'My neighbour's late-night habit keeps me awake and it's driving me crazy'

Neighbours can be frustrating at times. Whether they play music too loudlyor they're constantly working on a new DIY project, there's always your neighbours do that ends up winding you up. It's part of living in a residential area, and unfortunately, we can't all move out to a cabin in the woods with no other people around.

However, it's generally considered polite to at least try and consider your neighbours' feelings. If you can turn your music down a bit, or could keep your drilling to a minimum, then you should - as you'd want them to do the same for you.

But one woman on Reddit said her neighbour isn't extending her that courtesy. He has a late-night routine that has been "driving her nuts" and often keeps her awake much longer than she would like.

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In her post, the woman explained she moved into her house about a year ago, and although she likes her neighbour and his two "chubby chihuahuas", she isn't a fan of his evening ritual.

She said that every night, at around midnight, her neighbour goes outside with a torch and shines it around his front garden and hers. She isn't sure why he does this, but the light always shines directly into her bedroom window - and it stops her from being able to sleep.

She wrote: "Every night around midnight, my neighbour makes rounds around his front yard with a flashlight. I think to collect his dogs, or make sure none of his stuff is missing in his front yard, I'm assuming.

"His dogs really like to hang out on our front lawn, so every night he flashes his flashlight onto our lawn, which is also directly in front of my bedroom window, to look for his dogs. He does this multiple times at night sometimes, going around his whole property, and he always flashes my window. He'll do this multiple times a night as well, and it drives me insane."

The woman said she has woken up in the middle of the night before in a "panic" because of the light, and while she's cordial with her neighbour, she doesn't know how to approach the situation.

She continued: "Sometimes I wake up in a panic because I assume someone is trying to take photos of me, or it's just really annoying to get constantly woken up by the light.

"We are cordial, and we'll wave at each other sometimes, but we've never spoken.

"I don't really know how to approach this issue. I already have blinds set up, but they don't help. I'd love a curtain, but the area where the rod would be set up was heavily damaged by the past tenants, and my landlord asked us not to set up anything to prevent further damage to the walls."

Commenters on the post urged the woman to consider alternatives to curtains, as they said having some sort of blackout curtain would help her regain control of her sleep schedule.

Others said if she has a cordial relationship with her neighbour, she could just try speaking to him to let him know that his late-night antics are keeping her awake.

One person said: "Talk to him and tell him to stop lighting up your bedroom windows at night. Then get some curtains that can be velcro or magnetic to the windows. Yes, they have blackout curtains that do that."

Another added: "This seems like a simple conversation to have with the neighbour. Just let him know you’re a light sleeper and are woken up every night by him indirectly shining his flashlight into your bedroom. Ask him to watch where the light shines and thank him for his understanding."

A third posted: "The cheapest fix is a sleep mask."