[tagmoo]

My baby was due last Sat. and I will have induction by the weekend, but both the apartments upstairs and downstairs have just started renovation, i.e., drilling and all that. It is sooo noisy at home all day and I just don't know what to do. I don't have my family in Hong Kong and all the hotels I checked are full for the holiday so I don't have anywhere else to go either.
Would anyone have any advice/ideas? I am desperate.

[jane01]

You poor thing - what dreadful timing for you. We always seem to have someone drilling in our apartment block - and we are in a 4 storey low rise with only 8 flats.

I think you will be surprised to find that a newborn will sleep through the noise. My experience was that if my daughter heard someone talking, she'd wake up and want to join in. But any white noise like drilling, etc., she'd sleep through. Even thunderstorms. Now she's 19 months old, things like that wake her up, but not as a newborn.

You could try some white noise in the baby's room. This sort of blocks out other noise around, as they are listening to the white noise. It might not be much help for drilling, especially that drilling with vibrations that you can feel through the walls and floor, but most other noises are blocked out. Try a continuously playing cd with relaxing music, a radio out of tune, etc. When it gets warmer, airconditioners make enough noise that you won't need anything else, particularly if like us you have the ones in the windows. You can also buy noise machines, but I haven't seen them for sale in HK. My daughter's noise machine makes a noise like rain on a tin roof. You will need to use the white noise consistently - every sleep from the time you bring bubs home from the hospital. That way they will be used of the sound and it can work as a sleep signal.

You will also need to sleep whilst the baby is sleeping. For you I can only recommend ear plugs.

Good luck.

[tagmoo]

Thank you Jane. My apartment is not a big one either, but this year seems to be special because so many of them changed hand and all new owners seem to want to have their own design including where the wall should be. The problem is that the apartment is built with bricks and concrete and they seem to be specially hard ones here.
Anyway, I feel a bit better since I've been worrying if there would be some sort of lifetime effect or trauma on the baby.
This noise really is something though... Both I and my husband have been wearing ear plugs and still feel like going to be mad.
I shall keep trying to find somewhere to stay for a while in case the noise continues so that at least I can recover from delivery.

[Sandra & Evan]

Have you tried some serviced apartments? I know the Matilda Hospital on the Peak has some onsite accommodations, but I'm not sure if they rent it out if you are not a patient. Maybe you can check (http://www.matilda.org/mat_facilities_passage05.asp). Good luck!

[Fafa]

You can try the Grand Plaza at Kornhill, Quarry Bay. They have short leased serviced apartment.