Physiological reflexes. The main reflexes of newborns are conditioned, spinal, and physiological. Grasping and motor reactions

30.04.2019

During the first 28 days, the newborn's body experiences difficult period adaptation. For the baby, after birth, it begins new stage extrauterine life, essential in which reflexes play.

What reflexes do newborns have?

Have little child at birth, unconditioned reflexes are developed, laid down by nature by default. Over time, some of them disappear, while conditional ones appear. New reflexes can be compared to the "individual experience" of the baby, since their appearance is closely related to the processes of the child's development and the functioning of the brain.

Medicine says that newborns have 15 without conditioned reflexes, each of which has important clinical significance and its own "purpose". Some are necessary to successfully complete the complex birth process, so after certain time they disappear in the child due to their uselessness. Others help develop new abilities, and still others accompany the child throughout his life.

Unconditioned (congenital) reflexes

Medicine distinguishes several types of unconditioned reflexes. Doctors classify them as follows:

Designed to ensure normal life - oral reflexes, including breathing, sucking, swallowing, spinal;
Protecting the child from exposure the environment- child's reactions to bright light, cold, fever and other types of stimuli;
Temporary action - helping to hold your breath in time to pass through the birth canal.

Some of the unconditioned reflexes are observed only in the first 2-3 months of a baby's life, after which they disappear without a trace. Others are preserved and provide the child's life for his entire life.

Oral reflexes

The sucking reflex gives the newborn the ability to feed itself. It occurs immediately after birth and lasts up to 12 months. As soon as the nipple or nipple of the bottle enters the baby's mouth, he begins to actively and rhythmically suck. WITH physiological point view, the process looks like feeding. The swallowing reflex helps the newborn to swallow the food received, and it remains in the child for life.

A variation of the oral reflex is the proboscis effect. If it is easy to touch the baby's lips, then you can watch them stretch out into a tube, resembling the trunk of a small elephant calf. The movement is provided due to the involuntary contraction of the circular oral muscle. This reflex disappears without a trace by 2-3 months.

A mixed reflex is considered a palmar-oral reflex, it is also known as the Babkin reflex. If you simultaneously press your fingers on the surface of the palms, then the baby will open his mouth slightly. Over the course of 3 months, the unconditioned reflex disappears and disappears completely.

The search or Kussmal effect is the infant's search for food. When touching the corner of the mouth, the child immediately turns the head towards the stimulus. The reflex is observed for 3 or 4 months and then disappears. The child acquires the ability to find food visually and actively reacts when the mother's breast or feeding bottle appears in the line of sight.

After birth and at each regular examination, the pediatrician checks the work spinal reflexes... They represent a certain list of reactions by which one can judge the state of the muscle apparatus. One of the most significant is the upper protective reflex, which occurs from the first hours of a baby's life. If the child is laid on his tummy, then his head immediately turns to one side, and he makes attempts to raise it. This is how the infant's body tries to prevent the risk of respiratory failure and restore oxygen access. The child's reflex disappears at the age of 1.5 months.

Grasp reflexes

Often with small children, a situation arises when a newborn firmly grabs an object when it approaches the palm of the hand. The kid can hold the prey so tightly that it can even be lifted. This reaction is called Janiszewski and Robbinson reflexes and it lasts 3-4 months, after which it begins to weaken. The preservation of such a grasping reflex in a baby in an older age often signals a neurological problem.

At doing easy stroking the edge of the sole in a child, a reflex reaction of Babinsky is observed. It manifests itself as a fan-shaped opening of the toes with parallel flexion of the feet. Assess the severity of the reaction to external influence by the vigor of the movements and their symmetry. Such a reflex is a "long-liver" and remains in children for another 2 years.

One of the types of child's grasping reactions is the Moro reflex. It is characterized by a two-stage reaction of the child to the knock made. First, in response to the emerging sharp sound, the baby moves his hand in different sides, produces unclenching of the toes and straightens the legs. Then there is a return to the original initial pose. In some cases, the child can hug himself, therefore, this motor reaction is often called the hug reflex. It is most pronounced up to 5 months.

