How do I survive living in an apartment with a 2.5 y/o

[glall2u2]

This afternoon my downstairs neighbor came up to tell me my daughter is too loud and that she is almost in tears over the noise. She brought up her bag of ear plugs and said they aren't working and that apparently we set off her cat motion detector. I know she can be noisey and I do my best to take her outside when the weather is nice but I'm really worried about what we are going to do once winter arrives. It's been challenging with COVID and I don't have much of a support system. I allow her to watch some TV but don't want her watching it all day. We were out today from 9-12, she watched a movie on the couch after lunch and then we were outside for close to an hour. After she came upstairs I told her we would leave for awhile and we took a car ride for about an hour but we had to come home for dinner, bath and bed. I feel awful to be such a nuisance but I can't leave all day either. We are currently looking for other housing. I guess I'm looking for some helpful advice. Thank you!!

 

[blight91]

@glall2u2 I mean, do you have rugs down? That can help with some of the noise. But unless your kid is literally jumping up and down all day (which my toddler definitely did), your neighbor just has to suck it up. One of the unpleasant parts of living in an apartment is that neighbors are often loud, but everyone has to deal with it.

 

[katrina2017]

@blight91 Yeah, its part of living in an apartment. If they don't like it they can find a new place to live. Same goes for OP, if they wake up OPs kid during their naps; ain't much that can be done.

 

[katrina2017]

@glall2u2 I had this very issue not long ago. First of all, i FEEL your stress and concerns. Those were mine. My son was 2 at the time. My husband had to be up at 5am to get to work. He was gone all day. My daughter was out the door for school before 7am. So my son was up either up before or after those times. I knew that a family of 4 (sometimes 6) was living downstairs. Same as us 2bd, 2bth. So i can just imagine how much harder it was to deal with upstairs noise and then your own household. However, how they dealt with it was hot and cold. Sometimes the husband would come upstairs and ask us if we could keep it down or his wife would bang the ceiling and it terrified my toddler, which outraged me. We run a tight schedule at home. So my kiddos were in bed at 8:30pm. Most of the complaining was during the day. I would give my son morning cartoons and breakfast, hoping nothing triggered him to run. I would have to get after him EVERY TIME he ran. I was fed up. I told my husband. I just don't believe in keeping a child from running around or playing (there is a time and place for everything) and i felt i was holding my child back. I also would take plenty of adventures outside, too tucker him out. But winter and anytime i got sick was the worst. I will never forget the wife came yelling outside on Christmas day to tell my daughter to keep it down. I immediately boiled and told her "okay". I felt horrible. I went to the managers office and told her all about it. I told her it was my first time experiencing this type of predicament. I didn't want to inconvenience anyone but i didn't appreciate that she approached my kid. If you got a problem talk to me, the adult. Don't fucking confront my kid about it. The manager reassured me that i was not in the wrong. Unless we are breaking the complex rules than she can't really tell us anything. And if she has a problem with it, than she can take a visit to the managers office.

 

[justanotherday]

@katrina2017 Yes, the stress! I lived in constant fear that our neighbor was going to come upstairs and complain AGAIN. My kids really couldn't play like kids until we moved. I was constantly telling them to be quiet and that they couldn't do things. It's no way to live.

 

[katrina2017]

@justanotherday I completely agree! It's no way to live. I had my share of complaints but i swallowed my pride and remembered it was MY decision to live there. We made the best out of it.
Edit: I cried with my husband when we finally moved. Waking up to my kids running around and not having to yell was an amazing feeling. They got to finally be freeeee! Ha!

 

[justanotherday]

@katrina2017 Yes, my kids had a big stomping party!

 

[katrina2017]

@justanotherday That's too funny! My daughter was stomping and yelling HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT NEIGHBOR