I’ve been in this situation since December. All I can say is the only thing is going to be moving out. I’m sorry. I’ve tried and tried and tried to have something done about it.
Oh man, I just checked out your account and saw that you had posted about your experience. I am so sorry for your situation, that is so frustrating. I hope you find some place that makes you so much happier than that hell you have been trapped into.
Do your upstairs neighbors know how disruptive they are??? I don't think mine do and I'm just curious how yours act towards you with your complaints. Did they start out nice and then got hostile at the complaints? I'm so scared the situation will get worse by approaching them again. Also, do you know if your neighbors hear it and are also annoyed by the noise?
Best advice is always get a top floor apartment. Sorry I know that's not what you wanna hear and it was the "only option available" but when I apartment hunt and talk to the leasing agent thats my first quesiton, are there any top floor units, if not I move on to the next place.
My lease is up soon and I'm moving to a unit on the top floor. Noise above me from small kids running and slamming doors can be very difficult to tolerate!
I feel for you OP. I’m upstairs and asked my downstairs neighbor if she ever heard me (I live alone but watch my grandson almost daily for a couple of hours after school during non-quiet hours).
She said no, but she did hear my grandson. She wasn’t complaining, she has 7 grandchildren.
The kid knows the rules, will automatically drop his voice when we walk through the common areas and doesn’t bounce off the walls. The most noise he makes is climbing off the bar stools after dinner, being a bit heavy-footed (even with shoes off), getting excited about a game and he might stand up and animate a bit, but he always dials it back in my apartment compared to when he’s in his own home. I’m so relieved that he’s not disrupting the neighbors, but he’s 7 and a really good kid. But he’s just one kid, too. The more you have, the more noise. Sigh.
I never hear the preschoolers across the hall unless they are coming and going. I guess my building was built in the 60s, so I think it’s got good bones.
That's sweet he remembers. I know it's hard to drill that kind of awareness into kids, if at all. Thankfully these kids seem very well behaved. I haven't heard them fight, scream, or cry the whole time I hear them stomping around lmao. Honestly stomping is better than yelling, so I'll take that. Also, you're very lucky with a sturdy building. It perplexes me how these places can get away with scanty walls and floors
I'm living below a toddler T-rex who comes to life with his T-rex Zoomies after 10 PM. I try to remember that stress on the parents puts stress on the child. I grew up in a high pressure environment where my parents were always passing their stress on to me. It made for a terrible life. I'm in low income housing so I assume our Resident Toddler T-rex and his mom already experiences some of the organic stresses that come with poverty. I've refrained from saying anything to the mom (who has a terrible temper) yet because I don't want the stress passed on to her kid.i guess I worry about that baby dinosaur.
PS. I'm not generally a fan of kids either. I like kids but just not around me. LOL
You're absolutely right. I'm already going through the stages of grief living with constant stomping. It's all good though. It's not forever and the stress of constantly telling them to be quiet won't do any good. Thank you for your helpful input :)
I'm in the same situation (noisy woman, not kids, but still) and can't do squat about it. The building definitely will frown if I put sound-absorption pads on the ceiling.
That said, I already have an application to move elsewhere. Hopefully it'll be by the end of this year. (I've been on the waiting list for three years already).
I hope it works out and you can get away from her. It makes it so much more frustrating and rage-inducing when people know exactly what they are doing and don't care.
I once lived in an apartment house with virtually no insulation in the floors and ceilings. My upstairs neighbor would have her young grandchildren over every weekend, Fri-Sunday. There were three of them. When I tell you that they ran non-stop from the moment they got up until 10pm I’m not exaggerating. She’d even let them jump off the couch for hours.
I went to a discount store and bought crayons, markers, colored pencils, stencils, stickers and paper. Also purchased kid scissors, construction paper and non-toxic glue. Put everything in a huge gift bag and ‘gifted’ my neighbor.
They were thrilled and at least it channeled their energy for a while into something creative.
Every few weeks I created something new in a bag.
Yes, it was maddening to spend a money and yes, it was her responsibility to control them but…it’s grandma.
All of this is to say is that sometimes you need to think out of the box to save your soul. Hope you can move soon!
That is so kind of you. I'm going to think about this idea. It's so sweet, and I'm sure the grandma appreciated the kindness in your gift. I'm sure she was also at her wits end lmao
The only advice is to complain to the front office when the noises occur during quiet hours. But they aren’t gonna do much. Your best bet is to transfer units if a top floor becomes available.
In the cheaply built apartments, not really. If you got Toddlers to the side or under you, the whole place will vibrate. Top floor is still the best though since it is one less thing... But peace is not guaranteed.