The kerning reflex is the inability to unclench the hip and knee after flexion. At normal development a child will not be able to do this. By four months, the reflex disappears.

One of the funniest baby reflexes is the "automatic" gait. When the child is lifted up and his body is slightly tilted forward, one can observe how he begins to take steps. The criterion for the assessment is the completeness of support on the foot. If only the tips of the toes touch the surface or the feet are trying to cling, then consultation is required pediatric neurologist... The reflex lasts for 1.5 months.

The support reflex is manifested when the baby tries to stand on the feet on a flat surface. The baby's reaction consists of two phases. When in contact with the surface, he abruptly bends the legs at the knees, after which he confidently stands on the feet and the soles are tightly pressed. The reflex lasts the same as the "automatic gait", that is, 1.5 months.

The spontaneous crawling reflex or Bauer's reaction can be seen by placing the baby on his tummy and placing his palms on the soles of his feet. In such a situation, the child begins to actively push off from a kind of support and at the same time tries to help himself with his hands, trying to crawl. The reflex can be observed for the first time on the 3rd day, but after 4 months it disappears.

The reaction of the spine of a newborn to an external stimulus is called the Galant reflex. When swiping the finger along the entire length spinal column it can be observed that the child begins to arch his back, his legs are bent towards the stimulus. There are also so-called posotonic reflexes, which are manifested in the redistribution of muscle tone when changing posture. They are observed in children who have not yet acquired the skills to hold the head, sit and walk on their own.

The reaction of the muscles of the shoulder girdle and hand, which are responsible for flexion and extension, is called the Magnus-Klein reflex. In order to evoke, it is necessary to turn the baby's head to the side, while you can see that he simultaneously puts his arm and leg forward in the direction of the facing gaze. The child's pose at this moment resembles the movements of a fencer. The reflex lasts for 2 months.

When to sound the alarm: weak reflexes

In life, situations are not excluded when reflexes in newborns appear later than the required time or they are weakly expressed. There may be several reasons for this situation:

Birth trauma;
Past illnesses;
Individual intolerance and reaction to a previously prescribed drug.

In a significant part of cases, mild reflexes are observed in premature babies and those babies who were born with mild asphyxia. Explanation weak reflexes in newborns, associated with the search for food and its intake, it usually lies on the surface - the child is not hungry. Sucking and swallowing reflexes are actively manifested before feeding the baby.

A dangerous situation is the absence of reflexes in an infant, which may be associated with intrauterine malformations, severe birth trauma and deep asphyxia. In this case, immediate resuscitation is necessary, which should be carried out by specialists. At the same time, do not forget that children's organism has a unique reserve of reserves that allow the baby to recover even in the most difficult situations and grow healthy in the future.

What are the main unconditioned reflexes should be normal in infants (video)

With the bony form of congenital clubfoot, the deformity of the foot is also obvious from the first day of life, but no manual attempts to remove the foot and give it the correct position have no effect.

Hence, it is clear that the treatment of congenital clubfoot and neurogenic clubfoot is very different. Orthopedists are involved in the treatment of bony forms of clubfoot.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that movement disorders in newborns are very common.

Unconditioned reflexes of newborns

A doctor examining a newborn pays attention to his unconditioned reflexes. By examining them, the doctor gets important information about the activity of the central nervous system and can assess whether it is a norm or a deviation from the norm.

The golden rule of neurology is that a healthy baby at birth should have a full set of physiological reflexes that disappear by 3-4 months. Pathology is considered their absence during the neonatal period ™, as well as a delay in their reverse development. It is unacceptable to stimulate the reflexes of the newborn, especially the automatic walking reflex.

Let's talk about the basic unconditioned reflexes of newborns.

Search reflex

Stroking in the corner of the mouth causes the newborn to lower the lip, lick the mouth and turn the head in the direction from which stroking is performed. Pressing in the middle upper lip causes a reflex lifting of the upper lip upward and extension of the head. Touching the middle of the lower lip causes the lip to sink, the mouth opens, and the baby's head performs a flexion motion.

