Noisy children.

Our joined neighbour’s daughter stays overnight mostly at weekends. When we turn off our tv off at bedtime we can hear her laying down the law to her Dad. She’s about four years old and it’s often close to midnight.

You’ll have to invest in some noise cancelling head phones.

When my OH was working as a private hire chauffeur he often had to pick people up for airport runs in the early hours. He said some would creep out and whisper but others would come out shouting, banging doors and making sure everyone knew they were going away. Hopefully the burglars were all tucked up in bed.

We had this a few years ago, a trampoline right up against our fence on which it the children spent hours always screaming at the top of their voices. Their mother did try to stop them but I had my own method when it got too much, it was Wagner played very loudly from a speaker I moved to an open window. They soon got the message!

You have my sympathy, annsixty.
That very high-pitched screaming can drive you mad - I used to have an incessant screamer on a trampoline next door - thank God they moved.

The endless bash, bash, bash of a football can be just as bad - we’ve had that, too.
Before anyone has a go, I don’t have the slightest objection to the normal noise of children playing - it’s nice to hear it.
But there’s ‘normal’ and there’s ‘drive you to distraction’.

You have my sympathy too!
The family sound a nightmare and from what you have said the parents don’t sound particularly friendly or approachable so it’s difficult to know what to suggest.

Perhaps as one or two others have said, a friendly word along the lines of “I know all children make a noise when they are playing but....” and then ask if maybe the boy could be discouraged from kicking the ball against the fence. I am sure you would love to add that the girl be discouraged from screaming at the top of her voice, but much as you would be justified, criticising both the little horrors might be a step too far!

It’s such a shame that you have lived there all those years with no problems to prevent you enjoying your garden, then this lot move in and everything changes.

I’m not sure if you know if they have bought the house or if they are renting. If it’s the latter you could try approaching the letting agent or landlord as causing a noise nuisance to neighbours would be in breach of their tenancy agreement.

You don't like them. Their noise annoys you. Do you think there could possibly be a connection between these two things?. I find headphones and BBC sounds on my phone makes pleasant listening when I sit outside.

annsixty my heart goes out to you. We are all different and I suppose some people do indeed enjoy hearing children shriek, maybe their hearing isn't so good?!

I have posted before about being in a semi detached and having a young family move in next door - boys of around 8 and 6 and a girl of 4. The boys seem to spend their time roaring and yelling, the girl whines and sometimes screams.

It's awful, we can hear them clearly in one of the bedrooms upstairs and the garden is sometimes unusable. As others have said elsewhere, children used to be told not to annoy the neighbours and play quietly. Nowadays, no one seems to think children should have any respect for anyone else. We have just sold our house (I hope the next people like children) which is quite drastic but I can't stand it much longer. I do wear ear plugs sometimes, they are uncomfortable, I also play music but I prefer silence!! Not much chance of that anymore it seems.

If there’s one thing guaranteed to cause me to get anxiety it’s the sound of a football. I have lived in a house where a ball was kicked against my fence most days and it drove me mad. I have a lot of sympathy for anyone suffering problems with noise. It causes no end of suffering and although children have to play, their parents should also ensure it’s not continual noise. It’s not just families with screaming kids that have rights!

Kamiso

Our joined neighbour’s daughter stays overnight mostly at weekends. When we turn off our tv off at bedtime we can hear her laying down the law to her Dad. She’s about four years old and it’s often close to midnight.

You’ll have to invest in some noise cancelling head phones.

When my OH was working as a private hire chauffeur he often had to pick people up for airport runs in the early hours. He said some would creep out and whisper but others would come out shouting, banging doors and making sure everyone knew they were going away. Hopefully the burglars were all tucked up in bed.

My friend used to live near a school (there was no indication that a primary school would be built there when she bought her house).
She said the sound of happy children playing was lovely but that many of them seemed to scream and scream - why?

DS used to thump a ball against a wall - not an adjoining boundary I should say, and far enough away from neighbours I hope, and now I hear a neighbour's son doing the same although it is nearer us than their house. I don't mind - I can't really moan, can I!

It's dogs yapping incessantly which annoy me.

You have my heartfelt sympathy. I hate screaming kids and it’s a very different thing for hearing kids playing - that sound fills me with joy. I don’t think there is a lot you can do about it though without being thoroughly vilified by the neighbourhood ? We live next door to a ‘musician’ and there’s nothing we can do about the noise, and now the son has started to play the trumpet ? I think the classical music idea is perfect - it might drive them indoors ?. Best wishes from a fellow sufferer. X

Sorry, Kamiso I have no idea why I quoted your post, I didn't mean to!
Although our neighbour is a car door banger! ?

Why don't parents buy their children a mini football goal?

