Venting - APO,AP

I know this isn't going to help you but prior to marriage and kids I lived with a roommate in an upstairs apartment. My downstairs neighbor constantly called the landlord to complain that we were "walking too hard" or that she could hear us speaking throughout the day, could hear our tv in the evening, etc. We were not being loud. We were living very respectfully and actually fairly quietly. She called the police several times until they told her that we were not breaking any laws and to please only call in an emergency (she would call when we weren't even home because she could "hear" us "moving"). Noises are amplified when you live on a lower level. If there is no soundproofing, you will hear pretty much every step they take and yes, it is just normal noises of living. I know it is annoying but thems the breaks, as they say, when you are in a rental, especially a bottom rental that apparently doesn't have noise barriers. Just think, in a few months your new baby will be keeping them up and disturbing them every time he cries. Hopefully they don't knock on your door to tell you to stop your baby from being a baby because someone in their house is taking a nap. I am sure the father is getting annoyed with you because you are asking him to stop his children from making noise which is like telling the wind not to blow and I am sure you are getting annoyed because, to you, they seem unusually loud. The only thing I can think of is to see if you can move and repaint yourself so you don't have to pay the $4000. Good luck.

Well I think you'd hate anyone with a two and three year old that lived above you. My three year old is always jumping off the couch, walking around in annoying clickedy play shoes on the tile floor, slamming doors, and other annoying things that all toddlers do. Apartment floors are usually thin and I'm sure I'd be frustrated at you for coming to my door all the time. Kids are kids and there's not much that you can do keep them "still' as you say. If someone told me to keep Aubrey "still" I'd have to laugh in their face and tell them to take her for an hour and try to keep her still.
Now, after about 9pm, those kids should be in bed, but you are not their parents and cannot govern that. Your best bet is to just move.

I don't know what to say except that I have been there. I used to have some idiot living above me who was in a band and the band used to practice in the apartment - now this was an apartment complex with nice normal people. I was a student at the time and did most of my studying in the late evening to about 1am. And this jerk would be either practicing with his band, playing the stereo lour of having super loud screaming sex with his girlfriend. So when the band was practicing, I'd call security or the police if it was really late and for some reason he made me out to be the psycho! He had a mohawk and wore guyliner - I was a quiet college student living alone! He denied he was practicing. I told the apartment company to go in and look to see the band equipment but they never did. He even threatened me so I had to fill out a police report.

It sucks and I feel sorry for you. I can't imagine having kids jumping off of couches above me - it must make your heart skip a beat!

Good luck - I feel for you.

Seriously? They are not going to stop - so if I were you, I would try my best to ignore them and quit going up there asking them to quiet their kids down. I am sure that by now you have gone up there so many times that they are probably being loud on purpose.

It doesn't cost $4K to repaint an apartment - maybe you could offer to move and repaint it yourself??? I am not sure if they would allow that or not. Seems to me that is an ulrealistic expectation of them to have, but I am just a civilian and know nothing about army life.

I hope that things eventually settle down for you. And look at it this way, your kids will be able to sleep through anything after this experience! LOL

This is a no win situation. It is hard to be the upstairs neighbor trying to be quiet--and the downstairs one dealing with the noise. I think it is harder when you have non-walking kids to understand that once kids start walking--running and jumping are next on the agenda! Having said that--there are normal awake and busy hours. Little ones should be in bed and quiet after 9 (or 10) and you shouldn't have to deal with rumbling overhead that late.

I am wondering how they can justify the expense of making them PCS instead of letting one of the families move?

You will have a crying baby in the next months, so maybe that will inconvenience them a bit. You can't help it when you have a crying baby ya know ;o).

Ahh the joys of military housing. I grew up an army brat. I know all too well the cheap apartment living on base. I know everyone says to move, that in all reality it's not an option. You see the noise as unreasonable and they see your requests to quiet down toddlers as unreasonable. It's a no win situation. As hard as it is, I think the headphones and earplugs are your best bet. You also need to find some sort of distraction so you don't focus on it so much. My fingers are crossed that they leave for an extended vacation. Hang in there!!!

Wow, really now I see this, they are 2 and 3 years old. Just let them be kids and move. I don't think you understand how noise works. I highly doubt they are doing anything wrong they are just being kids. Kids jump, crawl, fall, throw tantrums. It's life.

Perhaps add some sound proofing between the floors? We have looked into tiles you can add to the ceiling of the basement since we can hear our heater turn on loudly in the living room. Here is one website with foam, acoustic tiles and a barrier that looks like material:
http://www.soundprooffoam.com/ceiling-products.html