The search reflex testifies to the weak work of the deep structures of the child's brain. It is flawlessly caused in all newborns and should disappear completely by three months of age... If this does not happen, then it is required to exclude the pathology of the brain.

Proboscis reflex

It is caused by lightly tapping the child's upper lip with a finger - in response, the lips fold in the form of a proboscis.

Normally, the proboscis reflex is detected in all healthy newborns, and in all it gradually fades away by the age of three months.

By analogy with the search reflex, its retention in children over three months of age is a sign possible pathology brain.

Sucking reflex

The sucking reflex is found in all healthy newborns and is a reflection of the maturity of the baby. The strict coordination of the sucking mechanism is made up of the interaction of five pairs of cranial nerves.

After feeding, this reflex is greatly weakened, and after half an hour or an hour it begins to revive again.

With brain damage sucking reflex decreases or disappears altogether. The sucking reflex is reduced or even disappears when any of the cranial nerves involved in the sucking act are damaged. ... Babkin's palmar-oral reflex

This funny reflex is triggered like this: you need to lightly press your thumb into the baby's palm, and in response, the baby turns his head and opens his mouth. After two months, this reflex decreases, and by three it disappears completely.

The palmar-oral reflex is usually well expressed and constant. It decreases with some damage nervous system, especially with birth trauma cervical spinal cord.

Grasp reflex

In response to touching the palm, the fingers bend and the object is grasped into a fist.

Before and during meals grasping reflex much more pronounced. Normally, this reflex is well evoked in all newborns.

A decrease in the grasping reflex is most often noted on the side of the lesion of the cervical spinal cord.

Robinson reflex

Sometimes, when this reflex is evoked, the child grasps the object or the doctor's finger so tightly that such a clinging child can be lifted up by the finger. Thus, it turns out that a newborn, seemingly completely helpless creature, can develop in his hands such a "muscle strength" that keeps his body in limbo.

Normally, the Robinson reflex should be considered mandatory in all newborns. By 3-4 months of life, on the basis of this unconditioned reflex, a purposeful seizure of the toy is formed, and the good expression of this reflex further contributes to more rapid development fine handcrafted skill.

Lower grasping reflex

This reflex is triggered by lightly pressing the tips of the toes on the front of the newborn's sole, in response to this, the baby flexes the toes. In healthy children, this reflex persists up to 12-14 months of life.

The inability to induce this reflex occurs when the spinal cord is damaged at the lumbar level.

Moro embrace reflex

This reflex is called like this: if you suddenly slap with both hands on both sides near a lying child, then he spreads his arms bent at the elbows and spreads his fingers, and then the arms move in the opposite direction.

Normally, the Moro reflex lasts up to 3-4 months. In all healthy newborns, the Moro reflex is evoked quite well and is always the same in both hands. With flaccid paresis of the hand, the reflex decreases or is completely absent on the side of the lesion, which indicates that the spinal cord in the cervical spine was injured during childbirth.

Reflex Perez

In order to induce this reflex, the doctor places the child face down on his palm. Then, pressing slightly, he runs his finger along the child's spine from the bottom up from the tailbone to the neck. In response to this, the spine bends, the arms and legs are extended, the head rises. Testing this reflex gives the doctor information about the functioning of the spinal cord throughout its entire length. Often this is unpleasant for the child, and he reacts by crying. Normally, the Perez reflex is well expressed during the first month of a newborn's life, gradually weakens and completely disappears by the end of the third month.

In newborns with birth damage to the cervical spinal cord, the head is not raised, that is, the Perez reflex turns out to be "decapitated", as it were.

Support reflex

The support reflex is very important for assessing the state of the newborn's central nervous system. Normally, the reflex looks like this: if you take a newborn under the armpits, then he reflexively flexes his legs in the hip and knee joints. At the same time, if you put him to the support, he unbends his legs and rests tightly with his whole foot against the surface of the table and so “stands” for up to 10 seconds.

Normally, the support reflex is constant, well-pronounced and gradually disappears by the age of 4-5 weeks. With an injury to the nervous system, the child can lean on his toes, sometimes even with crossed legs, which indicates a lesion of the motor (pyramidal) pathway leading from the cerebral cortex to the spinal cord.