DGS has one and I wish they'd been available years ago.

I think there has to be give and take. An hour or so of noise while they blow off steam is one thing, but constant screaming is quite another.

I think it is important for people to be able to relax in their own homes - if that right is taken away, where can we feel 'at home'? It is very selfish of the adults to allow their children to inflict constant noise on other people, and it doesn't bode well for the chances of the children growing into considerate adults.

When I was a child, our next-door neighbour was an elderly widow, and she would often tell us to play outside our own house, which we were - it was attached to hers! Those were the days when children did play in the streets, but my mum always warned us not to shout or make too much noise, or we were brought indoors.

My own children played in the back garden, but the same rules applied. I would warn them if they got too over-excited, give them one more reminder if they forgot, then that was it - they came indoors if they couldn't play considerately. I rarely had to do it, as they knew the rules would be enforced, and they still had fun running about and playing.

Also - children who have gardens have not been cooped up for a year. There has never been a ban on playing outside in your own garden.

You have my sympathy ann. Not children here but a dog. There is one two doors down that yaps continually all day until it gets dark.
Its owners were sitting in the garden today and it was yapping non stop. They didn't appear to notice. It's still at it now.

My neighbour keeps lighting fires burning old fence panels just as the nights are suitable for sitting in the garden toxic fumes horrendous

I suppose it all depends on a lot of factors, my neighbors aren’t really close, but I think I’d feel the need to quieten things down a bit if they were just the other side of a fence.
On the other hand, families buy homes with gardens, specifically so their children have a safe place to play, playing often involves shouting and squealing, lots of laughter and a few tears.
I feel for you, but I think children need to be outside.

Callistemon

Why don't parents buy their children a mini football goal?

DGS has one and I wish they'd been available years ago.

I agree, people who don't think a ball being booted up against a fence or wall must never have had to listen to it

I have sons btw, I am not some curmudgeon

When my DS used to do it there were a lot of young children in the street out playing but they've all grown up and moved away now.

Years ago, these children would be kicking a ball around in the street, that can’t happen now, so they have to play elsewhere. What’s the alternative, keep them indoors?

Sara1954

Years ago, these children would be kicking a ball around in the street, that can’t happen now, so they have to play elsewhere. What’s the alternative, keep them indoors?

No, the alternative is to teach them not to scream for hours on end. It's not hard - just bring them indoors if they insist on ignoring requests to tone it down.

I can’t help thinking there’s some exaggeration going on here, I’ve never known a child who screamed all day, or a little boy who kicked a ball all day.
I’ve got three children, six grandchildren, have had numerous children playing with mine, neighbors children, and I can honestly say I’ve never come across one who managed to scream all day.

I do sympathise. It is true children are noisy - and I love to hear them laughing and playing - but hearing a child screaming endlessly is very wearing.

I have a neighbour whose little girl was exactly the same, screaming all the time - not shouting definitely screaming. If it only lasted for a short while I could have ignored it but all day every day in good weather really got on my nerves. Her parents did nothing to stop her. Thankfully she appears to have grown out of it and it was relatively peaceful last summer (fingers crossed for this summer!)

I totally sympathise.

I think it's very unfair when posters come on threads like this and say they love the sound of children playing outside in a tone that implies the OP doesn't.

There is a huge difference between the normal sound of children playing in their garden or on the communal green, and the sound of a constantly screeching or tantrumming child accompanied by an equally loud parent shouting at them. The latter can be very stressful to have to listen to constantly, as can the non stop banging of a football against a shared fence.

I sympathise as we have the same problem nearby. Noisy family moved into quiet cul de sac with a girl and a boy. The girl screams and shouts, the boy kicks his football at the adjoining neighbours fence all through the spring, summer and autumn. Dogs barking too. Father aggressive and abusive to our next door neighbours who asked him to quieten down. We live in an area of detached houses, long gardens, a quiet neighbourhood. These types can move in anywhere and destroy people’s peace of mind. Thankfully, he is a doer upper and we are all hoping they’ll move on soon as he’s just completed a loft conversion. Brother in next road exactly the same and father and mother also nearby. All exactly the same type of people.

Beswitched
Point taken.
But I really can’t imagine this is happening all day every day.
It may seem like it, but as I’ve said before, I doubt a child could scream all day, if she is, I think there must be something wrong with her.
I know some parents seem not to care what their children are doing, but these seem like they are engaging with their children at least.

In fact it can happen all day, every day. As soon as the sun is out, or even if not, they’re out from early morning until late. Thud thud thud of the football against the fence. And, when it gets dark, on go the floodlights so he can carry on. So, you are wrong to suggest it can’t happen every day. Believe me, it does. We live it here every day and so do all our neighbours.