‘Am I wrong for ignoring my selfish neighbour when my baby cries?’

Anna Martin

Babies cry.

They cry when they’re in pain when they’re hungry and sometimes for what seems like no reason at all.

You try your best to settle them but it can just feel like a losing battle especially when they’re teething. Though it can be annoying for those around you, there’s little that can be done.

You’d hope you would get a little bit of understanding but for one father, it seems that their neighbour has taken it as a challenge to be even louder.

Explaining the situation, the Redditor wrote, “I am the father of a one-year-old toddler. Recently, she started teething, as her molars have started to come in. First, it was the top ones for about a week, then we had a week’s break, and now the bottom ones are coming in.

“It’s clearly causing my daughter a lot of pain, especially at night. Before she was a good sleeper, but now it’s been rough. She’s been waking up around 1 am and then 3 am daily, screaming with her little fingers in her mouth.”

The dad explains that he and his wife try to comfort her by letting her sleep in their bed but it can still take around 10-20 minutes to calm down again.

Now it seems that their neighbour is fighting back for the loss of sleep by blasting her music during the day.

“She has been ‘punishing’ us during the day by blasting loud music directly into our unit by putting a stereo next to her balcony.

“We are on the ground floor and have a fully enclosed courtyard so it vibrates around. She’s got great music taste, and my daughter will dance to it all day long. So while my wife hates her intention, I think it’s worked out just fine… until now,” he wrote.

“Last night she came barging down at 3 am and rang our bell 4 times while we were trying to settle our daughter. Motrin works for about 8 hours, so by 3 am we have to give her another dose and wait through the cries, cradling her for 15-20 minutes for it to kick in again.”

The parents decided to focus on their baby and ignore the woman but now the Redditor wants to know if he’s in the wrong for his daughter crying.

While you may have thought the response from commenters would have been clear, it turns out opinions were mixed.

“Babies cry. You are doing your best. Your neighbour has weird expectations. Does she think babies come with a volume dial? an off switch? Has she never heard of sound-cancelling headphones?” wrote one person in support.

Another added, “Babies teethe. It’s normal and everyone has to just do the best they can. The lady upstairs needs to get a grip. She knows what it is, she knows it’s normal, healthy.”

Yet someone else disagreed penning, “The baby is your job to manage – and you’re basically driving your upstairs neighbour crazy with the noise, and are showing zero empathy.

“Have you apologized? Have you tried, in any way, to do reparations?”