Reflexes of newborns, or What we do not know about our babies?

To his parents, the newborn seems very small and helpless. But, for all its external defenselessness, it is very reliably protected by a multitude of reflexes.

What is reflexes?

Unconditioned reflexes of newborns are unconscious reactions of the child's organism to external or internal stimuli. A kind of natural protection for a little man from possible dangers. Some reflexes of the newborn are temporary, they appear with the birth of the child and gradually fade away, while others remain with it throughout life. But the significance of both of these and other reflexes in the life of the baby is truly enormous.

Reflexes of newborns are one of the most important indicators of the work of the nervous system, according to which both pediatricians and neuropathologists judge the health and proper development of the baby. Therefore, parents who think that their baby is completely unable to do anything, are very mistaken. So let's find out what abilities our crumbs possess, and get acquainted with the most amazing reflexes that nature has given to babies.

Reflexes of newborns are divided into several groups, depending on the zone responsible for their action.

Oral reflexes

The reflex arc is responsible for the action of these reflexes , which closes at the level of the brain.

One of the first reflexes of newborns that any mom can observe is search and sucking. In this case, they are not only the most obvious, but also the most important for the life of the baby. Search reflexes of newborns help them to find the source of food and are manifested by turning the baby's head and opening the mouth to grab the nipple or nipple, if you touch his lips. The sucking reflex is responsible for grasping the lips of any object located near the child's mouth. Whether it's my mother's breast, finger or nipple. These reflexes are not constant and gradually fade with time.

Very interesting in its action is a proboscis reflex. If you lightly tap a finger on the lips of a newborn, then it almost instantly adds them a tube. This reflex is also very important for any baby, because it helps the baby tightly grasp and hold the nipple when feeding.

Spinal reflexes

The work of these reflexes corresponds to the spinal cord and the reflex arc that closes at its level.

Grasping reflex is one of the most famous for any parent. In turn, it is subdivided into the upper and lower grasping reflexes of the newborn.

Upper grasping reflex

If you put your finger in the hand of the baby, then he immediately grab for it, and pretty tight. This reflex appears from birth and gradually fades to about 3-4 months.

Lower grasping reflex

By its action a bit like the previous one. If you press a little on the foot of the baby between 2 and 3 fingers, then he will start to move, very reminiscent of grasping. Those. Will squeeze fingers, trying to grasp them "object-stimulus". If you follow the foot of the baby from the top down, then it on the contrary, spread out all the fingers.

Even with the first bathing of the baby, parents can see another unconditioned reflex - swimming. It is perfectly possible to see it and put the child's belly on a hard surface.

Another reflex that you can see by putting the baby on your tummy is Galant's reflex. Draw a hand across the spine from top to bottom and you will see how the curvature of your crumb is bent.

Infants have reflexes of support and automatic walking. But many modern pediatricians do not recommend checking these reflexes on their own, in order not to stimulate them additionally. To test them, the test will be enough when examined by a doctor.

Checking the pozotonic reflexes, responsible for the correct distribution of the baby's muscle tone, is also better to entrust to the specialist.