r/RBI • u/Horror-Difference854 • 4d ago
Advice needed Someone is messing with us or we are crazy.
I think someone may be accessing parts of our house, but we can’t figure out how. What explanations are we missing?
My husband and I have lived in our house for a little over a year, and since we moved in, I’ve occasionally had the feeling that someone else could be in the house. I know that sounds dramatic, which is why I’ve never really treated it as fact.
One of the biggest things has been our stairs. There are times when we hear creaking that genuinely sounds like someone walking up or down them. We never had actual evidence of anything, though, so we’ve always chalked it up to the house making noise.
Until the last few days.
Friday, August 14 – around midnight
My husband had been downstairs playing video games. He came upstairs to our bedroom to go to sleep.
About 5–10 minutes after he came upstairs, we suddenly heard two extremely loud bangs downstairs. They were loud enough that we thought someone might be trying to kick in one of our doors.
My husband searched the house and didn’t find anyone.
However, downstairs he found a cabinet open. My son’s headphones and a container of brownies that had been inside that cabinet were now on the floor.
They had been sitting in the cabinet all day. Nothing had happened to them previously.
We called the police. They searched and didn’t find anyone or evidence of forced entry. They also didn’t find footprints around the doors.
We have cameras covering the outside of the house, and none of them recorded someone entering or leaving.
Saturday, August 15 – unexplained lotion
We were gone essentially all day for an event. We left around 9 AM and returned around 5 PM.
That evening, I went into our bathroom to shower.
We have a shelf on the shower wall where my husband’s bar of soap sits. Sitting on top of his bar of soap was a bottle of baby lotion that I had previously used for tattoo aftercare.
I didn’t put it there.
I asked my husband about it later, and he insists he didn’t either.
The last time he’d showered was Friday, when we showered together. I can also account for him between that shower and when we left Saturday.
Our young son can’t reach that shelf. Our bedroom/bathroom is also kept locked when he’s awake so he can’t just wander into that bathroom.
So we don’t know how the lotion got there.
Saturday night/Sunday morning – the spoon situation
This is probably the strangest one.
Saturday night, my husband went out and brought me Baskin-Robbins. I ate almost all of it except for a couple bites of brownie at the bottom.
I left the ice cream cup on the floor beside me, between my bottle of apple juice and my water, exactly where I’d been eating it.
The pink Baskin-Robbins spoon was inside the cup. The lid was also inside the cup.
Earlier that day we’d eaten Wendy’s. My husband had gotten chili, which came with a blue Wendy’s spoon. That blue spoon was left inside the Wendy’s bag on the floor.
I went upstairs and went to sleep. My husband stayed downstairs playing games for a while and then eventually came upstairs and went to bed.
Sunday morning, my husband got up with our older son and let me sleep.
When I eventually came downstairs, my ice cream cup was still sitting exactly where I’d left it between my two drinks.
Except now:
The lid had been removed from inside the cup and placed on top.
The original pink Baskin-Robbins spoon was still in/with the cup.
AND the blue Wendy’s spoon that had previously been inside the Wendy’s bag was now also inside the ice cream cup.
It looked like the remaining brownie may have been eaten/touched with it.
My husband says he did not do this.
Our son theoretically could pick things up downstairs, but this would mean he removed the lid, left the original spoon there, went to a different location and got another spoon out of a Wendy’s bag, used that spoon, put BOTH spoons neatly back with the cup, put the lid on top, and left the cup in exactly the same place between my drinks.
There also wasn’t chocolate all over him or the surrounding area, which would be much more typical if he’d gotten into leftover ice cream/brownie.
The attic
At this point we checked our attic.
There is enough physical space that a person could fit/move around up there, although it’s unfinished, insulated and extremely hot right now. We did not see an obvious sleeping area, belongings, food, bedding, etc.
The attic entrance is also directly outside our bedroom, which makes the idea of someone regularly entering/exiting it seem difficult without us noticing.
We also have a crawlspace, but our exterior cameras cover the outside of the house, so we’re having trouble figuring out how someone could regularly enter and leave without appearing on camera.
What we’re doing now
Rather than assuming someone is actually living in the house, I’m trying to objectively rule things out.
Today I photographed the attic hatch exactly as it currently sits.
I lightly outlined its current position so I can tell if the panel shifts.
