In a couple of months my husband and I are going to have a baby. We are very excited but I am a little concerned that our child is going to be a nuisance to our neighbors and I’d like to avoid that if I can. We live in an apartment building and we have neighbors above, below, and beside us that I’m sure are just going to be pissed as hell that there is a baby within hearing distance, especially at night. Babies cry and we expect that our neighbors will just have to deal with it sometimes but we would like to find ways to reduce the noise transfer between apartments in hopes that they won’t be too annoyed or bothered by the crying.
We can be as prepared as possible to make sure the baby’s needs are met swiftly. We can put down rugs or other padding to help reduce the noise for our downstairs neighbors. We can even keep a stock of earplugs for people who stop by to complain about the noise but what can we do to create a barrier for noise going through the walls or the ceiling?
I think you must be VERY nice to be so concerned about your neighbors- I’ve never had neighbors like you! However, I really wouldn’t worry about it too much. First of all, people have babies, and they cry sometimes- it’s the circle of life. Most people that live in apartments know that there willl be noise, and they’ve accepted that by living there. B, most babies don’t really cry that much. Mine really only cried when they were hungry or wet or had a poopy diaper and were uncomfortable. Colic is possible, but that mostly happens in the early evening, when most people aren’t trying to sleep. If your baby ends up crying a lot, take it to the doctor because it might be lactose-intolerant or have other issues.
That said, here are my suggestions for keeping the noise down: Run a fan or white-noise machine in your baby’s room in the hopes that it will help to drown out any noise. Keep a baby monitor on if the baby will have it’s own room, so that you can hear it crying right away. Tack up some foam rubber or whatever it’s called- that egg-crate stuff that you can buy to augment your mattress- on the wall that share. Or if that’s not available, thick blankets or quilts will do. Anything on the walls helps to divert noise, really.
I try very hard to think about how my choices and behavior impact other people. I figure the world would be a much better place if we all put just a little bit of effort into not being a dick, you know?
I will definitely hang a blanket on the shared walls to help muffle the sound. I’ve considered the possibility of getting a canopy for the crib so that when she cries it directs the sound down and away from the ceiling as well but I don’t know that I want something bigger than a mobile hanging over the baby for safety purposes. All we need is for the cats to decide they can climb a canopy to have a giant screaming ball of fur, fabric and baby waking up the entire planet!
At this point I’m just hoping our baby is pretty calm and not colicky.
You also may want to keep in mind that everyone wakes briefly during the night, from babies to old people. If you rock or feed or otherwise get the baby to sleep, then they won’t have the self-comforting skills that they need to get themselves back to sleep when they wake briefly during the night (outside of hunger, which should stop waking them up after 6 months at the most). So you might want to research sleep training now so that you don’t have to endure the getting up in the night several times just to comfort that so many of us did the first kid or two - by my third I had learned.
I believe Alice and I have had this discussion before in other threads, so I won’t attempt to start a debate but will merely share my observation that I’ve had three kids, didn’t “sleep train” any of them, and never had any trouble with their sleep, apart from nighttime hunger wakings. Sleep training is not a necessity.
But you’ll be in charge of your own kid and you’ll figure out what works, pbbth.
I wouldn’t hang a blanket or anything over the crib, by the way. I think the risk of it falling onto the kid is higher than any benefit you’ll gain sound-wise. Hanging blankets on the walls isn’t a bad idea. And otherwise, yeah, don’t sweat it, noise happens in apartments, and if you’re not letting your kid scream for hours on end without soothing him, you’re doing better than most people with kids in apartments I’ve lived in.
I second the white noise machine. We picked one up at Target that plays a rain sound, and it definitely helps.
I’d be afraid of the fire hazard with anything hanging over the crib, so I’d stay away from that idea, but a nice decorative nursery quilt on the wall will both look cute and cut down on noise.
You can also arrange the room a bit to help. Of course place the crib on the opposite side from the neighbors, but a bookshelf or bureau/changing table on the shared wall will absorb some of the sound waves. I’d use furniture to help soak up sound as much as possible.
In addition to a quilt, maybe a little plush rug on the ground? Again something that looks cute and also helps absorb sounds would be good.
But other than that, I agree that unless you’re dealing with colic or the occasional illness, you probably won’t have a problem.