Automatic walking reflex, or step reflex

When resting on the foot during a slight tilt of the body anteriorly, the child makes step movements. This reflex is normally well evoked in all newborns and disappears by 2 months of age. Assessment of the automatic walking reflex is very important for the doctor, as it helps to identify the location of the lesion of the nervous system and its degree.

Alarming signs are lack of automatic walking reflex or walking on tiptoe with crossed legs.

Bauer Crawl Reflex

This reflex is triggered like this: a hand is placed at the feet of a newborn, laid on his stomach, in response to this, the child begins to perform crawling movements. This reflex is normally evoked in all newborns and lasts up to 4 months, and then fades away. Reflex assessment is of great diagnostic value for the doctor.

Protective reflex

The essence of the reflex is that the newborn, laid on its stomach, quickly turns its head to the side and tries to raise it, as if providing itself with the opportunity to breathe. This reflex is expressed from the first day of life in all healthy newborns without exception. A decrease or disappearance of this reflex can be either with especially severe damage to the upper cervical segments of the spinal cord, or with pathology of the brain.

Assessment of the protective reflex will help the doctor to timely identify the pathology of the nervous system in the newborn.

Withdrawal reflex

This reflex "is triggered like this: if you carefully prick each foot of the child with a needle in turn, then the leg bends in all joints.

The reflex must be triggered in the same way on both sides. The absence of a reflex indicates damage to the child's lower spinal cord.

Cervico-tonic reflexes

In addition to these reflexes, the doctor evaluates another group of reflexes - the so-called cervico-tonic or posotonic reflexes, which provide fixation and position of the body at rest and during movement.

These reflexes normally disappear in the first 2-3 months. A delay in the reverse development of tonic reflexes (over 4 months) indicates damage to the central nervous system of the newborn. The persisting tonic reflexes impede the further development of the child's movements, the formation of fine motor skills.

So, as the unconditioned and cervico-tonic reflexes fade away, the child begins to hold his head, sit, stand, walk and carry out other voluntary movements.

Nervous System Damage in Newborns

Damage to the nervous system in newborns can occur both intrauterine (prenatally) and during childbirth (intrapartum). If harmful factors acted on the child at the embryonic stage of intrauterine development, severe, often life-incompatible defects occur. Damaging influences after 8 weeks of pregnancy can no longer cause gross deformities, but sometimes they are manifested by small deviations in the formation of the child - stigmas of dysembryogenesis.

If the damaging effect was exerted on the child after 28 weeks of intrauterine development, then the child will not have any defects, but some kind of disease may occur in a normally formed child. It is very difficult to isolate the impact harmful factor separately in each of these periods. Therefore, they often talk about the impact of a harmful factor in general in perinatal period... And the pathology of the nervous system of this period is called perinatal damage to the central nervous system.

Various acute or chronic diseases of the mother, work in hazardous chemical industries or work associated with various radiation, as well as harmful habits of parents - smoking, alcoholism, drug addiction can have an adverse effect on the child.

A child growing in the womb may be adversely affected by severe toxicosis of pregnancy, pathology of the child's place - the placenta, and the penetration of infection into the uterus. Childbirth is a very important event for a baby. Especially great trials fall on the share of the infant if childbirth occurs prematurely (prematurity) or rapidly, if there is birth weakness, breaks early fetal bladder and water flows out when the baby is very large and they help him to be born with special techniques, forceps or a vacuum extractor.

The main causes of damage to the central nervous system (CNS) are most often - hypoxia, oxygen starvation of various nature and intracranial birth trauma, less often intrauterine infections, hemolytic disease of newborns, malformations of the brain and spinal cord, hereditary metabolic disorders, chromosomal pathology.

Hypoxia ranks first among the causes of damage to the central nervous system, in such cases, doctors talk about hypoxic-ischemic damage to the central nervous system in newborns.

Hypoxia of the fetus and newborn is a complex pathological process in which the access of oxygen to the child's body decreases or completely stops (asphyxia). Asphyxia can be single or repeated, varying in duration, as a result of which carbon dioxide and other under-oxidized metabolic products accumulate in the body, damaging primarily the central nervous system.