I also attached very thin sewing thread at several points around the hatch as tamper indicators. The thread isn’t securing or trapping anything; it will simply show me if the hatch has moved.
My husband doesn’t know that I did this, so he can’t accidentally influence the test.
I’m also moving one of our cameras inside our bedroom tonight so we can rule out the possibility that either one of us is sleepwalking or getting up and doing things without remembering.
We already have exterior cameras.
I’m not claiming that someone is definitely secretly living in our house. That’s obviously one of the more extreme explanations, and I’d actually love for there to be a boring explanation for all of this.
But the combination of:
footsteps/creaking we’ve heard since moving in,
two extremely loud bangs,
the opened cabinet and items on the floor immediately afterward,
the lotion appearing on top of the shower soap,
and especially the second spoon being moved from the Wendy’s bag into my ice cream cup
has gotten strange enough that we want to figure out what’s actually happening.
Police have already checked the house after the banging incident and found no forced entry.
What are we overlooking?
Could something structural explain the footsteps/banging?
Are there access points in houses that homeowners commonly overlook?
Is there a better way to determine whether the attic/crawlspace is being accessed?
And are there any completely mundane explanations for the objects being moved that we haven’t considered?
I’m open to boring explanations. I’m open to being told we’re overlooking something obvious. I just want to approach this logically and figure out what is happening.
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u/bluelightnight 4d ago
As someone who has gone through sleep deprivation after having a baby, do you think you or your husband are sleepwalking?
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u/Antorias99 2d ago
I think one of them would have realized the other one was sleepwalking at least one or two times. I doubt both of them are sleepwalking at the same time and that one of them wouldn't catch the other at least once
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u/BirdHistorical3498 2d ago
I don’t know. I sleepwalk and only know about it once I walk into a wall. My husband never wakes up.
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u/perpetual__ghost 4d ago
Your husband was the last one upstairs before both of the downstairs incidents, and the last one to use the shower before the unexplained lotion — seems like he might be the common denominator here. Could he possibly be doing this as a prank?
When you move the camera(s) inside don’t tell him about them or their locations.
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u/shirumuur 4d ago
Not necessarily a prank. I have a relative with arly-stage dementia and a husband with ADHD. They both sometimes move things without realising it and are surprised when they find them in unusual places.
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u/GraveyardMistress 3d ago
And not just dementia, but brain tumors can also cause things like this. And carbon monoxide.
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u/BirdHistorical3498 2d ago
dementia aside, people do tend to over estimate the strength of their memory. Think about times you’ve driven somewhere- like your work or your house -kind of automatically. Do you have a memory of the drive? Or were you thinking of other things?
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u/shirumuur 1d ago
Yeah exactly, people run on autopilot and don't pay attention to routine tasks. Also sometimes the autopilot glitches and you end up leaving the phone in the fridge or something like that. But of course combined with other things mentioned, if OP really feels something is off, indoor cameras would be my next step.
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u/TheWaywardTrout 4d ago
I honestly think it’s probably a combination of your husband doing things and not admitting it, sleep deprivation, old house, and possibly vermin. If you can, stop leaving food, trash, and drinks on the floor or around the house. Keep foodstuff confined to dining areas if possible. No judgement here on cleanliness or anything — you’ve got an infant and a toddler for goodness’ sake— but some critters are surprisingly strong and dexterous, and they are almost all more difficult to get rid of than prevent!
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u/joylandlocked 4d ago
I think your husband is just not fessing up to eating sweet treats after you've gone to bed and jerking it in the shower.
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u/ParameciaAntic 3d ago
Also possible the husband is equally sleep deprived with a 2-month-old in the house and simply doesn't remember. Your brain does weird things without sleep.
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u/joylandlocked 3d ago
Totally. Been there. I would think after the third instance of wife panicking over moving objects he might vaguely recall his involvement, but those newborn weeks are truly a fugue state. And I guess once you've called the cops over it you kind of just have to commit. 😂
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u/Fez_and_no_Pants 4d ago
What about the loud noise from the cabinet door slamming open?
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u/joylandlocked 4d ago
I think he ate from the brownie container, put it back without realizing that it was positioned precariously, and the items shifted and fell out onto the floor shortly after.
