Parents of newborn call out neighbor during resident meeting for his loud washing machine, only to be confronted by everyone else: ‘The baby cries 24/7’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Oct 8, 2026 6:00 AM EDT

No one should experience the despair that comes with hearing your baby crying exactly five minutes after you've just put them to sleep.

The parents below have sadly experienced this a few times, and they blame their neighbor and his washing machine. During the complex's quiet time, the neighbor always starts his washing machine, which is loud enough to wake the baby next door. Any parent out there knows how frustrating that might be and would understand the parents for wanting to confront the neighbor and ask him to wash his clothes at a more convenient time.

The way the parents chose to confront the neighbor, however, led to a neighborly dispute they found themselves at the center of. They decided to call out the neighbor during a residents' meeting, complaining about the loud machine and the time he chose to operate it. The neighbor did not appreciate being called out publicly, and the other residents were quick to defend him and start complaining about the baby crying all day long. Overall, it didn't sound like a pleasant meeting to have.

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  • Group of Residents Attending Neighborhood Meeting
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    Group of Residents Attending Neighborhood Meeting.

    Actor performance of story events.

  • AITA for pointing out my neighbour’s loud crying baby?

    I (26M) moved into a new flat about 6 months ago. It's a small complex with 8 apartments.
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  • My next-door neighbours have a baby, which I assume was born around the time I moved in.
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  • The baby cries a lot, but I've never complained because that's just what babies do. Yesterday, we had a once a year meeting with all the residents of
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  • the complex. The property manager gave us some updates and then asked for our questions. Out of nowhere, my neighbours told him that my
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  • machine is very loud and that I use it during quiet hours. They're right, but they never told me it bothered them.
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  • If they had, I would have simply done my laundry at a different time. I got annoyed because I do laundry once a week, while their baby cries pretty
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  • much 24/7. So I said they probably shouldn't complain about noise, which started a heated debate.
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  • Person Using Their Washing Machine
    via RDNE Stock project

    Person Using Their Washing Machine.

    Image shown for illustrative purposes; person depicted is a model.

  • Other residents also began complaining about the baby. One lady even questioned if they are even taking care of the baby, because her babies never
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  • cried like that, which sounded pretty nasty. The property manager eventually ended the discussion when the baby's mother started crying.
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  • Nothing was really resolved there, but I now feel pretty bad about starting the whole debate.
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  • They could have told me about the washing machine before bringing it up publicly, but they're probably just exhausted parents.
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  • AITA for saying what I did, and should I apologize to them?
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  • After reading the first part of the story, it's natural to hesitate before taking sides. Any parent understands how difficult those first few months are and how challenging it is to calm a crying baby. But we've all been on the other side of the coin too, quietly judging parents who can't calm their babies while sitting in airplanes and various public spaces. Anyone would feel like they are losing their minds if they had to listen to these cries in the comfort of their own home. 

    If only these parents had asked the neighbor nicely and privately to use the washing machine at a different time, this wouldn't have turned into such a big dispute. But with so few hours of sleep, honestly, who can blame them?

    This is not the end of the story, though, since an update was later published. The neighbor shares a conversation with the dad, who came knocking on his door to apologize for the whole residents' meeting debacle.

  • UPDATE

    The father actually knocked on my door today and we had a chat.
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  • Turns out he is a really nice guy. He apologized for putting the whole thing out publicly and explained that there were two incidents when they had
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  • finally managed to get the baby to sleep, and then my washing machine woke it up.
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  • They got super р ed about it the second time and apparently really held onto that anger.
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  • Tired parents with a baby.
    via Curated Lifestyle

    Tired parents with a baby.

    Model representation. 

  • They waited for the meeting, wanted to make it public and expected the property manager to scold me in front of everyone.
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  • We laughed together about how irrational that sounds now. He also explained that the baby has colic.
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  • That's why it cries a lot and they haven't properly slept since the birth, so that's why they're so irritated.
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  • On the bright side he mentioned it is slowly getting better and the baby sleeps for longer periods now.
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  • I apologized for my response and admitted it was an unnecessary reaction to being called out publicly, which I didn't like.
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  • I also told him I'm changing my laundry schedule to Fridays, when I usually work from home, so I have the whole day to do it.
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  • Sometimes, an honest, open conversation is all it takes. Getting the baby to stop crying worked for the benefit of the entire neighborhood, so it makes sense that the neighbor was willing to change a small detail in his routine to make it happen. 

    Parenting is not easy. The saying “it takes a village” is definitely an accurate description of how it feels to raise a small human being. Here's to hoping other people would feel inspired by this neighbor and his story and check their own behavior to see if there is anything they can do to help a stranger.

  • Also some answers to repeated questions - I checked the lease and complex rules, and there's no specific rule banning laundry during quiet hours.
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  • There is a general rule saying tenants should avoid making noise and disturbing others. - The washing machine isn't broken or insanely loud, but I'd
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  • say it's louder than average. -I can easily do my laundry at a different time. I was just doing it on Sunday evenings out of
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  • I didn't know it was disturbing anyone. -And yes, the walls are pretty thin.
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neighbors baby house neighborhood residents washing machine loud newborn home parents
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