Lady Struggles With Sanity As Neighbor's Wailing Baby Turns Her New Apartment Into An Acoustic Nightmare

“I approached the mom, but all she did was swear at me, call me entitled and selfish.”

Jesse

• Published in Interesting
• December 7, 2023

Our narrator (Original Poster ) lived in a typical UK terrace house. At first, they had no neighbors, and life was generally serene, but six weeks ago, a couple moved in with their baby.

While OP was accustomed to the hum of typical neighborly sounds, the constant wails of the baby turned their quiet existence into a chaotic scenario. 

The worst part was this crying never seemed to stop! OP was a university student who worked from home two days a week. There was no office space available, and their job required a whole lot of Zoom calls. 

Clients were beginning to raise eyebrows at the ear-piercing baby screams permeating her headphones, and it wasn’t a good look. Due to the sensitive nature of their conversations, working from a Starbucks or some library wasn’t even an option.

After one too many disrupted work calls, OP marched over to the neighbors’ door to stage a complaint. She explained the situation to the child’s mom and pleaded that they either try to calm the baby down or move them to a room further away from OP’s workspace.

The mother’s reaction was volcanic, to say the least. She flung all sorts of names at OP, calling her entitled and selfish—after all, what did they know about the trials and tribulations of motherhood?

The mother admitted she purposely left the baby upstairs—which happened to be right by OP’s workspace—to catch a break from the crying, then slammed the door in OP’s face. 

How can OP tackle this challenge?

The story in detail

A bit of background

OP was overly frustrated because the cries from her neighbor’s baby was disrupting her work

OP approached the mom to find a resolution, only to receive a fiery retort

Important edit

Second edit

Here’s how the Reddit community reacted to the story:

“Your position is reasonable, because you’ve made requests, not threats or demands.”

“I would recommend sound proofing your walls, if the noise becomes more problematic.“

“Don’t get annoyed. She tries her best. Find solutions for yourself. She is already at her limit.“

“You approached her politely and I don’t really think you are in the wrong here.“

“Yes, babies cry, but adults are supposed to try to minimize the harm they cause to strangers.”

“Try not to take it personally. She’s probably exhausted as a mom of an infant.“

“If you talk to her again and she acts that way, I would just go to the building manager instead.“

“Based on your post I would assume the baby has colic, normal babies don't cry all the time and scream cry frequently.“

Thankfully, the baby's dad swung by to apologize for his wife's dramatic outburst, revealing her struggle with PPD.  

OP reiterated their concerns and invited him in for a firsthand experience. His eyes widened with shock—it was indeed a problem.

He promised to switch the baby’s room, but beyond that, not much could be done about the crying—it was a baby, after all. Looks like OP would have to invest in a costly pair of noise-cancellation headphones.

What do you think about this story? Let us know in the comments. 

Jesse