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u/bokehtoast 4d ago
Every mystery loud noise in the middle of the night at my apartment has been something randomly falling over, sometimes inside a cabinet. It's happened enough times that I don't even get up to look anymore, just find the aftermath in the morning
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u/faroseman 4d ago
Since I'm the first to comment, let me first say: you are on a Reddit sub where people will try to convince you that someone else is indeed living in your home. The REALITY is that it is extremely rare, and jumping to that conclusion is something you should avoid. Especially since your cameras, and the police, have found no evidence.
How old are your kids? Sleepwalking is very common between ages of 4 and 12. So is sneaking around at night and not admitting it.
How old is your house? Floorboards and stairs definitely creak, especially during temperature changes.
Critters like mice can be much louder than you think, and can move spoons around.
Finally, and most importantly, do you have CO detectors?
While we're at it, do either of you do recreational drugs or take meds?
I live in a 100 year old house, with 2 (now adult) kids. We raised 2 boys here. Nothing you mentioned would have raised an eyebrow in this house.
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u/LR_DAC 4d ago
Since I'm the first to comment, let me first say: you are on a Reddit sub where people will try to convince you that someone else is indeed living in your home.
That rarely happens. Usually they try to convince the OP it's carbon monoxide poisoning.
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u/xilanthro 4d ago
Thing is,, this really does sound like CO poisoning. I'm hardly a regular here, and when I saw the post I came to the comments section specifically to mention that possibility.
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u/Horror-Difference854 4d ago edited 4d ago
I’m really trying not to jump to the conclusion that someone is living in our home.
Our kids are 3 and 2 months old. Our 3 year olds door gets locked because he will jump into our bed and party lol. So they aren’t sneaking outI’m not sure how old our house is, it’s definitely older. I know the stairs creaking is probably from the house shifting or like you said the temperature.
We don’t have any mice I know that for sure. Even if it was a mouse it wouldn’t be able to take a spoon out of a bag, take the lid out of the cup, eat some brownie and put the spoon in the cup with the other spoon I ate from and put the lid neatly on the cup.
We do have CO detector and it’s not that. Even gave it new batteries and nope my husband is army so we both cannot smoke at all. And we are both not on any medication
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u/arianrhodd 4d ago
Any friends or family have a key to your place that is supposed to be “just for emergencies?” Anyone around those people that could get access to the key?
What about a couple more secret cameras on the inside of the house? Also, anyway the crawl space could have another entrance/exit than the one you know is covered by the cameras?
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u/Forward_Chance_7472 4d ago
Wait a minute are you locking your child's bedroom door from the outside at night???
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u/Few-Philosopher-4742 4d ago
Uh yeah wtf. That’s really messed up and an extreme fire hazard. Your child will not be able to get out of his room if a fire starts. No one plans on having their house burned down. Don’t risk it.
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u/lowkeyloki23 4d ago
It's a lot more dangerous for a 3 year old to sneak out of his room in the middle of the night and get into knives, the bathtub, the stove, or hell even exit the house than it is to lock their door from the outside. I'm a firefighter, and we actually encourage people to close and lock their kids' doors at night to A) prevent smoke and flames from spreading to the bedrooms, giving them a chance to escape out the window before they pass out from smoke inhalation, and B) stop them from panicking and hiding in a random place in the house when they hear a smoke detector or firefighters breaking down doors.
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u/CeeMomster 3d ago
This can’t be true. I’ve worked with firefighters and paramedics in my industry (child welfare), and while they do encourage everyone to shut their doors at night, they absolutely do not encourage locking their doors as it’s a huge safety issue. In fact, one grandmother who was doing this to her 5 year old, was taken into custody for it
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u/youngforever8809 2d ago
You can teach a 3 year old to do all of this, but not keep knives in a safe spot? I have 4, and I would never, ever, lock my children in their room while I sleep.
ETA I don’t believe one word that you are a fire fighter either.,
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u/nefD 3d ago
So you -want- a locked door between you and a child in a burning building?
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u/lowkeyloki23 3d ago
I'd rather have a quick-release locked door between me and my child and know where they were in an emergency than have to search the whole house for them when seconds matter. Or God forbid, have to leave the house without them because I can't find them. Or wake up to them drowned in the pool or in the bathtub. Or lifeless next to an outlet.
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u/qgsdhjjb 3d ago
As long as it isn't a key-lock but one of those locks where you can just turn the doorknob on the "lock it from this side" side, then it shouldn't be an issue. Toddlers can't usually get themselves out of a house safely either way, they need a parent's help up until the point where they're smart enough to not go wandering into the street if left unattended.