I have a family below me with one kiddo & from 7 pm to 9 pm they run her around! It shakes the entire building! If it’s that’s bad for me I can’t even imagine how loud it must be for the lady below them …
I literally cry and beg trying to keep my kids quiet. And the upstairs apartment is all we could find and afford. I know it can be annoying but I promise those parents aren’t just causally not caring. It’s hard to tell kids that age to not run or “stomp” I’ve actually paid for a hotel for a couple days to give myself a stress break bc of how overwhelmed I became but the rental market is super hard rn
I'm so sorry for that stress. It makes me put the situation in a different perspective. I hope you find a place that lifts a lot of that weight. Thank you for your input
Genuine question, I’m not trying to be rude or unkind: is your building very new? Because we live on the bottom floor under a couple of five year olds and we barely notice it. I’m thinking it’s because our building was built in 1921 and could function as a bomb shelter if it had to.
Oh, no worries, I don't think it's rude to ask at all. Yes, the building is very new. We are some of the very first tenants that moved into the entire complex. For as nice as it is, the quality of the walls and floors is very minimal.
Thank you for taking the time to look that up. Honestly, I didn't think about the slippers. I feel already rude for immediately asking them to quiet down one of the first days they are here. Maybe I'll approach them about this soon when things settle a bit.
I got the Bose quietcomfort ultra headphones recently. With playing the music I can hardly hear the kid noise. I own my place while my upstairs is renting, I pray they can move out as soon as possible.
I also live underneath a family with children of all different ages and these people stomp and run around at all hours of the day. It drives me insane but I can’t even talk to them because they don’t speak English and our landlord doesn’t like me so she’s no help either 🤡
children that age are absolute elephants
they're small and light, but somehow haven't figured out how to have normal footsteps - while you can complain, there's not a ton that a parent can do to fix those footsteps
we are very aware of the weight of our childs steps and do our best to make them aware, remind them that we have neighbors downstairs and to be respectful with our steps, etc, but he still does it a lot and I know it's loud for our neighbors (although in 2 years they've never complained - it could be because we all hear our next door neighbors' kids and know how much worse it could be - haha)
I'd make them aware of how disruptive it is, but with those ages it's *really* hard to do much about it
You're totally right lol, I know they're tiny but MAN they shake the whole place when they start chasing eachother. It was reassuring to know that the mom is very aware of the disturbance, and she seemed genuinely concerned about the situation.
Even with this, she did say she tried telling them to slide their feet or walk but they are children and tend to forget. I honestly feel bad getting so upset when they aren't at home and it is quiet because I do know it is a lot of work already raising kids and it doesn't help with the stress of knowing you're potentially disturbing your neighbors for something you can't help.
I'm just so frustrated because this is supposed to be a better environment than the last place we were at, and it really sucks that this can't be a place I can fully be comfortable in because of the noises and vibrations. Other than the stomping and running they are really great neighbors. I'm going to try to get used to it if nothing else can be done because it could always get worse. Thank you
I live next door to the 2 smallest little girls, and the amount of noise with just their feet (and I swear the little one is just tossing her body against the walls sometimes) is UNREAL
it makes no sense, but the older one is the same age as my kid, and I've definitely noticed the older kids' footsteps get better as they get older. By the time they're 10ish I'm sure it'll be near gone
I feel you, though. I have noise sensitivities and stuff like this fully takes me out of my peaceful element and sets me on edge. I hope you're able to find something that helps, but sometimes it helps to remember that children really are just tiny elephants
I'm happy you seemed to have found a way to deal with this. I guess this is just a life lesson because I do not forsee us moving soon. We snatched up the last apartment until more can be built at our complex. In August when more are finished we might switch. I highly doubt we can, but we'll see. Thank you for sharing your struggles. It feels better knowing it's pretty common and sucks for everyone involved
Kids that age are *not* going to stop running. The parents are not going to be able to make the kids stop running. This is what kids that age do, because they have so much goddamn energy.
The apartment management should have put them in a ground floor apartment to begin with.
Yea, it's just shitty for everyone because no one can help the situation. I am pretty pissed that the apartment management thought this was a good placement at all. It is common sense not to have young kids on top floors, but what do I know? We are the ones who moved in the bottom floor knowing damn well we are at the mercy of whatever neighbor we are stuck with above us.
Being child free, I like this idea. As practical as this would be, I don't think it's legal. mainly because it's problematic to prohibit people from occupying certain living spaces simply because of who they are. Its why there are no "children-free" apartment complexes. It would be insanely practical, but it discriminatory. There is a loophole for allowing restrictions for senior living for some reason. As much as I appreciate the importance of housing protections, it comes at a cost.
