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So we moved into an apartment recently. And all was good but the other day my boyfriend and I walked into our sons room and it smelled like rotten food. You can only smell it when you walk into the room but that's it. It wasn't like this when we first moved in. I cleaned his whole room to find nothing that could be causing this horrible smell.

Along with this smell he will not sleep through the night any longer. Also a few days before this started happening he would randomly start laughing in his sleep and talk to himself. He never did that anywhere else we lived.

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    Could be poltergeists. Could be your kid stinks (boys too tend to stink pretty bad around age 12). Maybe the previous owners hated their landlord and stuffed the vents with fish (it happens). Maybe there was spilled milk on the carpet that was never fully cleaned up. Perhaps the previous tenants had pets that liked to pee everywhere (while it's relatively easy to get the stain out of the carpet, the pad and subfloor can get soaked with animal urine and that stuff can smell HORRENDOUS when there's humidity around). If it's the first floor, could be a dead animal in the crawlspace.
    – DA01
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 0:14
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    Have you considered asking someone that can be there in person to help you diagnose? Since you can't post a smell-picture for us, asking people on the other side of the internet is like asking a blind person to help with your paint colors.
    – BMitch
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 1:56
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    Is it possible you have a rodent problem? Perhaps a rodent died in the wall, ceiling or under the floor? This is especially likely if you or a neighbor uses rat poison since the poison doesn't kill the animal immediately. If this is the case, an exterminator may be able to find the entry point and help narrow down where it might be. @BMitch - it seems perfectly reasonable to solicit advice for this on the internet, even if the advice is ultimately "call a professional", at least she can get some guidance on who to call. I don't think there's a "Weird smell" section in the yellow pages.
    – Johnny
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 4:59
  • How old is your son? Could it be that he's at an age where he's experimenting with things he perhaps shouldn't be?
    – Rowland Shaw
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 19:14
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because we can't smell what it is from here.
    – Mazura
    Commented Apr 23, 2015 at 23:59

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I'd call somebody out to investigate. While a question like this may be off topic here; because we can't smell through the internet, your sons symptoms are quite alarming. If it smells like rotten eggs, it could be a natural gas leak, and your son is being gassed while he sleeps. It could also be sewer gas, which also is not healthy to breath.

Since this issue is affecting the health of your son, you should take more action than asking a bunch of nincompoops on the internet. A local fire department has the equipment to test for gas leaks, and are more than willing to investigate for you. As testing for a gas leak, is much easier than putting out the fire it could lead to.

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If the odour is noticeable when you walk into the room then if it was my home I would remove the trim around one side of the door and investigate there. Yes, it could be rodents, but you need to investigate. Be bold in your approach as trim and frames etc can be replaced but your sons health is a different matter. Show him that you will climb mountains for him...

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