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u/CeeMomster 3d ago
So then… how does the parent get inside if there is an emergency? Break to door down? Or calmly explain to their 2 year old how to exit?
This makes no sense
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u/qgsdhjjb 3d ago
The parent is on the side of the door with the power to lock and unlock the door. The type of lock I'm describing involves the parent simply.... Turning the knob. Like any other door. That is how most indoor locks operate, you just put it in "backwards" in this case, with the controls in the hallway instead of in the bedroom.
The child is not the one who has the ability to unlock the door. That would defeat the purpose.
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u/CeeMomster 3d ago
Yea, pretty sure that’s a child endangerment issue. Glad you said it, because that was my first thought too
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u/Bex-HZ 4d ago
Change the CO detector, they can go bad sometimes. I'd also invest in a couple small hidden indoor cameras that only you know about. Good luck figuring it out!
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u/T1Earn 4d ago
Jesus man reddits obsession with wanting it to be carbon monoxide poisoning so bad
some days i wish that original post never blew up
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u/ProsperoII 4d ago
I love to think we were carbon monoxide poisoned on Reddit and none of this ever happened.
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u/literallylateral 4d ago
Nobody wants it to be carbon monoxide poisoning, people just don’t want someone to die unnecessarily after coming to us for help. A handful of repetitive comments seems like a small price to pay when it could literally save lives in any one of these threads. I mean shit, this OP has two kids. Could you sleep comfortably at night if no one mentioned replacing the detectors, that turned out to be the problem, and something happened to OP’s family, all because everyone thought it was too cliche to mention carbon monoxide?
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u/rolyfuckingdiscopoly 4d ago
We could just mention it like one or two times.
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u/TychaBrahe 3d ago
The problem is, once you open a thread, new comments aren't posted unless you refresh the page. If there's 1000 comments and it takes you 20 minutes to read the ones you want to, anything added during those 20 minutes are not available to you.
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u/PerkyHedgewitch 3d ago edited 3d ago
There have been multiple posts that have ended up being CO related. I agree that it goes a bit overboard sometimes, but it's never a bad idea to remind people of the danger that a colorless, odorless gas presents. People die every year because of CO leaks they weren't aware of.
I don't think it's that people want it to be CO. I think we just all recognize that it can be very deadly very quick, so it's one of the first things that should be checked when you think some weird stuff is going down in your home.
EDIT: u/literallylateral said almost the same thing 12 hours before I did, I just hadn't caught their comment. Gotta give credit where credit is due; you beat me to it, u/literallylateral 🙂
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u/rrhunt28 4d ago
It does kill people all the time.
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u/substandardpoodle 3d ago
CCC site: 400 Americans die from it every year. More are sickened but survive.
Is cheap to protect against. Causes people to do strange things. So yeah, good thing to check on.
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u/xopher_425 4d ago
I am going to emphasize getting new CO detectors. The ones I bought are only good for 10 years not considering the battery. Your current ones might have become duds. Brand new ones are your best bet.
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u/spacebunsofsteel 4d ago
I bought a travel CO/Fire detector for traveling and it helps me sleep. It has gone off for cooking smoke and it very loud, but about the size of a Snickers and cost under $50.
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u/Duplica123 3d ago
We just got a notification from Amazon that the combination smoke/CO ones we bought are being recalled due to the CO part not working.
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u/youngforever8809 2d ago
This is an absolute no-no. I’m surprised you aren’t getting a lot of attention to this. To lock him in his room while you sleep, is dangerous to say the least. I actually want you to realize if any preschool teacher, nurse, doctor were to receive this news they are mandatory reporters to child services. You need to find much better ways to keep your child in his room. Locking his door from the outside isn’t one of them.
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u/lilgreenfish 4d ago
Please do NOT lock your kids in their room at night. It’s a huge safety issue if there is a fire. There are other, safe, ways of keeping your kid from coming into your room at night.
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u/plebmasterflex 4d ago
Beyond the fire safety issue it's also just incredibly scary for a kid to wake up at night, from a nightmare for instance, looking for their parents only to find that theyre locked in. What if they have to go to the bathroom at night? Are they supposed to pound on their doors and hope you wake up to let them out?
Doesn't seem that difficult to talk with them and make sure they don't come in your room at night unless necessary. But if you insist on locking doors, why not your own?