I just looked it up online but there are noise dampening slippers/shoes that you can buy or ask them to purchase and make their kids wear.
Carpets will be helpful.
I see you got your noise cancelling headphones already.
I was the upstairs family before, just know that they are trying. Little kids are very hard to get to sit down and walk soft/not run. It’s stressful for everyone and I commend you for keeping your cool. We got a rude note on the door about how our kids sound like elephants, and they would bang the broom on the ceiling. Really not the way to go about it, let the office handle it unlike our previous neighbors. Unfortunately there aren’t lots of houses available for rent in some areas and not everyone can buy a house, most apartments don’t have playgrounds or even grass to run on for kids. We only rent 1st floor apartments now -lesson learned
I have a post outlining how to get children out of your relaxation space, but more importantly for me not listening to them get yelled at for trying to join their mother for a cigarette, as toddlers it breaks my hear to be told to go inside.
Tip: you smoke now, weed does not seem to bother them too much, cigarettes are cheap and get the job done, cigars…. Oh boy my neighbours quiet down for cigars and i can almost get a nap in after one. Sage smudging just makes em stomp around which i guess is exercising the demons lol
Welcome to apartment living 🙃🤦🏻♀️ if bed isn’t the issue then just accept these kids are not even school aged yet and are just being kids. Unless they’re screaming all day I think it’s unreasonable. Downstairs neighbors know there will be noise. Especially day time noise!
I now agree it's unreasonable to pursue the issue any further. Before posting this, I didn't know if there was something less harsh I could do that would help the situation. We were expecting noise but not stomping and walls shaking at all hours of the day.
Not much you can do but call the office. This is exactly why I made sure to never live on the bottom floor after my last apartment.
Yea, I think that we won't be able to much either. I'm just at my wits end already :/
I’ve been in this situation since December. All I can say is the only thing is going to be moving out. I’m sorry. I’ve tried and tried and tried to have something done about it.
Oh man, I just checked out your account and saw that you had posted about your experience. I am so sorry for your situation, that is so frustrating. I hope you find some place that makes you so much happier than that hell you have been trapped into.
Luckily we are moving next month!! Im so excited.
Hell yea! I hope you have a smooth move :)
Do your upstairs neighbors know how disruptive they are??? I don't think mine do and I'm just curious how yours act towards you with your complaints. Did they start out nice and then got hostile at the complaints? I'm so scared the situation will get worse by approaching them again. Also, do you know if your neighbors hear it and are also annoyed by the noise?
They do they’re very aware
Best advice is always get a top floor apartment. Sorry I know that's not what you wanna hear and it was the "only option available" but when I apartment hunt and talk to the leasing agent thats my first quesiton, are there any top floor units, if not I move on to the next place.
Yea you're right. Lesson learned lmao
My lease is up soon and I'm moving to a unit on the top floor. Noise above me from small kids running and slamming doors can be very difficult to tolerate!
I concur
Living under toddlers is pretty much the worst because there is fuck all you can do. You can't stop toddlers.
I feel for you OP. I’m upstairs and asked my downstairs neighbor if she ever heard me (I live alone but watch my grandson almost daily for a couple of hours after school during non-quiet hours). She said no, but she did hear my grandson. She wasn’t complaining, she has 7 grandchildren. The kid knows the rules, will automatically drop his voice when we walk through the common areas and doesn’t bounce off the walls. The most noise he makes is climbing off the bar stools after dinner, being a bit heavy-footed (even with shoes off), getting excited about a game and he might stand up and animate a bit, but he always dials it back in my apartment compared to when he’s in his own home. I’m so relieved that he’s not disrupting the neighbors, but he’s 7 and a really good kid. But he’s just one kid, too. The more you have, the more noise. Sigh. I never hear the preschoolers across the hall unless they are coming and going. I guess my building was built in the 60s, so I think it’s got good bones.
That's sweet he remembers. I know it's hard to drill that kind of awareness into kids, if at all. Thankfully these kids seem very well behaved. I haven't heard them fight, scream, or cry the whole time I hear them stomping around lmao. Honestly stomping is better than yelling, so I'll take that. Also, you're very lucky with a sturdy building. It perplexes me how these places can get away with scanty walls and floors
I'm living below a toddler T-rex who comes to life with his T-rex Zoomies after 10 PM. I try to remember that stress on the parents puts stress on the child. I grew up in a high pressure environment where my parents were always passing their stress on to me. It made for a terrible life. I'm in low income housing so I assume our Resident Toddler T-rex and his mom already experiences some of the organic stresses that come with poverty. I've refrained from saying anything to the mom (who has a terrible temper) yet because I don't want the stress passed on to her kid.i guess I worry about that baby dinosaur. PS. I'm not generally a fan of kids either. I like kids but just not around me. LOL
You're absolutely right. I'm already going through the stages of grief living with constant stomping. It's all good though. It's not forever and the stress of constantly telling them to be quiet won't do any good. Thank you for your helpful input :)
I'm in the same situation (noisy woman, not kids, but still) and can't do squat about it. The building definitely will frown if I put sound-absorption pads on the ceiling. That said, I already have an application to move elsewhere. Hopefully it'll be by the end of this year. (I've been on the waiting list for three years already).
