At what stage should the baby be settling into a head down position?

[FrannyandZooey]

Am 20 something weeks and getting kicked very low down all day long

ds was breech too near the end for comfort last time, and never got into a wholly straightforward position, so am slightly nervy

[expatinscotland]

DD2 didn't go cephalic till 28 weeks.

Her head never engaged till labour.

[whomovedmychocolate]

I didn't think their heads got heavy enough to tip them over till the 28th week. Mind you DD did a flip at 38 weeks so there is no bloody telling with some of these babies.

[FrannyandZooey]

you know what set me worrying, those blinking email things you get "you are 22 weeks blah blah"

the latest one had a drawing of a lovely head down baby

suspended inside a mother whose belly was very faintly swelling

made me and my amazing girth, with kicks down near my cervix, feel ever so slightly concerned

[expatinscotland]

Oh, DD2 was using my bladder as a trampoline at 22 weeks.

[VictorianSqualor]

Apparently they dont need to do it before about 34 weeks, as that is the stage peopel are reaching on my antenatal thread and M/W's are mentioning it.

[FrannyandZooey]

so earlier positions are just random and no indicator of anything at all?

[whomovedmychocolate]

Earlier positions are designed to wind up mums and midwives I reckon

Oh and those 'you are X weeks and by now you will be....' are utter tosh IME. They also tell you such interesting things as 'by now you will have only gained five pounds'. I've gained at least five pounds in each foot let along my arse!

[VictorianSqualor]

Yeah, I think so, this LO went from breech to head down and back again about 4/5 times between 29 and 33 weeks so I wouldn't worry too much.
Theres also quite a few things you can apparently do to help the get in a good position, refelxology and aquanatal classes are two that were mentioned on my thread, oh, and the birthing ball supposedly encourages good positioning.

[scorpio1]

My MW says no bother until 36 weeks.

Mine is head down now, 34+ weeks. she was breech at 30 weeks.

[Lulumama]

both of mine went head down and stayed down at 28 weeks.....no need to panic yet franny, although you can think about OFP etc , if you like, you know, no pressure

[FrannyandZooey]

I am really happy to think about and even to do OFP now if there is a point

but is there? or does it only make a difference in the last few weeks?

[Lulumama]

it can't hurt, but baby is really small still, so i really don;t thikn it will help that much when baby has so much room to spin around in!

[FrannyandZooey]

well it helps ME to lie here with my feet up so I will carry on like this for a while

I do try to lie on my right side in bed when I remember
(will not mention that the rest of the time I am lying on my tummy )

[FrannyandZooey]

Hooooooold on
I;ve been trying to lie on my LEFT side
did I get it wrong? arse

[VictorianSqualor]

I laid on my tummy for ages, still find it hard to lie on my left side for too long now!
From what I know about left side it's meant to be better for blood flow, don't know about positioning.

[FrannyandZooey]

yes good LEFT that is what i;ve been doing
I always like to sleep on my stomach but it is getting harder
I know when I have been doing it because I wake up with a completely dead hand (I shove my hand under my pelvis to make more of a gap between my tummy and the futon)

[Lulumama]

left side is better, but i laid on my right or my tummy! but that was before i knew all this !!

[allgonebellyup]

my ds' head didnt engage until i was in labour.

[Thefearlessfreak]

ds didn't engage either...I presume he did just before, or in, labour....but till then they kept saying he was only 3/5

[Lulumama]

baby can be head or bottom down without being engaged though.....

[VictorianSqualor]

It's not a problem for baby to not be engaged, but if it's breech it's less likely to turn during labour and then engage which is what I presume franny is worried about.

[violetskies]

Don't worry, my dd was not head down and was certainly not engaged 24 hours before birth. I very much remember her turning and engaging 12 hrs later.

[FrannyandZooey]

oh yes it would be a bit premature to worry about baby being engaged!

I just wondered when the head down / breech position was significant

[sweetkitty]

I had a scan yesterday and mine is lying transverse and kicking my left hand side (21+3).

DD2's head never engaged until MW broke my waters even though I was 10cm for about an hour, this time I am telling them to please break my waters as soon as they can safely.

[FrannyandZooey]

thing is mine ALWAYS seems to be feet down

ah well, will fret quietly about it