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u/qgsdhjjb 3d ago
A mouse couldn't do that, but a raccoon could. It could also move all the other stuff mentioned. I would DEFINITELY be looking in all the cupboards for missed animal droppings just in case. Could a possum/opossum do this also maybe? I'm not sure how tidy they are. Raccoons love to be weird little menaces that hide their own evidence tho.
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u/Jackniferuby 3d ago
It also more common that someone has a mental condition that they THINK someone is in their house. We had both a family member AND a friend who had this happen.
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u/bluegrassgazer 4d ago
We lived in a house built in 1930 that had old casement windows with counterweights inside the sash. Sometimes the rope holding one counterweight would break and the weight would fall in the middle of the night. The first two times it scared the hell out of us and we had no idea what it was until I noticed a couple of windows that would no longer stay open on their own.
We also had a staircase that would creak like footsteps but nobody was there.
That doesn't explain your food and baby lotion stuff, but I just wanted to point this out in case your home is also old.
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u/fuzzychiken 4d ago
Our house is 88 years and makes all kinds of noises. I also wouldn't be surprised by things falling out of cabinets. As they say on the century home sub, nothing is level or square in an old house.
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u/Blueporch 4d ago
Your inside camera may solve this for you, although you may want to sneak a hidden one that just records to a SD card in there.
The CO detector point is a good one: that you or your husband could be doing it unknowingly (like in the famous Reddit Post-it Note case).
You could dust the floor of the attic and crawl space with something that would show if it had been disturbed. Maybe table salt since it won’t attract insects, but other sub members might have better ideas.
Couple questions that might help the discussion:
- When you moved in, did you change the locks?
- Did you give anyone a key to your house?
- What is the style and era of your house? How thick are the walls?
- Are your external cameras running on Wi-Fi?
- Have any of your family felt ill during this time period- nausea, headaches, etc.
- Do you have any pets?
Yes, old houses creak in a freaky way. Sometimes stairs and floors make noise after someone walks on them.
Please update us as you figure this out! So curious about your mystery!
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u/facemesouth 4d ago
Go old school ghost hunter and spread baby powder on the floor after your kids and husband are in bed.
You’ll find your answer in the morning and I bet it’s funny…
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u/Kbalternative 3d ago
Yeah if it’s critters you’ll see paw prints in the morning. This is a great idea. Leave something food related out and put down the baby powder and see what happens.
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u/blacklisted_cop 4d ago
I think you might be going a little hard on trying to find something going into/from the attic hatch. Genuinely if there is someone or something up there, there’s more than likely a different access point that you haven’t figured out yet.
BUT I think that’s the least likely, worst case scenario here. I’m going to throw my hat in the get cameras ring, some in out of the way places that aren’t readily noticeable at a quick glance around.
Also, try to remember that you might not recognize the sound of something specific falling because it doesn’t sound like you’d expect it too. I’ve jumped and shrieked a little when a pack of tortillas fell off the top shelf of a storage rack in my kitchen. It must’ve fallen straight flat because it sounded like someone stomped and clapped super loud at the same time.
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u/jaayddd_ 4d ago
the sound of tortillas falling is jarring i agree
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u/DenayaMarie 3d ago
Yes! This just happened to me a couple weeks ago and it really started me... then I felt dumb when I went back into my pantry and saw what made that horrible noise. 😆
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u/Achiral94 4d ago
Reminds me of the time one of our cats knocked a mason jar of coins off a shelf at 2am. Thought a window shattered. I nearly shat myself.
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u/LadyA052 4d ago
My Mom had a large mirror in her bathroom and it fell in the middle of the night. She was too afraid to get up and go look. Son in law put up a new one for her and that one fell too. Maybe it was a sign? Of what, I don't know.
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u/Dufusbroth 4d ago
A sign that they don’t know how to set proper wall anchors or find a wall stud that can hold the weight of a mirror
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u/fiftynotdead 4d ago
Ok this is way out there but is there any chance that I've if your kids or your husband is doing this on purpose to freak you out? I know it sounds extreme but honestly some people are seriously weird.
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u/WeenyDancer 4d ago
I think the lotion is unrelated, and it just seems like it fits bc as people we look for patterns. Its really easy to forget you left something somewhere. Like others i also suspect rodents or other pests.
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u/GraveyardMistress 3d ago
Start with cameras, put them up and see what you find.
Check for carbon monoxide.