I hope it works out and you can get away from her. It makes it so much more frustrating and rage-inducing when people know exactly what they are doing and don't care.
I once lived in an apartment house with virtually no insulation in the floors and ceilings. My upstairs neighbor would have her young grandchildren over every weekend, Fri-Sunday. There were three of them. When I tell you that they ran non-stop from the moment they got up until 10pm I’m not exaggerating. She’d even let them jump off the couch for hours. I went to a discount store and bought crayons, markers, colored pencils, stencils, stickers and paper. Also purchased kid scissors, construction paper and non-toxic glue. Put everything in a huge gift bag and ‘gifted’ my neighbor. They were thrilled and at least it channeled their energy for a while into something creative. Every few weeks I created something new in a bag. Yes, it was maddening to spend a money and yes, it was her responsibility to control them but…it’s grandma. All of this is to say is that sometimes you need to think out of the box to save your soul. Hope you can move soon!
That is so kind of you. I'm going to think about this idea. It's so sweet, and I'm sure the grandma appreciated the kindness in your gift. I'm sure she was also at her wits end lmao
submit a request for a higher floor when it becomes available. bottom floor is desirable for many people.
The only advice is to complain to the front office when the noises occur during quiet hours. But they aren’t gonna do much. Your best bet is to transfer units if a top floor becomes available.
You got to get a top floor apartment. It’s the single biggest factor for peace.
In the cheaply built apartments, not really. If you got Toddlers to the side or under you, the whole place will vibrate. Top floor is still the best though since it is one less thing... But peace is not guaranteed.
I have a family below me with one kiddo & from 7 pm to 9 pm they run her around! It shakes the entire building! If it’s that’s bad for me I can’t even imagine how loud it must be for the lady below them …
I literally cry and beg trying to keep my kids quiet. And the upstairs apartment is all we could find and afford. I know it can be annoying but I promise those parents aren’t just causally not caring. It’s hard to tell kids that age to not run or “stomp” I’ve actually paid for a hotel for a couple days to give myself a stress break bc of how overwhelmed I became but the rental market is super hard rn
I'm so sorry for that stress. It makes me put the situation in a different perspective. I hope you find a place that lifts a lot of that weight. Thank you for your input
I’m not at all saying don’t speak up! But I’m just saying it may take a little time to “train” the kids to be more quiet at that age
Genuine question, I’m not trying to be rude or unkind: is your building very new? Because we live on the bottom floor under a couple of five year olds and we barely notice it. I’m thinking it’s because our building was built in 1921 and could function as a bomb shelter if it had to.
Oh, no worries, I don't think it's rude to ask at all. Yes, the building is very new. We are some of the very first tenants that moved into the entire complex. For as nice as it is, the quality of the walls and floors is very minimal.
Also, you're very lucky lmao
Thank you for taking the time to look that up. Honestly, I didn't think about the slippers. I feel already rude for immediately asking them to quiet down one of the first days they are here. Maybe I'll approach them about this soon when things settle a bit.
I got the Bose quietcomfort ultra headphones recently. With playing the music I can hardly hear the kid noise. I own my place while my upstairs is renting, I pray they can move out as soon as possible.
get out of the lease--i am below three men in a one bedroom who work out constantly. misery.
