When Can You Start Feeling Your Baby Move?
What we’ll cover in this post:
When can I feel my baby move?
Once you get that positive pregnancy test, you’ll start looking forward to a bunch of different milestones. “When will I be able to hear the heartbeat?” “Is my baby a boy or girl?” “When will I have a baby bump?”
One of those huge milestones is being able to feel your baby move inside of you for the first time.
So, when do you start feeling the baby move around?
The answer depends on a few different things!
On average, you may feel first movements between 18-25 weeks
18-25 weeks is a pretty big range, but there are a few factors that contribute to when you’ll be able to feel your baby moving:
Placenta position
First or subsequent pregnancy
Baby’s position
Placenta Position
Around week 12 of pregnancy, your placenta forms and takes over nourishing the baby. This is why most pregnant folks start feeling less sick after the first trimester!
Your placenta can attach anywhere in your uterus.
It can attach in front of your uterus or behind your uterus. You may hear this referred to as an “anterior placenta” (in front of) or “posterior placenta” (behind or in back of) in relation to your uterus.
If your placenta attaches in front of your uterus (anterior), not only do you have your abdominal tissue and your uterus between you and your baby, but now you have another organ separating you!
For this reason, if you have an anterior placenta, you may not start feeling your baby move until around 20-25 weeks.
If your placenta is behind your uterus (posterior), you may feel your baby move a little bit closer to 18 weeks.
You can ask your ultrasound technician or your provider where your placenta is located when you have an ultrasound any time after 12 weeks.
First or subsequent pregnancy
Another factor that will affect how soon you will feel your baby move is whether this is your first or second pregnancy.
If you are a first time mom (or someone pregnant for the first time), you may not feel movements until a little bit later. This is solely because you’ve never felt a baby move inside of you before.
Someone who has experienced a 2nd pregnancy, 3rd pregnancy, or 4th pregnancy will know exactly what baby movements feel like, so the movements will probably be recognized sooner.
Baby’s position
If your baby is anterior (their back is along your stomach, they are facing your spine/tailbone), you may have less “pointy parts” (hands, elbows, feet, etc.) in the front to see through your belly.
This is actually a really good thing though! Anterior babies are usually associated with smoother and quicker labors due to how baby’s head navigates the pelvis.
If your baby seems like an octopus (all hands and toes and elbows in front), your baby may be posterior (facing your belly). This could lead to back labor, since the widest part of your baby’s head is pushing into your sacrum and putting stress on your pelvic ligaments. Look into Spinning Babies™ for positions and strategies to help your baby face your spine instead!
What will my baby’s movements feel like?
When your baby is big enough for you to start feeling movements, you may not even realize it’s your baby!
At first, it may just feel like a gas bubble or hunger pangs. These first subtle fetal movements are called “quickening” in the pregnancy world. Sometimes, they just feel like gastrointestinal movement and you don’t even realize your baby is moving yet!
As your pregnancy progresses, it may start feeling more like a muscle spasm, like little twitches and flutters.
Once you’ve been feeling the movements for a while, you’ll know it's your baby!
Those little gas bubbles and muscle spasms will quickly turn into full on flips and kicks to the bladder the closer you get to your due date.
Eventually, you’ll be able to see your baby do some crazy things from the outside, which is a lot of fun for your partner, friends, and family too!
After you have your baby, you might see them do a certain stretch or movement and you’ll think “Wow! That’s what you were doing in there!”
When will I feel movements most?
Eventually, you’ll start to learn your baby’s patterns of movements. Babies have sleep and wake cycles just as all humans do, so it can be fun to tap into their motions and get to know your baby better.
Sometimes, you can give your belly a little poke and you’ll feel your baby kick back.
You may learn that your baby sleeps all day and then come night time, when you’re relaxed, they start going crazy in there. Some people say the movement of walking around all day is soothing to them, like rocking them to sleep. So when you lay down they start to wake up!
In addition to night time, you’ll probably feel a lot of movement after a meal, a snack, or something sugary.
If you drink caffeine, you may notice that it affects baby’ movements, too.
How often should I expect to feel movements?
Once you know that you are feeling your baby move, you will be able to recognize those movements happening more frequently.
When you first start feeling these movements, they may be very subtle and you may not feel them very often.
Typically, the first time you really feel your baby move will be when you’re all tucked into your bed at night. This is because you’re not moving around yourself, and are able to notice movements more easily.
There are no set number of movements you should feel per day because every baby and every pregnancy is different. Once you have been feeling movements for a few weeks, you will learn your baby’s pattern.
Just like us, babies in the womb have sleep and wake cycles. You will start to learn these cycles based on your baby’s activity on a day-to-day basis.
As your pregnancy progresses, the movements are going to get stronger and more noticeable.
Around 24-26 weeks, or around the 6th month of pregnancy, you may even be able to see the movements from the outside!
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What if I stop feeling movements?
It is important to remember that if you are ever concerned because you have not felt your baby move, there are a few things you can do to try to get them to move around.
You can:
Drink something sugary, like orange juice
Have a snack
Lay down and relax with your feet up
You can also try lying on your left side. Lying on your side will help move your baby out of the position they are in.
Counting Baby’s Kicks
You can also do something called “kick counts”. A kick count can be done starting around 28 weeks and it’s not a bad idea to do it frequently, especially if you have anxiety surrounding your pregnancy.
By 28 weeks, you will have learned your baby’s pattern. When you know your baby is active, sit down and set a timer for two hours.
According to The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), you want to feel at least ten movements in that two hour time period.
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More often than not, you’re going to feel 10 movements long before the two hours are up.
If it has been over two hours and you have not felt ten movements, do not be afraid to call your provider or head into labor and delivery to be checked out.
Even if you did feel ten movements within two hours, but you just feel “off” or you’re feeling nervous, never be afraid to call your provider. Some people feel silly “bothering” their provider, but it is totally okay to go get checked out to ease your mind.
The Takeaway
Soon after you find out you are pregnant, you’ll start to wonder: “When can you feel your baby move?”
Feeling your baby move for the first time, around 18-25 weeks, is one of the most exciting milestones of pregnancy.
Take note of your baby’s sleep and wake cycles and what triggers your baby to be more active.
Never be ashamed to call your provider to get checked out if you’re feeling nervous or are feeling a less-than-normal amount of movement from your baby.
Lastly, soak up every one of those little baby’s kicks! Before you know it, they'll be on the outside and you’ll miss feeling those kicks from the inside.
🤍 The [M]otherboard Team
