'My power hungry neighbours are so nasty about my baby's pram'

"They're messing with me. It's personal."

A Sydney mum has complained about her apartment block neighbours performing a "nasty act" with her baby's pram when she leaves it in  the communal hallway.

Speaking to Kidspot anonymously, to avoid further backlash, Sara* describes the "stressful" situation.

"It's just escalated beyond what I could have imagined," she says. "It needs to stop."

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"I can't see a pram ban written anywhere?"

"When we first inspected the apartment, I noticed straight away that people seem to be storing their different wheels in the lobby - the entrance," Sara tells Kidspot.

"I was relieved, because I knew it wouldn't fit in our apartment, and I also didn't want to have to lug it up and down the stairs."

According to Sara, the neighbours were all friendly at first, and would stop to say hi to her and her baby. But that all changed after they settled in and she began storing the pram in the building's entrance.

"I noticed at first that it was being moved to the side or pushed in further, but I thought it was others trying to get to their bikes and things, so I didn't really mind.

"And no one said anything to me."

Sara says there's no ban against leaving prams in the lobby. Image: iStock

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"The pram was left outside overnight"

The situation continued with Sara finding her pram moved slightly, until one morning, she couldn't find it at all.

"I was there with the baby bag, the baby, ready to load up the pram, but thought I was going crazy when I couldn't see it in the storage place.

"We didn't have other babies in the building, so I knew someone hadn't taken it by mistake... So I thought someone had really moved it out of the way."

Sara was right. 

The pram had been moved to outside, at the back gate - which the mum only realised as she walked out to access the car park.

"I was so confused. Surely all the nice neighbours who stopped and spoke to us would have had a chat to me if there was an issue?"

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"Keep your pram in the car"

Over the next few days, Sara ensured the pram - which she admits is sizeable - was parked near a wall and sort of out of the way.

But she still discovered it moved the next time she went to use it. Twice it has been pushed to outside the front door, and another time, to the car park at the back.

"I began asking neighbours we'd run into if there was an issue, or a sign I hadn't seen, or a bylaw I didn't know about.

"Everyone shook their heads. So I realised someone was messing with me. It felt personal and nasty.

"Why would someone do that to a mum with a baby? An a-hole on a power trip, who didn't think I was worth actually speaking to."

Finally, things escalated for Sara.

"One night we came home late, about 9ish, after dinner with friends, and I put the pram where I always do. The next morning, we had an early doctor's appointment, and there I was again, running around trying to find the bloody thing."

The pram had been left near the car park again; only this time, it had rained overnight.

"The pram was too damp to put my baby in it. I was furious, and felt so uncomfortable as there was no question now; this was a deliberate message."

Sara says she still has no idea who was responsible, but after that morning, she began storing the pram in the boot of her car, as friends suggested she do.

"One neighbour did advise that perhaps the 'person or persons' responsible thought there was a big difference between some bikes and scooters in the communal entrance, and a huge pram taking up space.

"So, yeah... it was probably her and others, and she was the ring leader."

*Name changed for privacy.

Originally published as 'My power hungry neighbours are so nasty about my baby's pram'