Do you want to find out if your baby has turned? In this article, pregnancy and birth consultant, and science geek, explain how you can tell if your baby turns head down.

First, they explain the symptoms of baby turning head down that you would feel the very moment when your baby turns head down in the womb.

Afterwards, they also discuss the signs of baby turning head down that you would feel after your baby turns head down.

Finally, they also show you how to palpate your belly if you want to find out yourself if your baby turns head down in the womb.

In other words: they explain where you can expect to find the back, bump and head of your baby given that your baby turns head down and given that your baby is not in a breech position, particularly, in a transverse breech position.

Symptoms of baby turning head down - What does it feel like when baby turns head down?

One question that i am often being asked at the clinic is: how does it feel like when baby turns head down? So we decided to record this article for you in which we first gonna explain the symptoms of baby turning head down that you would feel the very moment when your baby turns.

And then afterwards, we are also going to discuss the symptoms of baby turning head down after your baby has turned.

And finally, we are also going to explain what you need to do if you want to check yourself if your baby is head down.

I a pregnancy and birth consultant and tcm therapist and a researcher and science geek, and we love helping mommies and their babies naturally and science-based.

For more useful tips and tools on pregnancy and baby-related topics, so that you don’t miss any of our articles! Okay, so first of all, please note that most babies turn at night while their mother is asleep.

Therefore, most mommies are not going to feel that their baby turns.

Moreover, about 75% of all babies turn before week 28 and about 90% of all babies turn before week 32.

What this means is that most babies are still very little when they turn.

So, chances are that you are not gonna feel it at all.

Right! However, the later in your pregnancy your baby turns, the more likely you are going to feel it.

If that’s the case for you, you would most likely feel the following kind of symptoms: first of all, the moment when your baby turns head down, feels like your whole belly is moving.

Women, who have experienced that moment report, that that feeling is very different from the usual kicks or movements.

Usually, you would feel those kicks and movements in some areas of your belly only.

But when your baby is turning, it feels more like those kicks and movements are everywhere in your belly.

Yes, nevertheless, it could be that some of those kicks are particularly intense in some areas of your belly.

For example, a mother that we personally know, described it as sudden and very intense pressure on her stomach.

So, as your baby turns, baby may kick against some of your organs.

Also, that pressure on her stomach made her feel really nauseas, as she told us.

In fact, nausea after a period of increased activity of your baby is our second symptom of baby turning head down.

For some women that feeling of nausea can be pretty intense.

Others simply describe it as that strange feeling in your stomach that you might feel right after you spent some time on a roller coaster.

So, i guess, it really depends on what your baby kicks against as baby turns.

Exacty! Now, no matter if you are aware of the very moment when your baby turns or not, the things that you are going to feel after your baby has turned are going to be very different than before.

So let us quickly walk you through the symptoms and other things that you would feel, once your baby has turned head down.

And please keep in mind that you are more likely going to feel these things, the further you have progressed through your pregnancy, because then your baby will obviously be much bigger, okay? Yeah, thats' right! So, the first symptom of baby turning head down is obviously feeling your baby’s head lower down.

And this is something that you can actually feel by palpating your belly however, it’s not an easy task.

Keep in mind, only a professional like a midwife can really tell you the exact position of your baby.

So, what we are about to show you is really just to give you a rough idea about your baby’s position, okay? So basically, the main problem that mommies usually have is that they find it hard to distinguish their baby’s head from baby’s back or bump when they palpate their belly.

However, under normal circumstances, when your baby is head down, you would feel a lump either on the left or ride side of your belly, you know, depending on your baby’s position.

And that’s your baby’s back.

Yes, so, the best thing that you can do is try to find your baby’s back first, by palpating your belly while you lay on your back! Or simply, tell someone to help you with that! Right, however, please keep in mind that under certain circumstances, like for example when your baby is lying back-to-back or in a transverse breech position, then it is going to be particularly difficult to feel your baby’s back, okay? So, it really depends on your baby’s position in your belly.