With short-term hypoxia, only minor disturbances occur in the nervous system of the fetus and newborn cerebral circulation with the development of functional, reversible disorders. Long-term and repeated occurrence of hypoxic conditions can lead to severe disorders of cerebral circulation and even to the death of nerve cells.

Such damage to the neonatal nervous system is confirmed not only clinically, but also with the help of ultrasound Doppler examination of cerebral blood flow (USDG), ultrasound examination of the brain - neurosonography (NSG), computed tomography and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

In second place among the causes of damage to the central nervous system in the fetus and newborn is birth trauma. The true meaning, the meaning of birth trauma is damage to a newborn baby caused by mechanical impact directly on the fetus during childbirth.

Among the variety of birth injuries during the birth of an infant, the baby's neck experiences the greatest stress, resulting in various injuries to the cervical spine, especially the intervertebral joints and the junction of the first cervical vertebra and the occipital bone (atlanto-occipital joint).

There may be dislocations (dislocations), subluxations and dislocations in the joints. This disrupts blood flow in important arteries that supply blood to the spinal cord and brain.

Brain functioning in to a large extent depends on the state of the cerebral blood supply.

Often the root cause of such injuries is the weakness of labor in a woman. In such cases, forcedly applied rhodostimulation changes the mechanism of passage of the fetus through the birth canal. With such stimulated childbirth, the child is born not gradually, adapting to the birth canal, but quickly, which creates conditions for the displacement of the vertebrae, stretching and rupture of ligaments, dislocations, and cerebral blood flow is disturbed.

Traumatic damage to the central nervous system during childbirth most often occurs when the size of the child does not correspond to the size of the mother's pelvis, with wrong position fetus, during childbirth in breech presentation when premature, low birth weight babies are born and, conversely, children with large body weight, large size, since in these cases, various manual obstetric techniques are used.

When discussing the causes of traumatic lesions of the central nervous system, one should separately dwell on childbirth using the imposition of obstetric forceps. The fact is that even with the impeccable application of the forceps on the head, intense traction for the head follows, especially when trying to help the birth of the shoulders and torso. In this case, all the force with which the head is stretched is transmitted to the body through the neck. For the neck, such a huge load is unusually high, which is why when removing the baby with forceps, along with the pathology of the brain, damage to the cervical spinal cord occurs. Particular attention should be paid to the issue of damage to the child that occurs during a caesarean section. Why is this happening? Indeed, it is not difficult to understand the trauma to a child as a result of his passage through the birth canal. Why does a caesarean section, designed to bypass these paths and minimize the possibility of birth trauma, ends up in birth trauma? Where do these injuries come from during a cesarean section? The fact is that a transverse incision for a caesarean section in the lower segment of the uterus should theoretically correspond to the largest diameter of the head and shoulders. However, the circumference obtained with such an incision is 24-26 cm, while the circumference of the middle child's head is 34-35 cm.Therefore, removing the head and especially the child's shoulders by pulling the head with an insufficient incision of the uterus inevitably leads to injury to the cervical spine. That is why the most common cause of birth injuries is a combination of hypoxia and damage to the cervical spine and the spinal cord located in it.

In such cases, they talk about hypoxic-traumatic damage to the central nervous system in newborns. With birth trauma, cerebral circulation disorders often occur, up to hemorrhages. Most often these are small intracerebral hemorrhages in the cavity of the ventricles of the brain or intracranial hemorrhages between the meninges (epidural, subdural, subarachnoid). In these situations, the doctor diagnoses hypoxic-hemorrhagic lesions of the central nervous system in newborns.

When a baby is born with CNS damage, the condition can be severe. it acute period illness (up to 1 month), followed by early recovery (up to 4 months) and then - late recovery.

Of great importance for the appointment of the most effective treatment of CNS pathology in newborns is the determination of the leading complex of symptoms of the disease - the neurological syndrome. Let's consider the main syndromes of CNS pathology.

