| HOME | YOUR CHILD | OUR STORIES | TAKING PART |
SCHOOLS | WORKSHOPS | FREE TALKS |
LINKS | CONTACT US |
 |
Your ChildChild Development |
|
| Child Development | |
| What are reflexes? | |
| What are infant reflexes & their effects? | |
| Developmental delay | |
| Checklist for Developmental Delay | |
Pregnancy In some cases, these reflexes may not emerge.
Birth If the presentation of the baby makes the delivery difficult, it may be necessary to assist, using forceps for example, or even performing an emergency Caesarean section. There are many influencing factors, but it may be that the birth process has been influenced by infant reflex issues prior to birth that may continue to persist and affect the developing child. The absence of the passage down the birth canal in a Caesarean birth may influence some reflexes. Baby's first yearThis is the time when the infant reflexes integrate. The reflexes become less dominant and the brain begins to make conscious movements under the baby’s control. During the first year of life babies need to lie flat, on their tummies as well as their backs and move freely. Babies are not designed to sit in seats, but to be held, moving with the adult. They need to move freely in a horizontal position until they are able to sit themselves up. What are Reflexes?A traditional medical definition of a reflex is as follows: A reflex is a nervous system reaction caused by stimulation of the receptors of the skin, tendons, muscles, mucous membrane and pupils. The stimulus produces a response which is a muscle contraction, resulting in a movement or group of movements, or glandular secretion. These responses occur without conscious cortical control. An example is…you withdraw your hand when you accidentally touch a hot or sharp object. It is an automatic reaction to protect your hand from damage. You don’t think about it. It just happens. _________________________________________________ What are Infant reflexes?Reflexes relating to the very early stage of human development are unconditioned and inborn, most of which develop in utero. They are known as infant reflexes. In other words, the baby hasn’t learnt them, they have just developed during the pregnancy. They are automatic, like the example above of reacting to a hot or sharp object. An example of an infant reflex is the grasp reaction of a baby to a finger placed in its palm. Several of these reflexes emerge to help the position of the baby before birth and the actual process of the birth. Problems with the position of the baby or the progress of the birth may require intervention such as forceps or Caesarian section. This may relate to issues with infant reflexes at this stage. The reflexes are also there to aid survival in early infanthood and as a basis for future mature movement. What are postural
reflexes?
Most postural reflexes are life-long and are necessary for controlled, co-ordinated, fluid movement in response to gravity and the maintenance of balance. In typical development they are in place by 3-4 years, with some variation. One example of a postural reflex is the head-righting reflex. It is a postural response. As the body moves one way the head is automatically held in an upright position to maintain balance. This begins to develop as the baby lies prone at approximately 16 weeks, lifting the head, so that the face is in a vertical position.
If the infant reflexes do not emerge, mature and integrate, these postural responses can be delayed or absent. Many interventions work on the improvement of balance which relates to postural reflex development, but this is only a part of the underlying problem of aberrant infant reflex integration. |
As early as the 5th week of pregnancy, the first 
Your
baby assists in the birth process with automatic pushing, turning and
wriggling movements that aid progress towards the outside world.
These movements are generated by the automatic inborn 