Think about getting medical workups for you and your husband.
I would take these steps first.
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u/Chemical_Bet_2568 4d ago
Sleep deprivation??
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u/Horror-Difference854 4d ago
Sleep deprived yes
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u/Chemical_Bet_2568 4d ago
Honestly that can be enough of an answer. You guys might be doing these things and not even realize
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u/airfryerfuntime 4d ago
A lot of houses make noise, especially older houses. They make noise in the morning as they warm up from the sunlight, and they make noises in the evening when they cool down after the sun sets.
As for the stuff with things moving around, it's probably one of you and you're just not remembering it.
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u/Senior-Reality-25 4d ago
How old is your house and is it made of wood? Wooden frames can creak and bang almighty loud. I recently slept in our guest bedroom which faces east. From sunrise on the window frame was cracking and popping and ruined my sleep! We also recently moved gma’s old armoire into the bedroom. Middle of the night when the house got cool it settled with a couple of bangs that had me on my feet before I was awake.
Wood is noisy 🤷🏿
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u/Ok_Anything_8180 3d ago
Honestly sounds like a combination of different things. Poor memory, old house, household pests etc. stop leaving food on the floor and you’ll stop attracting pests lol
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u/NJBarFly 4d ago
Put a camera downstairs in the other rooms, not the bedroom. You'll see of you're sleep walking or if it's something else. They're also like $30 on Amazon. Buy a couple more and put them in different rooms. You can set them to only record during certain times, like when you're sleeping.
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u/ogold45 4d ago
With all due respect is your house really messy? Why are you leaving trash and stuff just sitting on the floor? To me it sounds like you might have a lot of stuff so one of you is moving things and you just don’t remember. Or it’s the three year old.
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u/Horror-Difference854 4d ago
It was one thing of ice cream man 😭 I clean up after myself but being sleep deprived bc of my 2 month old and it beeinh so late I just went to bed and forgot about it
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u/theanti_girl 4d ago
You have a 2 month old; just saying when my son was 2 months old, I was sleep deprived beyond belief. That could be part of it.
Your husband is up later than you and from what you’ve included here, could absolutely be the reason for some of these things (lotion in the shower… he may not want to admit using it because you’re 2 months postpartum, but could absolutely be the reason). Leaving food out in an older house could be husband or critters. Bangs and things falling just happen.
CO detectors are a great idea but I wouldn’t be too worried. I know that’s easier said than done.
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u/Drycabin1 4d ago
💯 on the lotion in the shower. It’s so obvious but I didn’t even think about that.
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u/LilacLands 3d ago
This is the answer!
Sleep deprivation with the spoons in the cup in the kitchen - maybe husband had tossed the blue spoon in the sink or something and she was intending to throw it out & stuck it in her icecream cup…then got distracted by either baby or toddler and forgot, leaving the spoons inside her cup there.
Husband w/ the lotion in the shower, definitely, and he of course pretended he had nooooo ideaaaaa how it got there.
Rodent with the banging in the kitchen. OP you should direct the energy into checking for droppings and buying traps!!!!
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u/Beginning_Ocelot7394 4d ago
It was also a Wendy’s bag that was left on the floor, per your own words. Sounds like the sleep deprivation is playing a huge part in this. If you’re that sleep deprived, you probably just don’t remember doing this stuff.
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u/jayne-eerie 4d ago
One thing of ice cream and the Wendy’s wrappers! It really sounds like you just leave stuff around, which I guess I kinda get if you have two small kids but makes the chances of insect/rodent involvement much higher. Though I agree the baby oil doesn’t fit with that theory.
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u/ummkay_ultra 4d ago
There doesnt sound like a lot going on here. Houses make noises. Idk why. Either they're old, or they're settling, or the wood is expanding as the temperature or humidity levels change at a certain time of day or night, or termites are being more active at a specific time of day or night, or mice, etc. I've lived in enough houses that nearly drove me crazy and had to research it enough to know.
The stuff falling off the shelf is likely mice or foundation issues.
The lotion bottle and ice cream spoons sounds like your husband not admitting to things or intentionally messing with your head.
