Things that go bump in the night...

TeetersOnHeels

Last night I was chatting to my mum on the phone. She lives in an over 55's complex, made up of about 60 individual flats, no more than 2 storey's high, each having their own front door. The lady who lives in the flat beneath my mum is in her 80's, and in ill health and apparently 'someone' has been ringing her doorbell at ridiculous hours of the night. (2am on the Friday just gone was the last time). Obviously this lady has not been going to answer the door, but it unsettles her enough to keep her awake at night for a few nights after, and she is worrying why someone is picking on her front door - who ever it is would have to walk past at least 3 other doors, including my mums to get to this one. The complex is set off the main road, with just one entry/exit route and I would say the flats where this lady lives are probably furthest away from the main road. It's not happening daily, perhaps not even weekly so difficult to monitor, although I have told her to write down the dates it does happen.
Anyone any other idea's ?

jewelly

Maybe the doorbell itself is faulty and needs checking out. Or it could be that the lady is imagining it/losing the plot a bit. Has anyone else heard it? My neighbour in her 80's sometimes just opens her front door and looks out with a quizical look on her face. I'm sure she thinks someone rang her doorbell - but they haven't. She is suffering from confusion.

snapping_crocodile

Do you have to pass any form of security to access the front doors of the individual flats?

omen666

could be a family member trying to weigh her off. I would get a cheap camera setup

TeetersOnHeels

Thanks for the replies...There is no security to pass through, and the front doors are just like any other UPVC front doors - they have recently been upgraded from wooden front doors - although the doorbells are still in the same place, on the door frame. She has 2 daughters, who both live a couple of hundred miles away, no other family.
For a lady in her 80's she is very switched on and leads an independant life, only needing help after an op last year. I did think she may have dreamt it - I know I can sometimes have some very vivid dreams which leave me wondering if things were a dream, or had actually happened. Think she was going to ask the people living around her if it had happened to them - there's about 8 of them, my mum included who all get along well and keep an eye out for each other (not at 2am in the morning though!) There is an on site warden who lives in one of the flats, but she's quite strict in the fact that she only works 9-5, and any other emergencies have to be recorded via the emergency pull cord system in the flats.

McKneff

Tell her to unhook the batteries/electricity before she goes to bed each night.

luxor4t

Something like this happened with an elderly neighbour.
She kept complaining that the (also elderly) couple next door kept her up all night playing 'Roll out the barrel' on a wind-up gramaphone. It was very difficult as she was so credible that most of us imagined that the couple concerned had either gone batty or were harrassing her.
It was quite some time before her mental decline was recognised - her allegations were far more extreme by then.

She really did believe that she could hear the tune, although the relative that spent a few nights with her did not & could not as it didn't exist iyswim.

Indie_Kid

TeetersOnHeels wrote: »

There is an on site warden who lives in one of the flats, but she's quite strict in the fact that she only works 9-5, and any other emergencies have to be recorded via the emergency pull cord system in the flats.

Why do they not have security around after those times? I live in student halls (not the same I know) and we have staff around 24/7.

sparrer

Many moons ago, at the age of 14, I was lying in a hotel bed after Christmas celebrations and couldn't get the last tune I heard out of my head. It seemed very real indeed, every time I dropped off to sleep it woke me, it's something I've never forgotten. I've heard of this happening to other people day or night, so just accept it's not unusual for a tune to 'stick' in the mind.

Recently my 88 y/o mother who lives in sheltered housing said she has heard a loud bang on her door a couple of times at night. After asking all the relevant questions I believe this often happens in the moments between waking and sleep. A bit like when you 'jump', which is the nerves relaxing so I'm told, when just falling asleep.

As a retired warden I've heard of both the above happening to 'my' tenants and have been able to pacify them so they don't feel they're 'going mad'. Then had a quiet word with the family or, if there isn't one, the GP by phone or when he next made a visit. (For a resident warden not to make herself available out of hours when there's a worried elderly person who needs comfort and reassurance is appalling, especially when she's resident, but then not all wardens all take their position seriously)

TeetersOnHeels

The wardens on-call hours are a whole new story. The flats are 'shared ownership', each occupant owns 75% of the property, the rest being owned by a Housing Association. They all pay a service charge which includes general upkeep and presumably the wardens pay. They have all had new UPVC doors and windows this year, and on the whole I feel it's a nice safe environment to live in - definately something I would consider when I'm 55.
When I phone my mum I'll ask where the battery box for the doorbell is (probably need a chair to stand on to get the battery out :eek:). But I do agree that things can stick in your mind when you're going to sleep and then wake you with a start if you're not properly asleep.

meames_2

I agree

I often hear my mumshout me just before I go to sleep. As she lives 100 miles away It's unlikely (probably me guiltily thinking i shoud have phoned!)