Man threatens cops on neighbors for crying baby; 'they aren't dealing with the baby'

'AITA for asking my neighbours to be more considerate?'

My neighbours are a young couple in their 30s (Annie and Bill). They had a baby a couple months ago. The baby came home last month after 3 months in hospital. My wife is friendly with Annie. We can't have children so whenever we have a neighbour with a baby my wife makes friends with them.

We have my mum staying with us, as she is no longer able to live independantly and is currently recovering from surgery. My mum has complained several times that she can hear the baby crying, especially at night. My wife says the baby has bad reflux, and they are trying to deal with it. The baby screams several times a day, its awful listening to the poor thing cry for so long.

It does feel like they aren't dealing with the baby as quickly as they should be. The baby screamed for 10 minutes solid the other night. My wife says that the baby screams when they bathe it, as Annie has told her that baby doesn't like being bathed. The baby is always crying and it's frustrating, especially when mum needs peace and quiet to recover.

Since the baby has come home, there is no longer any room on our street during the day as we have on street parking. This is making it difficult to get mum to appointments as she can't walk to the end of the street to get her in the car.

We also can't park in the middle of the road as it blocks the road and can take over 10 minutes to get her in the car due to mobility issues. There had always been at least one empty bay outside our house, but now it is always occupied by either someone from their family visiting, or one of the healthcare professionals involved in the baby's care.

I reached a breaking point over the weekend. Mum had been home alone all day and she was in tears when I got home from work. My wife was away visiting friends. She said the baby had been screaming all day long. It was still crying when I came home. I went and knocked on Bill and Annie's door to ask if they could quiet the baby.

I could see through the frosted glass that Annie was sat on the bottom of the stairs not even trying to calm the baby down. When she came to the door, she apologised and said she had been trying to calm baby down, but the new medication was making him constipated, and he was straining to poo.

She had Bill had go pick up an emergency prescription to try and help. I snapped as she clearly hadn't been trying as she was on the stairs and I told her that they need to be more considerate of others, and if she didn't quiet the baby then I would log a noise complaint with the police.

Annie was upset at this and closed the door in my face. When my wife came back, she told her what I had said.

Now my wife is angry with me as I was making life difficult for a young couple with a sick baby and is giving me the silent treatment. I feel like I may be in the wrong because of how my wife has reacted, but at the same time, the baby is always crying and I think they need to be more considerate of their neighbours.

Here's what people had to say:

cajun_hippie writes:

I'm going to get hate for this, but thank God you can't have kids. Your lack of empathy and inability to sympathize are outrageous. Real babies aren't like dogs or dolls. I would hate to see how you would've treated your wife or your own child.

fluffybutt2508 writes:

My son had colic for months. He cried minimally during the day but once night came he would scream and scream. I did everything I could but sometimes I had to just let him cry. I'm glad I never had rude neighbors like this because I had terrible post partum depression as well and it would have absolutely broke me.

gymngdoll writes:

No hate here and I’m child-free. Young babies cry because they can’t communicate any other way. This is an infant with health issues and your aggression toward your neighbors is completely rude. Do you think THEY want the baby to cry often? Don’t you think THEY would like their baby to be healthy and happy?

What do you think filing a noise complaint is going to accomplish? The police will come and arrest the parents? The infant? Use your brain and have some sympathy. YTA, OP. A huge one.

Equivalent_Secret_26 writes:

YTA. On street parking means it's game for anyone, even if it's an inconvenience to others. Filing a noise complaint because of a crying baby is ridiculous. I actually hope you do and you come back here to indicate how big of a laughing stock you are for doing so.