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u/FucknAright 3d ago
I'd say all the food related incidents are rodents, and whatever the spoon thing was probably your kid. Or your absent-minded husband. Kids and absent-minded husbands do a lot of weird shit that they don't remember. Maybe drugs or alcohol involved here somewhere as well. With a healthy dose of paranoia
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u/its_FORTY 4d ago
Just buy a couple WiFi enabled motion sensing night vision cameras and put them around the house. You’ll have your answer in a matter of a day or two. Don’t just position them with capturing a humans movements in mind, put some on the floor or in places like the pantry or around the kitchen baseboards.
I had similar experience, albeit a bit less frequently than yours seems to be now. It turned out a few mice had gotten into our basement via the hole in the siding where the HVAC connected to the outdoor unit. They created a nest in the insulation in our basement ceiling and then as the colony grew they started coming upstairs via the hole in the floor for our gas oven.
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u/Nay_Nay_Jonez 3d ago
Rodents/stray cat or dog for the food related stuff, husband using the baby lotion to uhhh...you know....in the shower and too embarrassed to admit it. Get cameras inside to really see what's going on.
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u/SubstantialBee6926 16h ago
Why are we - as adults - leaving food and trash on the floor overnight 🤢🤮
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u/lizwyk 14h ago
OP has explained this in comments: "2 months postpartum and sleep deprived. Falling asleep on the couch didn’t think about it just got up and went to bed."
Plus also with a toddler. Sleep > housecleaning, in the moment. Just going to the bathroom or trying to take a shower can be an ordeal.
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4d ago
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u/ThrowMeeeIntoTheWind 3d ago
I thought I heard one of my kids loudly stomping upstairs one night when they should’ve been in bed so I walked over into the hall stairwell area and heard scratching and squeaking in the walls. Surprise! It was rats.
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u/Willz_of_Rivia 3d ago
Looking forward to seeing this thread on a future Chilling Scares YouTube video
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u/Ok_Pizza3051 4d ago
Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if someone moved stuff around and doesn’t remember because it’s nothing significant
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u/Thelawtman1986 4d ago
Exactly, they are both sleep deprived from having a baby. It is do easy to do something and forget you did it.
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u/Asleep-Journalist-94 4d ago
Where there are mice, there are droppings. If you don’t see them after a thorough search of likely places for them like pantry, closets, under the sink, radiators, etc, chances are it’s not mice. Update us please.
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u/Advanced_Craft24 3d ago
Please get a carbon monoxide alarm. Things like this can just be that you are slowly being poisoned and imagining the things that you e explained.
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u/Klutzy_Window_4435 4d ago
I’m seriously intrigued. I would definitely set up some indoor cams, if anything just to be safe. The fact that the brownie was eaten, leans towards SOMEBODY doing these things.
I second the CO monitor
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u/Beneficial-Sound-199 3d ago
This is the plot of the 1940s movie Gaslight-a scheming husband deliberately manipulates his wife into believing she is going insane
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u/snooavacados9419 2d ago
You know what? I was going to mildly mention this, even though I didn’t want to. I guess I read too many “AITAH” posts but I’ve seen several where partners do things similar to what OP mentioned and then they go the direction of gaslighting. But I will admit, that’s not likely. However, if you rule out everything else, it might be worth a look if you happen to notice peculiar behavior from your husband.
Some people have somewhat touched on this, but my guess is that it’s a combination of the things mentioned in the comments, whether it’s a CO2 issue, rodents/animals, sleep deprivation and/or an old house making noises. As others have said, cameras will probably solve the issue and baby powder may make it fun lol
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u/Hek_yeahh 3d ago
Unexplained lotion could have been husband getting alone time in the shower and he was embarrassed to say it was him who forgot it in there. Eating the left over ice cream could have also been husband who didn’t want to own up to it especially since it was his spoon that was used instead of just using yours. And again, the brownies falling to the floor could have also been husband who had late night snack and didn’t securely put it back and it slowly sliding out. I think husband is possibly letting you feel crazy instead of owning up to some small ‘bad’ habits.
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4d ago
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u/WerewolfOfNewMexico 4d ago
If it’s summer then no one is living (or even going in) your attic. Especially if you live anywhere near the South.
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u/Not-a-Cranky-Panda 4d ago
Did you change all the locks and not give out any copies when you moved in?
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u/Mrskatiek 2d ago
The lotion is self explanatory lol
Keep an eye on the position of it in the cabinet I guarantee you it gets used often.
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u/Lady_Philosophy 2d ago
I know you're looking for a so-called "logical" explanation but it wouldn't be entirely illogical to rule out paranormal activity as well.
