Having good neighbors is like winning the lottery — not many of us get to experience it. Some people have to deal with neighbors parking on their side of the property; others might deal with overflowing trash, barking dogs, or a loud motorcycle.
This couple’s home was their quiet oasis until a new family moved in. They decided to open a daycare, and that meant screaming infants and toddlers for the better part of the day for the neighbors. Although the couple wasn’t childfree, they still hated the noise, and the woman went online to vent about how it was driving her absolutely insane.
A woman vented online about how her neighbor’s daycare was causing her stress
She wasn’t a child-hater, but the screaming infants and toddlers next door were still driving her insane
In Ontario, both licensed and unlicensed child care programs are allowed, but have different rules
Daycares are a necessity for any city, town, or neighborhood. In Canada, about 58% of children aged 0-5 attended some form of child care. The most common option for parents is a child care center, with 32% of parents choosing it as their primary childcare option. Others rely on relatives (12%) or have one parent stay home and take care of the children themselves (10%).
Many Canadian parents have to rely on neighborhood at-home child care operations because they either can’t afford centers or can’t find a spot in a nearby one. In fact, 64% of parents in Ontario reported difficulty finding a spot in a daycare in 2023. That’s why some parents have to rely on at-home daycares.
Surprisingly, Canada has many home-based childcare centers. They still count as center-based childcare, even if some of them might be unlicensed. According to Statistics Canada, 33% of home-based daycares have licenses, and 36% don’t.
The author doesn’t say whether her neighbor’s daycare is licensed, only that someone came to examine the house. In general, Ontario’s provincial laws dictate that any at-home childcare operation with more than five children under 13 needs a license. More specifically, an unlicensed child care program can have no more than three children under the age of 2, including the children under the age of 4 who already live there.
A licensed child care program may have no more than six kids under the age of 13. It also has more additional rules:
- The program needs to have an emergency evacuation plan;
- The person taking care of the children needs to have experience and qualifications;
- The home needs to be physically safe for children;
- The program must account for the children's special and medical needs.
Repeated exposure to noise can result in worsened mental health for the neighbors
Noise from neighbors can come in a lot of forms: partying, loud music well into the hours of the night, and, of course, crying infants and toddlers. It’s even worse for folks who have noise sensitivity, like the OP. She may not have misophonia, but research from 2023 by King’s College London and the University of Oxford finds that 18.4 of the British population, at least, are sensitive to sounds like chewing or sniffing.
Complaints from neighbors about noise can come even when you’re not doing anything very noisy. UK Insurance provider Confused.com has found that the biggest portion of complaints about noisy neighbors are made about them simply talking loudly. Loud music and noisy parties are only the second and third most common complaints.
Constantly hearing noise coming from your neighbor's home can seriously mess up your health over time. Research finds that those who deal with noisy neighbors are more than twice as likely to have poor mental health and almost three times higher odds of elevated stress levels.
The OP is in quite an impossible situation: kids have to be kids and can’t shut up just because a neighbor wants quiet time. On the other hand, she and her husband are perfectly entitled to enjoy their home as a peaceful oasis. They might try to bring the noise issue up to the neighbors politely, but it’s doubtful they would close their daycare just because the kids are making noise.
Most commenters expressed support for the woman: “This would make me cry and scream with the toddlers”
Others shared similar noisy neighbor experiences and what they did to cope
However, some advised the woman to suck it up and get over it: “They have as much right [to inhibit] their living space as you do”