The main syndromes of CNS pathology

Hypertensive-hydrocephalic syndrome

When examining a sick infant, the expansion of the ventricular system of the brain is determined, detected by ultrasound of the brain, and an increase in intracranial pressure is recorded (given by echo-encephalography). Outwardly, in severe cases with this syndrome, there is a disproportionate increase in the size of the cerebral part of the skull, sometimes asymmetry of the head in the case of a unilateral pathological process, divergence of the cranial sutures (more than 5 mm), expansion and strengthening of the venous pattern on the scalp, thinning of the skin on the temples.

In hypertensive-hydrocephalic syndrome, either hydrocephalus, manifested by the expansion of the ventricular system of the brain, or hypertensive syndrome with an increase in intracranial pressure, may prevail. With the predominance of increased intracranial pressure, the child is restless, easily excitable, irritable, often screams loudly, sleep is light, the child often wakes up. With the predominance of hydrocephalic syndrome, children are inactive, lethargy and drowsiness are noted, sometimes developmental delay. Often, with an increase in intracranial pressure, children goggle, the Gref symptom periodically appears ( white stripe between the pupil and the upper eyelid), and in severe cases, there may be a symptom of the "setting sun", when the iris of the eye, like the setting sun, is half submerged under the lower eyelid; sometimes a convergent squint appears, the baby often throws his head back. Muscle tone can be either decreased or increased, especially in the muscles of the legs, which is manifested by the fact that he stands on his "tiptoe" when he supports him, and when he tries to walk, he crosses his legs.

The progression of hydrocephalic syndrome is manifested by an increase in muscle tone, especially in the legs, while the reflexes of support, automatic walking and crawling are reduced. In cases of severe, progressive hydrocephalus, seizures may occur.

Movement Disorders Syndrome

Movement disorder syndrome is diagnosed in most children with perinatal pathology Central nervous system. Movement disorders are associated with a violation of the nervous regulation of muscles in combination with an increase or decrease in muscle tone. It all depends on the degree (severity) and level of damage to the nervous system.

When making a diagnosis, the doctor must solve several very important questions, the main one of which is: what is it - a pathology of the brain or a pathology of the spinal cord? This is fundamentally important because the approach to treating these conditions is different.

Secondly, the assessment of muscle tone in different muscle groups is very important. The doctor uses special techniques to detect a decrease or increase in muscle tone in order to choose the right treatment.

Disorders of increased tone in different groups leads to a delay in the emergence of new motor skills in the child.

With an increase in muscle tone in the hands, the development of the grasping ability of the hands is delayed. This is manifested by the fact that the child takes the toy late and grabs it with the whole brush, fine finger movements are formed slowly and require additional training sessions with the child.

With an increase in muscle tone in lower limbs the child later stands on its legs, while leaning mainly on the front parts of the feet, as if "standing on tiptoe"; in severe cases, the lower extremities cross at the level of the shins, which prevents the formation of walking. In most children, over time and thanks to treatment, it is possible to achieve a decrease in muscle tone in the legs, and the child begins to walk well. As a memory of increased tone muscles can remain a high arch of the foot, which makes it difficult to select shoes. Autonomic-visceral dysfunction syndrome

This syndrome manifests itself as follows: marbling of the skin caused by blood vessels, a violation of thermoregulation with a tendency to an unreasonable decrease or increase in body temperature, gastrointestinal disorders - regurgitation, less often vomiting, a tendency to constipation or unstable stools, insufficient increase in weight. All these symptoms are most often combined with hypertensive-hydrocephalic syndrome and are associated with impaired blood supply to the posterior parts of the brain, in which all the main centers of the autonomic nervous system are located, which provides guidance for the most important life-supporting systems - cardiovascular, digestive, thermoregulatory, etc.

Convulsive syndrome

The tendency to convulsive reactions during the neonatal period and in the first months of a child's life is due to the immaturity of the brain. Convulsions occur only in cases of spread or development of a painful process in the cerebral cortex and have many different causes that a doctor must identify. This often requires an instrumental study of the brain (EEG), its blood circulation (Doppler) and anatomical structures (brain ultrasound, computed tomography, NMR, NSG), biochemical studies. Convulsions in a child can manifest themselves in different ways: they can be generalized, seizing the whole body, and localized - only in a certain muscle group. Convulsions are also different in nature: they can be tonic, when the child seems to be stretched out and freezes for a short time in a certain position, as well as clonic, in which the limbs and sometimes the whole body twitch, so that the child can get injured during the seizures ...

