# Children and apartment living: any words of advice regarding raising children in apts



## Leaf (31 Mar 2008)

Does anyone have any words of advice regarding raising children in an apartment?  I am considering buying an apartment but if possibility of having children in next few years arises will I have to sell up?  The apartment I am looking at is pretty spacious, close to a park and ground floor.  Any advice much appreciated.


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## truthseeker (31 Mar 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*

dont have personal experience of having a child myself but do live in a ground floor apartment so here are a few things you might take into consideration:

carpark - if the apartments have a communal carpark you are not going to want a child playing there with friends (when they get a little older of course) as it would be dangerous.

noise - apartments are notoriously noisy places to live - you have to be mindful of neighbours at the best of times, you certainly wouldnt want that extra stress if you had a crying baby and then a grumpy neighbour to contend with.

meeting other children - there are only a couple of apartments in the complex im in that have children - it must be difficult that the kids who are there have no one to play with locally - however that is no different than for lots of rural children.

other than that i dont see any issues and the carpark one i only mention cos ive seen kids attempting to play football in the carpark in the complex im in and mammies called them back out of there cos it wasnt safe.


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## Leaf (31 Mar 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*

Thanks truthseeker, the noise factor is one that I have concerns about in general.  Lack of playmates also a factor but I am kinda reluctant to move out to the outer 'burbs' to get a house in an estate full of young couples and kids.  I am presuming that apartments are built that bit more soundproof than they were when I lived in them as a student? Aren't regulations that bit more stringent nowadays?


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## truthseeker (31 Mar 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*

I dont really know how stringent the regulations are to be honest. I can only speak from my own experience and I happen to be very lucky because my neighbours are all considerate and I rarely hear noise from neighbouring apartments. But I can hear heels on wooden floors above or TVs if the sound is high and I always hear washing machines in the spin cycle. There used to be a couple in an apartment above me who fought a lot and I could hear them too - so its likely Id hear a baby crying if I could hear that.

One thing you might check out if you are considering buying an apartment and noise is a factor is the neighbours.ie website - you will soon find noise complaints there in the area you are interested in if its an issue.


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## Leaf (31 Mar 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*

Great idea Truthseeker, didn't think of that.  Thanks


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## Bubbly Scot (31 Mar 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*

If it's ground floor you won't have to worry about getting pushchairs and such upstairs. Consider though, that you might accumulate ride on toys, prams, trampolines and such as they get older. Does the apartment come with a shed where you can store such things? Storage in general would perhaps be a consideration, my youngest arrived with an entire "Toys r us" store.


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## SillyBilly (31 Mar 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*

I have to second truthseeker on not meeting other children.  My OH's child lived in an apartment complex that had it's own green area but she was very lonely and had no friends.  Really was delighted for her when they moved to a housing estate in the burbs with playmates.


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## liaconn (1 Apr 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*

Ground floor would also be important from the point of view of noise. There are small children in the apartments to either side of me and I never hear a sound through the walls. However, guy living above me had a couple over with their kids one evening and I felt as if the ceiling was going to come down on top of me. I don't know if my apartment block is typical but, while the walls seem to be quite thick, the soundproofing between floor and ceiling is absolutely abysmal.


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## truthseeker (2 Apr 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*



liaconn said:


> Ground floor would also be important from the point of view of noise. There are small children in the apartments to either side of me and I never hear a sound through the walls. However, guy living above me had a couple over with their kids one evening and I felt as if the ceiling was going to come down on top of me. I don't know if my apartment block is typical but, while the walls seem to be quite thick, the soundproofing between floor and ceiling is absolutely abysmal.


 
I would second that - wouldnt even know Id next door neighbours but can hear some sounds from the guy above alright. Our sound proofing is not terrible but it is obvious you can hear more above/below than side to side.


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## Welfarite (2 Apr 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*

IMHO, apartments are not suitable places to rear children. I just think of Ballymun and shudder...

Consider the lack of play room/quality space an apartment offers, the lack of fresh air, the noise, the stairs and buggies, the fear of them falling out a window, the lack of social interaction with other kids etc, etc. 

If you have an option, go for a house.


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## truthseeker (2 Apr 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*



Welfarite said:


> IMHO, apartments are not suitable places to rear children. I just think of Ballymun and shudder...
> 
> Consider the lack of play room/quality space an apartment offers, the lack of fresh air, the noise, the stairs and buggies, the fear of them falling out a window, the lack of social interaction with other kids etc, etc.
> 
> If you have an option, go for a house.


 
Well I think it all depends on the apartment complex, where I live the apartment itself is huge - bigger than some small houses Ive been in, its ground floor so no fear of windows, no stairs, own front door just like a house, and a large well maintained communal garden that has walls and railings so no fear of a child running off out of the complex. In saying that there are very few children in the complex (some but not many at all). The complex is absolutely nothing like Ballymun (every apartment is own door and the blocks are not high rise) and there is a park nearby with a pond and ducks and swans. 