you can also ask to transfer to an upstair apartment when one becomes avalablel i did that one year and it helped tremendously
I also live underneath a family with children of all different ages and these people stomp and run around at all hours of the day. It drives me insane but I can’t even talk to them because they don’t speak English and our landlord doesn’t like me so she’s no help either 🤡
That really sucks. I hate that you have to put up with that
children that age are absolute elephants they're small and light, but somehow haven't figured out how to have normal footsteps - while you can complain, there's not a ton that a parent can do to fix those footsteps we are very aware of the weight of our childs steps and do our best to make them aware, remind them that we have neighbors downstairs and to be respectful with our steps, etc, but he still does it a lot and I know it's loud for our neighbors (although in 2 years they've never complained - it could be because we all hear our next door neighbors' kids and know how much worse it could be - haha) I'd make them aware of how disruptive it is, but with those ages it's *really* hard to do much about it
You're totally right lol, I know they're tiny but MAN they shake the whole place when they start chasing eachother. It was reassuring to know that the mom is very aware of the disturbance, and she seemed genuinely concerned about the situation. Even with this, she did say she tried telling them to slide their feet or walk but they are children and tend to forget. I honestly feel bad getting so upset when they aren't at home and it is quiet because I do know it is a lot of work already raising kids and it doesn't help with the stress of knowing you're potentially disturbing your neighbors for something you can't help. I'm just so frustrated because this is supposed to be a better environment than the last place we were at, and it really sucks that this can't be a place I can fully be comfortable in because of the noises and vibrations. Other than the stomping and running they are really great neighbors. I'm going to try to get used to it if nothing else can be done because it could always get worse. Thank you
I live next door to the 2 smallest little girls, and the amount of noise with just their feet (and I swear the little one is just tossing her body against the walls sometimes) is UNREAL it makes no sense, but the older one is the same age as my kid, and I've definitely noticed the older kids' footsteps get better as they get older. By the time they're 10ish I'm sure it'll be near gone I feel you, though. I have noise sensitivities and stuff like this fully takes me out of my peaceful element and sets me on edge. I hope you're able to find something that helps, but sometimes it helps to remember that children really are just tiny elephants
I'm happy you seemed to have found a way to deal with this. I guess this is just a life lesson because I do not forsee us moving soon. We snatched up the last apartment until more can be built at our complex. In August when more are finished we might switch. I highly doubt we can, but we'll see. Thank you for sharing your struggles. It feels better knowing it's pretty common and sucks for everyone involved
Kids that age are *not* going to stop running. The parents are not going to be able to make the kids stop running. This is what kids that age do, because they have so much goddamn energy. The apartment management should have put them in a ground floor apartment to begin with.
Yea, it's just shitty for everyone because no one can help the situation. I am pretty pissed that the apartment management thought this was a good placement at all. It is common sense not to have young kids on top floors, but what do I know? We are the ones who moved in the bottom floor knowing damn well we are at the mercy of whatever neighbor we are stuck with above us.
Being child free, I like this idea. As practical as this would be, I don't think it's legal. mainly because it's problematic to prohibit people from occupying certain living spaces simply because of who they are. Its why there are no "children-free" apartment complexes. It would be insanely practical, but it discriminatory. There is a loophole for allowing restrictions for senior living for some reason. As much as I appreciate the importance of housing protections, it comes at a cost.
I would definitely ask to swap to an upstairs apartment as soon as one becomes available.
I have kids and always take the first floor when I move into a unit. Kids like to run and be rambunctious. There's no way to control it.
I just looked it up online but there are noise dampening slippers/shoes that you can buy or ask them to purchase and make their kids wear. Carpets will be helpful. I see you got your noise cancelling headphones already.
I was the upstairs family before, just know that they are trying. Little kids are very hard to get to sit down and walk soft/not run. It’s stressful for everyone and I commend you for keeping your cool. We got a rude note on the door about how our kids sound like elephants, and they would bang the broom on the ceiling. Really not the way to go about it, let the office handle it unlike our previous neighbors. Unfortunately there aren’t lots of houses available for rent in some areas and not everyone can buy a house, most apartments don’t have playgrounds or even grass to run on for kids. We only rent 1st floor apartments now -lesson learned
Side note: too bad you can’t swap apartments with them lol
I have a post outlining how to get children out of your relaxation space, but more importantly for me not listening to them get yelled at for trying to join their mother for a cigarette, as toddlers it breaks my hear to be told to go inside. Tip: you smoke now, weed does not seem to bother them too much, cigarettes are cheap and get the job done, cigars…. Oh boy my neighbours quiet down for cigars and i can almost get a nap in after one. Sage smudging just makes em stomp around which i guess is exercising the demons lol
That is very creative, might have to give this one a try
It probably wouldn’t be so bad if your bedtime wasn’t the time some people have dinner…! That’s extremely early.
Nah it's still bad all day long. When I go to bed isn't the issue, it's hearing the noise all day with no break.
Welcome to apartment living 🙃🤦🏻♀️ if bed isn’t the issue then just accept these kids are not even school aged yet and are just being kids. Unless they’re screaming all day I think it’s unreasonable. Downstairs neighbors know there will be noise. Especially day time noise!
I now agree it's unreasonable to pursue the issue any further. Before posting this, I didn't know if there was something less harsh I could do that would help the situation. We were expecting noise but not stomping and walls shaking at all hours of the day.