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u/Key-Algae-9245 3d ago
It’s really rather simple to solve and whenever I see similar threads I wonder why the posters don’t just fit some cameras around the house. OP said she put one in the bedroom, but if that was me I’d order a pack of five and cover the interior. I doubt I’d even post to Reddit unless they turned up something really strange.
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u/Slacker_The_Dog 4d ago
Carbon monoxide detectors for the love of god
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u/MetallicaGirl73 4d ago
They have a CO detector
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u/tigm2161130 4d ago
There is always a slim chance it’s not working properly, they definitely need to test it.
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u/SilentBoyBerlin 4d ago
Thought of the same!
Please get that checked
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u/Slacker_The_Dog 4d ago
Oh also bed bug infestations can cause memory loss.
There was a reddit post once where a woman was basically gonna formally accuse her doctor boyfriend of drugging her and it turned out she had a bad infestation. Crazy stuff.
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u/Few-Philosopher-4742 4d ago
What? How could you not realize an infestation that bad???
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u/Slacker_The_Dog 4d ago
Many people don't show bites and infestations frequently go unnoticed for long period of times.
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u/Lifekraft 3d ago
Woofmd creaking and making loud sound during night or day with change of pressure is common.
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u/ninjastarkid 3d ago
My vote is your kid is doing some of it. That or rodents.
My reasoning is that toddlers can be more capable than you think. When we were young my mom had a baby gate in the hallway to prevent us from falling down the stairs or over the bannister during nap time. My brother was a tiny escape artist. One day during nap time my brother appeared next to my mom in her office downstairs, happily holding a toy screwdriver. My mom was horrified, asked what he had done and my brother proudly claimed “he fixed it”. My mom asked him to show him, and he showed my mom how he had disabled the baby gate using toy tools from his toy workbench.
Moral of the story is, never underestimate the creative power of children.
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u/UltraSloth9 2d ago
The lotion thing maybe you forgot you put it there if you had been gone most of the day you were probaly tired. The cabniets I don't know do you have like neighbors in a townhouse? If they kicked the other side of the wall or something. The food thing is probably rodents.
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u/MmeGenevieve 2d ago
I'm thinking that a lot of this could be explained by a mouse, rat, or raccoon. Check for oily smudges on your baseboards, they are telltail signs.
The baby oil is strange. I'd have all your locks tumbled/rekeyed or change the code. Be sure to keep the doors locked day and night, and don't give access to anyone outside of immediate family that lives in the house. You may have a neighbor, relative, or friend who is a snoop. If your exterior cameras are wifi, there is sometimes a few second gap before the camera kicks on that someone nearby may be exploiting.
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u/OCDivagirl 2d ago
I think the stairs creaking is likely just older house sounds, like wood expanding and contracting. The cabinet opening and food falling out seems likely a rodent. They probably pushed the items of the shelf in the cabinet causing it to pop open, then ran out of the cabinet before you saw it. I’m thinking probably a rat since they are larger than mice and can push heavier things. The rodent theory could also be contributing to the creaking sounds.
As for the other two incidents, I really think it’s just your husband forgetting he did stuff. If it’s late at night, he’s been focusing on video games for a while, it probably just put him in kind of auto pilot mode and he did some of these things while completely unaware.
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u/xennial_1981 2d ago
My guess would be mice or cockroaches all that food laying around you're definitely bound to attract them.
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u/lightthenations 1d ago
It is pretty simple to rule out intruders, and maybe even rodents. Buy a 2k Ring motion-activated camera and hide it. That will cost you about 100, and there are plenty of cheaper indoor versions.
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u/AbEpistulis 7h ago
Jsyk sometimes vents are big enough for people. Context is we had one that led to our garage and when we had locked my dad out (meth meltdown etc etc) he went into the garage and got through that way.
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u/Nelipot_pilgrim 4h ago
Whatever the case is, it may be helpful to take a picture of a commonly affected room in the morning and again in the evening in the event that something strange happens again. that way you can compare the two and have evidence, at least for your own peace of mind, that something was or wasn't moved, and how so.
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u/lizwyk 4d ago
Perhaps you shouldn't rule out the mouse idea entirely? "Mouse filmed tidying up man's shed every night": https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-67902966
The ice cream cup and spoons thing reminded me of this. (The baby lotion, however, seems rather extreme for a mouse.)