slam doors. When my sister moved to an apartment after decades of living in duplexes and houses she could hear her "noisy neighbors" dropping a tissue on the carpet.
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