It wouldnt be the worst place for a child to grow up - but certainly at a young age they would be quite restricted as to play areas as the carpark is definitely a hazard.


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## annR (2 Apr 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*

I think that the probability is that you will consider selling up once the child gets to a certain age - probably due to the car park area or lack of playmates.  The storage issue is a big deal as well - no attic, no shed, most apartments don't even have something to put the hoover.

It depends on your situation and finances, you would probably get a good few years in the apartment as space, playmates etc mightnt be much of an issue until the child is a few years old.


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## liaconn (2 Apr 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*



Welfarite said:


> IMHO, apartments are not suitable places to rear children. I just think of Ballymun and shudder...
> 
> Consider the lack of play room/quality space an apartment offers, the lack of fresh air, the noise, the stairs and buggies, the fear of them falling out a window, the lack of social interaction with other kids etc, etc.
> 
> If you have an option, go for a house.


 
Like Truthseeker, my apartment is bigger than a lot of houses I've been in. It also overlooks a large communal green and, when my 5 year old nephew was over recently, he was out there within half an hour making friends and tearing around with a gang of kids. Most apartments are in newish estates with a mix of houses and apartments so, if there's a communal play area, making friends shouldn't be too much of a problem.


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## gabsdot (2 Apr 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*

I live in a house and it's great to be able to throw my son out into the back garden to play. You wont be able to do that in an appartment as if kids are out they'll need supervising. Storage is also a problem. 
However our european neighbours have been raising families in appartment for generations so it is possible.


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## bugler (2 Apr 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*

If apartments in Europe were built like the new Irish apartments the concept of 'apartment living' would never have been born. 

Be very careful about soundproofing. It has been very poor in any new development I've been in.


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## sparkeee (4 Apr 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*

i grew up in apartments and have reared children in them,as long as its a loving home there is no problems.


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## BlueSpud (4 Apr 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*



sparkeee said:


> i grew up in apartments and have reared children in them,as long as its a loving home there is no problems.


 
People can bring kids up in worse places without too much bother, but that does not mean that they wouldne be better off in the burbs.  My kids play a lot of sport & spend most afternoons in the garden with a ball.  They would die if they had to give that up.  It is great that they can play ball under our supervision, and not out of sight in a nearby park.


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## moneygrower (13 Apr 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*

there's plenty of young kids in our apt. complex but the management company aren't too happy about them making noise in the common area after six. Pity cause they seem to have great craic. We have a baby, neighbours asked if he ever cried so no sound problems. 
Having the car in an underground car park is a pain for lugging up shopping but great when it's lashing rain! I feel very safe here, I'd be more fussy about the area in a house I think.
I see Ashtown has it's own playground and a lovely area to walk by the canal.


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## murphaph (13 Apr 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living*



bugler said:


> If apartments in Europe were built like the new Irish apartments the concept of 'apartment living' would never have been born.


Dunno about that. I've been in many German Altbau apatments with wooden floors and wooden staircases and you can hear everything above and a lot from below as well as people trundling up and down the stairs. Many german familes have been raised in small apartments such as this. More modern german apartments (post war) have been built with mass poured concrete throughout, so sound is barely an issue in those (in my experience anyway) alright but I'd hazard a guess that most german housing stock is still pre-war. 

Our apartments are generally bigger than what one would see in German cities. You will rarely if ever see studio apartments (1 room, no better than a bedsit really) offered here while they are common in Germany. People grow up in smaller apartments so when they leave home (usually much earlier than irish people) they think a studio is quite spacious!

Most of us grew up in 3 bed semis so the thought of a studio/bedsit is abhorrent! At the end of the day, rearing kids in apatments could and should be a common occurence. There's no reason kids can't enjoy normal social lives and ultimately, a lot of kids living in semi-d's never see their neighbours as they are imprisoned in the back garden. This is not good for the development of society. 

In Germany you will often find "Kids-Treff" or kids meeting places which are state subsidised clubs with their own premises. They cater for children and teenagers in a way we cannot even begin to comprehend in our own country where we can't wait to build walls around ourselves. Germany has social problems but at least it tries to tackle them and I would say in general, people are much more socially responsible than we are here.


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## Leaf (13 Apr 2008)

*Re: Children and apartment living: any words of advice regarding raising children in*

Thanks for all the words of advice.  I agree with the notion that Irish people are a little bit obsessed with the semi-d and out of the city.  I suppose there are a lot of other more important factors in the raising of a kid then whether its an apartment or a house.  I'm still mulling it all over but thanks again for all the advice.. will bear it all in mind.


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