There are many options for the manifestation of seizures, which are identified by a neuropathologist from the story and description of the child's behavior by attentive parents. The correct diagnosis, that is, determining the cause of the child's seizure, is extremely important, since the timely appointment of effective treatment depends on it.

It is necessary to know and understand that convulsions in a child during the neonatal period, if serious attention is not paid to them in time, can become the onset of epilepsy in the future.

Symptoms to be referred to a pediatric neurologist

Summarizing all that has been said, we will briefly list the main deviations in the state of health of children, with which you need to contact a pediatric neurologist:

If the baby suckles sluggishly, takes breaks, gets tired at the same time. Choking, milk flowing through the nose is noted; if the child has a weak cry, and the voice has a nasal tone; if the newborn often spits up, does not gain enough weight; if the child is inactive, lethargic or, on the contrary, too restless and this anxiety increases even with minor changes in the environment; if the child has chin trembling, as well as upper or lower limbs, especially when crying; if the child often shudders for no reason, has difficulty falling asleep, while sleep is superficial, short in time; if the child constantly throws his head back while lying on his side; if there is too fast or, conversely, slow growth of the head circumference; if the child's motor activity is reduced, if he is very sluggish, and the muscles are flabby (low muscle tone), or, conversely, the child is, as it were, constrained in movements (high muscle tone), so that swaddling is even difficult; if one of the limbs (arm or leg) is less active in movements or is in an unusual position (clubfoot); if the child squints or goggles, a white stripe of the sclera is periodically visible; if the baby is constantly trying to turn his head in one direction only (torticollis); if thighs are restricted, or, conversely, the child lies in the frog position with the hips apart 180 degrees; if the child born by cesarean section or in breech presentation, if obstetric forceps were used during childbirth, if the baby was born prematurely or with a large weight, if the cord was entangled, if the child had convulsions in the maternity home.

Accurate diagnosis and timely and correctly prescribed treatment of the pathology of the nervous system are extremely important. Damage to the nervous system can be expressed to varying degrees: in some children, they are very pronounced from birth, in others, even severe disorders gradually decrease, but they do not disappear completely, and for many years mild manifestations remain - these are the so-called residual phenomena.

Late manifestations of birth trauma

There are also cases when at birth the child had minimal disturbances, or no one noticed them at all, but after a while, sometimes years, under the influence of certain loads: physical, mental, emotional - these neurological disorders manifest themselves with varying degrees of severity. These are the so-called late, or delayed, manifestations of birth trauma. Pediatric neurologists in everyday practice deal most often with such patients.

What are the signs of these consequences?

Most children with late manifestations show a marked decrease in muscle tone. Such children are credited with "innate flexibility", which is often used in sports, gymnastics, and even encouraged. However, to the disappointment of many, it should be said that extraordinary flexibility is not the norm, but, unfortunately, a pathology. These children easily fold their legs into the "frog" position, do the splits without difficulty. Often, such children are happily accepted in the rhythmic or artistic gymnastics section, in choreographic circles. But most of them cannot stand heavy workloads and are eventually deducted. However, these exercises are enough to form a pathology of the spine - scoliosis. Such children are not difficult to recognize: they often clearly show a protective tension of the cervico-occipital muscles, often have a slight torticollis, the shoulder blades stick out like wings, the so-called "pterygoid scapula", they can stand at different levels, like the shoulders. In profile, it can be seen that the child has a sluggish posture, stooped back.

By the age of 10-15, some children with signs of trauma to the cervical spine during the period develop a newborn typical signs early cervical osteochondrosis, the most characteristic symptom of which in children is headaches. The peculiarity of headaches with osteochondrosis in children is that, despite their different intensity, pains are localized in the cervico-occipital region. As they grow older, pains often become more pronounced on one side and, starting in the occipital region, spread to the forehead and temples, sometimes give to the eye or ear, and intensify when turning the head, so that a short-term loss of consciousness may even occur.

