Aparment living.... - two year old second floor
AlexsPajamaMama wrote: We have lived in this second floor apartment for just over a year, it was a year in May.
So there is a man that lives right below us...he doesn't work and has always been pleasant to us. We never heard a peep from him ever except a hello if we saw each other outside.
In June he had his girlfriend move in with him.....and ever since then, all I get from them is complaints about every little thing that goes on here....
First it was my bird feeder. Now I've always had a bird feeder up, for the whole year that we have lived here, and just now he asked me if I could take it down because the birds make a mess all over his patio. The nice neighbor that I am I took it down, all is good.
Last sunday he knocks on my door at 7am and complains about my son running around and waking him up at 6am. He asked me if I could "just sit him down"WTH!
Alex does not run around at 6am. His room is right above this guy's bedroom so maybe he hears Alex get out of bed and run to the bedroom door? But it's very rare that he is even awake before 6:30, many mornings it's 7am.
Well all week things have been fine, no complaints. He even talked to me about the weather on friday morning.
This morning, DH goes down to the car to pack our beach stuff and the girlfriend tells him she is going to complain to managment about our son running around! She said she was up at 5:30am......we werent up at that time! Alex wasn't either!
Alex does run around in our apartment, and I try soooooooo hard to tell him we cant be so loud, you cant run, it's not nice there are other people that live here.........but he is 2 and doesn't fully understand kwim?
Would do I do? I'm soooo stressed out about this!
What's the worst that could happen? Will I be evicted?  
ZandersMama replied: I dont think you could be evicted, if it wasnt a problem for all this time it shouldnt be a problem. Besides that, the landlord knew when you moved in you had kids so he cant evict you because of that. I know how it can be to have kids living above you, and the smallest steps can sound loud, but any reasonable person understands that you cant just sit a kid down and expect him to stay. Kids are kids, they gotta play. I wouldnt worry about it if I were you, you cant have a toddler strapped in his high chair all day its not right.
AlexsPajamaMama replied: Thanks, that does make me feel a better....and the property manager knows us well, she knows we are good people. She also has grand kids so she will know what little kids are like.
Alex has slept in a bed since march and his getting up out of bed in the morning was never a problem until now.... 
redchief replied: I would say if he comes and complains about nonexistent nonsense again you tell him that if he keeps harrassing you, you are going to complain to the management.
Thinking back to Kirsten's post about the life of man, I think this guy entered his barking period a tad early.
C&K*s Mommie replied: It sounds like his g/f is putting him up to do the dirty work. If he had not c/o any noise before then, and all of a sudden when she comes along in June, there are complaints, it sounds like her doing.
cameragirl21 replied: Hey, I'm not a regular here, in fact, I'm not even a mom yet, just a kids' photographer who came on here to ask some of the mom's advice.
But I've had some similar experiences with neighbors so I thought I'd add my 2 cents.
First of all, assuming you live in the US and you're on a lease they CANNOT EVICT YOU. I don't know what the laws are in Canada or anywhere else but here they cannot evict you for that unless you are having wild parties and blaring music or something to that effect. The thing is when you live on the first floor of an apartment building you are going to get noise from the apartment above you, that's just the way it goes.
I can tell you for example that I live in a house in a rather upscale area in South Florida and I can still hear my neighbors when they're outside. On one side my neighbors have a huge pool and they always have little kids making a lot of noise--splashing, fighting, etc and on the other side I have a neighbor who's a wannabe carpenter and I can hear his drill/chainsaw/hammer, etc at all hours of the day, sometimes very early in the morning. My neighbor two houses down has a baby and sometimes I can hear the baby screaming, but that's just life, if you don't want any of that then you have to move out to the sticks or something. When you live among human beings you will be disturbed by them.
The worst thing that can happen is that the management will ask one of you to move to a different apartment in the complex and it will most likely be them to move because they are the ones making all the complaints and thereby the problem is theirs, not yours.
I also think you should put the bird feeder back because first of all, birds like all animals get used to feeding at a certain place and become confused and distressed when their food source is suddenly not there. And also, because this is just a battle of the wills between you and your neighbor, or more likely his girlfriend and they're just looking for reasons to pick a fight with you. It won't kill him to have birds around his patio and if he has to clean it, so be it.
The thing is that kids don't just sit still and there is no way you can make them so he'll just have to deal with your son being a kid or he'll have to move. He can't expect you to meet his and his girlfriend's every wish. The more you bend, the more they'll push, which is why I suggested putting the bird feeder back.
If you are really concerned about keeping the peace, then maybe you can get your son really soft shoes, like slippers but that will not eliminate the noise entirely and it sounds like your neighbor will always have a complaint and it doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong so you really shouldn't give this another thought IMO.
Also, if he continues to harrass you then maybe YOU should go and complain to the management because that too would be a legitimate complaint on your part.
Good luck,
Jennifer
ashtonsmama replied: Explain to your landlord, hopefully they'll get on your side and either talk to the man who's doing all the dang complaining or just help you work it out, I'm sorry, he sounds like a jerk. And you're doing the best you can by telling Alex not to run, but he IS 2, and he can only understand so much, so don't stress hun...
MichaelsMommy replied: You pay just as much to live there as they do.. too bad for them I say. Just because they got a 1st floor apartment they get to change your lifestyle? I don't think that's right at all. I don't think there is anything they can do even if they complain. It's not like your blasting music at 1am that would be a different story.. you can't tie your son up so they don't hear bumps on the ceiling. If it bugs them that bad, they should move not you.
Take them with a grain of salt and don't let it get to you.. no one can throw you out for a little boys footsteps.
boyohboyohboy replied: I ran into this same problem when my oldest was small. He did run around the apartment but it was hard to keep a young child from playing and just being a kid. I think I would just talk to the apartment manager in person, and explain that you have gotten a few complaints from the downstairs neighbors, and you just felt bad about it, and wanted to make sure you were in good standing with the managers. I have done that, it also makes it look like you care, and are trying to work things out.
I wouldnt feel bad about it, your son is just being a child. And in most cases those apartments are so thin walled, that matter if your son tip toed to the bath room the neighbor would hear it.
Good luck
7thHeaven replied: I'm sorry! That's terrible! Man, that lady sounds like a big meanie!! You can't get evicted because someone below *thinks*  she is hearing someone run around upstairs. When me & my DH first got married, we had a problem like this...only the elderly people below us thought we were using a nailgun at first, then they heard the boards pop when we walked around in our apartment and thought we were stomping & running around in our apartment What I would do is go or call the office and let them know what is going on, let them know that after a year, everything's all of a sudden a problem since "Ms. Whiney" has moved in downstairs and let them know that it is not her place (but the landlord's) to address any problems within the complex! If that was me "Ms. Whiney" would have gotten an ear full about what I thought of her complaints!! Some people...who do they think they are!
CantWait replied: I'd file a harrassment complaint. Also is she on the lease, if not I'm sure the landlord would like to know that handy bit of info. Try not to worry about it.
AlexsPajamaMama replied:  Everybody has made me feel 100% better about all this
And the fact that she is not on the lease, ya I will be letting the property manager know she is living there now.
Thank you everyone for your input! I just breathed a big sigh of relief!
I will be talking to the manager on monday morning  With a ton of confidence now!
holley79 replied: There are some people who just can't be happy. It's probably the GF always complaining. Who knows. I don't think you will be evicted though.
mummy2girls replied: no ... they cant evict you! plus... the normal walking and running you have expect its the loud jumping and such that is annoying. The poeple above me are loud! they have a dog and i swear they play football during the evfening... its pretty annoyiong. the common walkign around i expect so i just ignore... dont worry you should be fine...
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