Right, so again, we are looking for that lump either on the left or the right side of your belly.

If your baby is turning head down, then that lump would be your baby’s back.

Now, once you have found your baby’s back, you can then move along baby’s back into both directions and see what you are feeling.

The baby’s bottom feels much softer than the head and not so distinct.

So try to palpate the top of your uterus and see how it feels like.

The head on the other hand, feels much harder.

And so, obviously, if your baby has turned head down, you would feel the “harder end”, if you will, lower down.

So, ideally, you ask someone to try to carefully palpate your baby’s head with their whole hand, like that.

And this can be done when you lay on your back.

If they can feel the harder end in the area of your pelvis as opposed to the softer end being at the top, then it is likely that your baby has turned.

But again, it is not an easy task.

Yes, just tell that person that that little thing in your belly is a precious living baby.

So, they better be gentle with that little cute head! Yes, like i was for example.

My hands basically formed that little cute head of our son.

That was all my body that formed it to perfection.

It was your body.

Anyways, if you are liking this article so far, we would be super grateful if you could leave us a comment in the comment section below.

Any feedback is more than appreciated! Thanks so much! Okay, so, with your baby’s head in your pelvis, you are going to feel more pressure on your bladder, which is our next symptom of baby turning head down.

Yes, from the moment when our son turned, i suddenly had the urge to go to the toilet more often.

However, it was not as bad as when he finally dropped, okay? There’s still a huge difference! Huge difference! When our son dropped, i basically went to the toilet every 10 minutes.

Every 10 minutes? You basically lived on the toilet! I even brought her cupcakes so she didn’t need to starve on the toilet.

You mean that our son didn’t need to starve.

Well, that too! Anyways, so the pressure on my bladder definitely felt different for me once he turned head down.

Yes, in general, you are going to feel more discomfort in the lower part of your belly after your baby has turned which is our next symptom of baby turning head down.

For the most part, that’s because your baby puts more pressure on your pelvis.

And that pressure too will increase considerably as your baby drops, i.e. Engages in your pelvis.

On the other hand, you are going to feel less pressure in your upper belly which is our next symptom of baby turning head down.

As a result, you would feel less pressure on your stomach, and it would feel as if you have more room to breathe.

Yes and that is of course, because now your baby’s head is no longer putting pressure on your upper belly.

And then one thing that would also feel different than before are your baby’s kicks.

So, the next symptom of baby turning head down is a change of the position of your baby’s kicks.

Yes, so obviously, with your baby’s head down, you are going to feel kicks in your upper belly and no longer in your lower belly.

However, please keep in mind that it depends a bit on your baby’s position.

If your baby’s back is more towards the front of your tummy, then you are more likely gonna feel the kicks under your ribs.

However, if your baby lies with baby's back against your own back, you are more likely going to feel the kicks at the front of your tummy.

But it’s not only the kicks.

It is also the movements of baby’s legs and arms in general that suddenly change.

So, our next symptom of baby turning head down is a change of the position of movements that you are feeling.

In other words, once your baby has turned head down, you would feel the large movements, which are the movements of your baby’s legs, higher up.

Conversely, you would feel the small movements, i.e.the movements of your baby’s arms further down.

And then finally, something that i personally felt very clearly was that the location of the hiccups changed.

This is our final symptom of baby turning head down.

The hiccups of your baby are probably something that you are very familiar with.

However, if your baby has turned head down, you are going to feel the hiccups in the lower part of your belly! Again, i could feel that change very clearly.

So, maybe, this applies to you too! Now, as already mentioned, figuring out yourself if your baby has turned head down is a very difficult task to accomplish.

A more reliable way is certainly having a midwife determine your baby’s position.

However, the goal of this article was to help you understand what you are gonna feel when and afer your baby has turned and how it would feel different than before.

So, we hope that we could give you at least a rough idea about the position of your baby in your belly.

Turning a breech baby