When should you expect a movement pattern to be established?

[CoalCraft]

Not asking out of any great worry, really, more because I've struggled to find guidance on this from official sources.

I'm 20+0 today, have been feeling movements since ~17 weeks, and these have been getting more common, naturally, but I wouldn't say there's any pattern to it. Some days I feel it more, some days less. Just wondering how long it took for you to feel you had a pattern established? Obviously at some point I will have to worry about those "feeling it less" days, but not sure when that should be.

I still don't have a regular pattern and I'm 26+4! It's been sporadic and varied for weeks. My midwife said it's from 28 weeks that there should be a regular pattern.

Thanks for the response! That's encouraging. My midwife was a bit vague when I asked her, gave a "you'll know once there's a pattern" type answer. I'll ask again next time I see her and hopefully get something more concrete.

I'm 34w and not sure about the pattern, he just moves mostly at night but a bit during the day too. I sort of know that by 7pm I normally have a few strong kicks and more later. I find the kick count apps very confusing.

I found this website helpful:
www.kickscount.org.uk/Pages/Category/why-movement-matters

Guidance is not v clear but, I believe:

• your baby is still too small for a "pattern" because they can move around so well without you feeling it
• movements should continue to get stronger between now and 32 weeks, then stay same
• a pattern can mean a regular routine of activity or a response to external stimuli (eg. Ice cream or music or something makes them dance).
• a rough baseline pattern is at 24 weeks

Until 24 weeks, I just roughly tracked the time of periods of movement per day and didn't worry too much about pattern. I was seen for reduced movement at 24w only because I didnt feel anything all day. Now at 28 weeks I expect to feel the baby at least once every 3 hour period (that I am awake). If I don't feel her move during one of them, I concentrate harder in the next one (lie down etc). Evenings are definitely busier time for her.

There's supposed to be a pattern?!?

Blimey, there was me thinking I'd got it all wrong after dc were born and their/our routines were all over the place, when they should have been in a routine before birth?!?.

My midwife told me 10 movements before lunchtime was ideal after 25 weeks. Any other knees/feet/elbows to the ribs/bladder/alien-looking belly were just 'for fun' (apart from that one knee in my side that was there pretty constantly at night for the last 8 weeks)...

Mind you, my little wriggler starts driving next week so that advice is ANCIENT. He's still a disorganised bugger though, so yes, please make sure your dc all get into their routine early

Honestly I’m almost 33 weeks and still couldn’t tell a pattern. All I would say is you get to a point where you notice if you haven’t felt anything in a while and then like PP said you concentrate harder for a while then notice more.

Sometimes I think you get so used to it you miss it then worry!

If you’re busy you might not notice too, I tend to take some time out and lie on my left side if I’m worried then concentrate. The movements can really range as well, sometimes they’re like faint hiccups and sometimes there’s a good old booting haha

If in doubt though I would always say call your midwife unit as they won’t mind and it’s better to be safe than sorry

I know that if you have an anterior placenta you don't feel as much movement... mine's movements are more like wriggles / squirms / throbs and I tend to feel them at the sides of my stomach when I lie down. I rarely feel what i would describe as kicks, not strong ones anyway!

Thanks everyone for your responses, I'm very reassured. The official guidance seems to be both quite strict ("you must seek medical help immediately if you notice a change in your baby's movements") and quite vague (not telling you what it means to have a pattern, when this should be established or how much of a deviation from it is normal).

I have noticed with move she has a little wriggle first thing in the morning, then maybe just a little tap now and then throughout the day, then a big period of activity in the evening / as I go to bed.

I know I'm lucky to feel so much so early, especially since according to anomaly scan I have an anterior placenta! But I guess the placenta is still quite small atm so maybe it'll muffle things more as time goes on.

Thanks again!