[minnie13]

I started to feel my baby move at 20 weeks. I am now a little over 24 weeks and I will go hours and hours and not feel the baby move. I have a doppler and can hear her heart- I just get nervous when I don't feel her move for a while. Should it be consistent by now?

[sarahelaine57]

I have read that after 28 weeks you should feel more consistent movement, but I am the same way, if I don't feel my little one move I am using the doppler! And remember that babies do a lot of sleeping and your little one may be sleeping.

[hopeless?]

Nothing was consistent with my babies movement all the way through my pregnancy. I was 31 weeks when I had twins and there would be days that I wouldn't feel anything from either one of them, I was always calling the Dr office. So don't worry!

[BabySteps]

This is a good question.... I had a 3D u/s yesterday and the babies were moving constantly and looked very crowded together but I could not feel anything!!! I do feel some kicks and jabs under my ribs but I am amazed at how much they can be moving on the u/s and I can't feel them. I guess they are still tiny.

[allikat415]

Most OB's will tell you to start watching for more consistant movement at 28 weeks. Remember that at this time baby also starts having a more consistant sleep pattern. I'm 30 weeks and baby seems to sleep the entire day then at night he likes to boogie!! He is all curled up on my left side so all the kicks are on my right side in or under my rib cage. If it makes you nervous just keep using your doppler!

[hopeful2bmom]

The fetus sleep a ton- especially later in the pregnancy.
I am a psych major working on my PhD and came across this. Thought it may put your mids at ease.
Fetal Alertness(from psych journal)


Scientists who follow the fetus' daily life find that it spends most of its time not exercising these new abilities but sleeping. At 32 weeks, it drowses 90 to 95% of the day. Some of these hours are spent in deep sleep, some in REM sleep, and some in an indeterminate state, a product of the fetus' immature brain that is different from sleep in a baby, child, or adult. During REM sleep, the fetus' eyes move back and forth just as an adult's eyes do, and many researchers believe that it is dreaming. DiPietro speculates that fetuses dream about what they know - the sensations they feel in the womb.
Closer to birth, the fetus sleeps 85 or 90% of the time: the same as a newborn. Between its frequent naps, the fetus seems to have "something like an awake alert period,' according to developmental psychologist William Filer, Ph.D., who with his Columbia University colleagues is monitoring these sleep and wakefulness cycles in order to identify patterns of normal and abnormal brain development, including potential predictors of sudden infant death syndrome. Says Filer, "We are, in effect, asking the fetus: 'Are you paying attention? Is your nervous system behaving in the appropriate way?'"




P.S Babies still move about 50 times per hour whether they are awake or aslpee, but keep in mind, that uterine wall is a muscla dn it is very thick. Not all of the movements are felt by us. Your babies are fine!

[BabySteps]

Great info, thanks.

[minnie13]

Thank you! I have not had the easiest pregnancy (was put on bedrest for 2 months) so I tend to get nervous when I don't feel her. Thank you for all the info!

[sheela]

I didn't feel them move till 19 weeks. AT 20 weeks they started moving more frequently. And now at 25 weeks i can feel their movement whenever I am lying down or sleeping. but when i am walking or doing some work i don't feel them that much. I guess i am too busy to notice their movement. And they both have diff cycles . My little boy wakes up at night and the little girl is active throughout the day. But my girl is much more active than the little guy here. I don't know why? I asked the u/s tech and she told me generally with twins , one baby is more active than the other one. Tomorrow i go for my 6th month u/s. I hope everything goes well.

[kblythe]

It also matters where the placenta attaches. I have an anterior placenta, so I don't feel movement as much. He has to kick really high for me to feel strong movement. Of course, I still freak out about not feeling him, and I eat candy or drink oj in an attempt to jack him up on sugar and make him move!

k.

[jenedens6102]

I was told by my OB that between about 24-25 weeks the movements become a bit more consistent. However, they do sleep quite a bit still so if you go a few hours without feeling anything she might just be sleeping. Drink something sugary, lay down on your left side and do your kick counts, this should help you feel more comfortable knowing that all is well.

[annemarie]

I didn't feel any movements until 20-22 weeks. My babies movements are still not consistent at all (I am almost 32 weeks now). I go hours withouth feeling any movement. I think the kick counts would never work for me.