Having a newborn baby is no easy task for parents, and having sleepless nights because your little one won't settle down is a common part of early parenthood.
But now, one woman has insisted that babies screaming throughout the night can also be tough on the neighbours living in the houses next door - because she's had several nights of no sleep since her neighbour's tot started "crying relentlessly" at all hours of the day and night.
The woman explained she's currently 11 weeks pregnant herself, and while she knows it isn't the parents' fault or the baby's fault, the sound of the crying has been "driving her mad".
She said she had tried earplugs but insisted they don't work and she can still hear the crying, and she's now worried her lack of sleep will end up impacting her unborn baby.
In a post on Reddit, she said: "I am 11 weeks pregnant, completely exhausted all the time and am in the high-risk category so I need to keep myself well and rested.
"We live in a semi-detached house with thin walls and next door have a young baby who recently started crying relentlessly. Earplugs don't work and the baby cries during the day and the night, keeping me up and I am so exhausted ... it is driving me mad and to the point of desperation. The parents sometimes try to calm it down but sometimes it seems they are just letting it cry/can't calm it down.
"I know it's not anyone's fault because of course babies cry - I know mine will too and the neighbours will probably go mad too then! - and we share a wall so that's just the way it is. But I am desperate so reaching out for any solutions to help me sleep, for my baby's well-being and my mental health. As I say, earplugs don't work for me.
"And please don't say 'get used to it now when you have the baby you'll be up all night too' as that is not helpful because at the moment my worry is my current well-being affecting my baby."
Commenters on the post did their best to offer the mum-to-be some worthwhile advice, as some suggested she buy a white noise machine to try and drown out the baby's crying.
One person wrote: "Get noise-cancelling headphones and then play white noise through them! YouTube has some great ones. I am having my bathroom renovated and am 33 weeks pregnant and they have been a lifesaver. I'm a really light sleeper/noise sensitive too. I have over-the-ear ones but you may prefer smaller inner-ear ones."
While another added: "I don't know how much it will help, but maybe you could consider getting some sound muffling panels to put on the walls that you share with them. I haven't tried it myself so again I have no idea, but just a thought. Bare walls will let a lot more sound through than walls that are covered with fabric or other muffling panels or similar!
"But white noise is so amazing, I definitely second that comment about that! That does wonders for me."
The mum said she hadn't tried using white noise yet, but would be giving it a go following the recommendations of several people on Reddit.
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