I’m a 29-year-old guy, and this is my first apartment. I moved in around May 2025. I live on the ground floor of a wood-frame building. Quiet hours here are clearly posted and written into the lease as 10 p.m. to around 4–5 a.m.
My upstairs neighbor is a mom with several kids. I don’t know the exact number, but around 4–6 of them, most appearing to be six years old or older. From the time I moved in, there has been a lot of noise coming from above me.
From May through December, it happened almost every night. The noise includes running, jumping, kids bouncing a ball, furniture being dragged, items being dropped, and sometimes what sounds like deliberate stomping. It seems like their bedroom is directly above mine, which makes it worse. Sometimes I hear an adult briefly tell them to stop, but it usually starts again.
At first, I didn’t complain. This was my first apartment and I didn’t want to cause problems. I assumed some noise just comes with apartment living. The issue is mainly after 10 p.m. Before that, I can deal with it. After quiet hours, the noise often continues. I can hear it over my TV and two fans. It has woken me up and also kept me from falling asleep. The worst night lasted from about 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Before reporting it, I went upstairs and calmly spoke to the mom. I mentioned the pounding and asked about what sounded like music. She denied the music, blamed the noise on her kids, seemed uninterested, and ended the conversation. She didn’t apologize or say she would try to fix it. That night, the noise felt worse and more deliberate, which is when I decided to report it.
I reported it in early December by email and then in person. At the time, management was changing, and I was told nothing would be done until the new manager started. The noise continued. After December, it happened less often, but still several times a week, mostly on weekends, and still after quiet hours.
In mid-January, I reported it again to the new on-site manager. I’ve recorded audio, but recordings don’t fully capture how loud it is in person. The manager said he couldn’t really hear it, asked for the recordings, and later said he would listen with headphones. I also offered multiple times for management to come into my apartment at night to listen, but that hasn’t happened.
Instead, he suggested wall foam, more carpet, and gave me foam earplugs. That didn’t make me angry, but it did annoy me. It felt like I was being told to just deal with it.
He also said he would remind everyone about noise during a January 29th apartment meeting, but when the meeting happened, he never brought it up.
The noise hasn’t stopped. I feel dismissed and unheard. I dread nighttime. I feel guilty complaining because they’re kids, but I’m not asking for silence. I just want the running and pounding to stop after 10 p.m., which seems reasonable.
This is the only issue I’ve ever complained about.
AITA for reporting this? Advice is welcomed
NTA, but it’s time to make a police report on the noise complaints.
Air horn. Every single time.
NTA, but next time it happens record it with a decibel app to show how loud it is.
NTA 2am is ridiculous.
NTA. It is not unreasonable to expect quiet during quiet hours. You’re not complaining about the ordinary noise of people living, children should be in bed during those hours and not stomping, playing with balls, moving furniture, etc. I would suggest escalating this to a noise complaint with whatever local authority. Where I live, it would be with the municipality’s bylaw department. If it continues to persist, you could try escalation with the landlord. You are entitled to quiet enjoyment of the property, which includes that the landlord must prevent other tenants from interfering with your right, so you could perhaps seek a remedy through landlord and tenant law. Where I live this would be at the Landlord and Tenant Board and probably take the form of a rent abatement and an order that the landlord actually do something about the noise. If that something is soundproofing, btw, the landlord should pay for it NOT you and if you do end up installing that yourself, suggest you claim that in your damages so you can try to recoup the costs. Document every incident, cost, and communication concerning this matter going forward in case it gets to tribunal or court. If it does, you will need it.
NTA. Being/having kids isn’t a free pass to disrespect the fact that you share walls/floors with other people. Yes some noise is to be expected but she needs to parent her kids.
For your audio recordings, it’s helpful to get your phone/recording device as close to your ceiling as possible. So stand on a chair and raise your phone above your head so it’s almost touching the ceiling, if you can. That will give you the best chance to record the sounds that you are hearing.
NTA. Get a decibel meter, *not* an app on your phone, but an actual device for measuring noise loudness. Provide a shot of that with your next video complaint.
Also take a closer look at your lease and local housing laws, and if video with decibel meter reading doesn’t spur anyone to action, call the police.
Oh, and if someone handed me earplugs, I’d tell them that’s not medically advisable for me, and will they pay ensuing medical bills if I use them, or will they actually address the underlying problem? (But that’s me, and earplugs work for a good number of people.)
I like it thank you.
NTA. But that’s when you grab a broom, mop, or whatever reaches the ceiling and you bang on it. Trust me in apts it’s usually the most effective method because management staff are usually incompetent or just too lazy to care since they’re collecting a paycheck anyways. Unless you just wanna start with the police reports and force their hand then there’s that route too
NTA. That’s when I start to get even. I live in a condo… a single building with 5 units. Our neighbors literally had 10 people living in a 3 br, and 6 of them were kids. And the adult daughter (the mother of the 6 kids) and grandmother hated each other and had screaming fits at 2am, yelling “c*nt” at each other. The youngest kid was in diapers. They would even destroy our garden and steal packages during the day. So, for a couple weeks, I sacrificed my own sleep, stayed up ALL night long, waited until things quieted down and would run my f’n vacuum right up against their wall, blast music, sing along as loud as possible, run any appliance I could find that was right against their wall. And it worked, because they finally f’n moved out. I don’t miss them. Those kids and their mother were nightmares.
NTA. In fact 10PM -5AM for quiet hours is a little short IMO. Usually it’s like 9PM- 6 or 7AM. I don’t know about anyone else, but I do t want to be woken up at 5AM by noisy neighbors because there is an extremely lenient quiet hours policy.
The Mom here is definitely the Asshole, and for those saying “she can’t control that many kids” is bullshit. She needs to parent her kids. She is being a “permissive” parent.
But, at the end of the day , as others have said, you really have two choices. Ear plugs or move.
She probably can’t control that many kids but that’s her problem. What kind of 1diot has that many kids when they live in a flat. Or at at all, tbh. Building management need to make her deal with it or leave. OP i really feel for you – I don’t know what to suggest as raising a dispute might make it difficult to seek your flat while she’s living there, should you wish to. But I really hope you get it sorted xx
I would start banging on the ceiling with a broom after the kids go to bed. Once she’s inconvenienced by the noise and her kids are up all night, she will get the hint. You might lose some hours of sleep initially but you will gain back some quiet time in the end. Unfortunately, some people don’t care unless they are inconvenienced themselves.