Wise nature initially laid down the basic reflexes of newborns, allowing them to adapt to a new outlook without stress. Coming to Big world, children are not able to control their body. The baby's brain is not fully formed and has not yet learned to function in such a way as to support all vital systems little man.

The control of a tiny organism is carried out with the help of unconditioned reflexes of the newborn, brought to automatism. The primitive centers of the spinal cord and brain that have formed during pregnancy can control them, provided correct development nervous system.

Congenital reflexes are a kind of baby's defenses that help him survive in any external conditions. Some reflexes fade within 4 weeks, while others last up to 3-4 months

Determination of basic reflexes of the newborn

The set of congenital reflexes of newborns can be presented in the form of a table with explanatory additions. We have compiled a table, indicating in it all the reflexes that indicate good health babies. All data is taken from medical sources and is accurate. After examining the data in the table, you will find out their name and understand what they show:

Allows you to determine the correct functioning of the nervous system, to establish muscle tone. It is important as protection against threats - for example, falls.
Sucking	Shows the level of maturity of the child, has a calming effect. Prepares for new meals.
Prehensile	Reveals the degree of development of the nervous system. Allows you to understand how excitable the child is.
Robinson	Shows muscle tenacity and tone. Leads to development fine motor skills... Remained from primitive people and does not apply to human development.
Proboscis	Provides an opportunity to check mimic and sucking muscles. In response to the stimulus, the child pulls out his lips with a "proboscis".
Babkin's palmar-oral reflex	The oldest reflex aimed at finding the necessary nutrition different ways... Determines the correctness of the development of the entire nervous system.
Galant spinal automatism	Reveals birth trauma, shows the degree of functioning of the spinal cord and the state of the central nervous system.
Stepping or automatic walking reflex (Babinsky)	Denies or confirms the presence of cerebral palsy.
Bauer	Serves to check the muscle tone and condition of the spinal cord. It is called a creeping reflex.
Search reflex of Kussmaul	Helps the newborn to find the breast, prepares for new nutrition.

How to test your reflexes yourself?

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After leaving the womb, the child gets to know the world, and you get to know it. For him it is extreme conditions but the baby is armed and fights for life using the reflexes of newborns. Knowing their characteristics and physiological reactions, you can independently check their presence in your child. Simple manipulations with the baby will help you understand how healthy your baby is, whether it works protective functions and whether he has developmental problems.

Reflexes to test the nervous system

Reflex Moro. Put the newborn on the back, drop the toy near his head so that you get a loud sound. Lift the baby by the legs. In both cases, the baby should spread the handles to the side, opening the fists. Having calmed down, he returns his arms to their original position, bending at the elbows and pressing them against the calf (takes the usual embryo position for him) (see also:). The manifested reaction should not be weak, but clear, observing the symmetry of outstretched arms. Disappears by 4-5 months.
Sucking. The sucking process seems easy only outwardly, and in order for it to work, the coordinated work of five pairs of nerves of the skull is necessary. The check shows the maturity of the newborn. Bring your breast to your baby's mouth or touch the pacifier to your cheek. The baby will turn his head to the object, feeling for a nipple or a pacifier, will make rhythmic swallowing movements with his sponges, mouth, tongue. Please note that with signs Cerebral palsy child does not just turn his head, but throws it up sharply. It is very important that the sucking automatism is satisfied. Sucking calms the baby emotionally. If the baby does not satisfy the sucking need through the breast, he begins to pull any objects into his mouth. The weakening of reactions occurs after 1 year, by 1.5 years they disappear.
Proboscis. Helps to identify pathological changes brain. Laying the newborn on its back, lightly touch the baby's upper lip with your finger or nipple. The child reacts by pulling his lips into a "tube". The presence of a reflex is an indicator correct reduction circular muscle of the mouth. It fades away by 2-3 months. If there is no reaction, see a doctor.
Babkin's palmar-oral automatism. Symmetry in movements is checked. Press gently with your hand on the center of the baby's palm. The child opens his mouth and tries to raise his head in your direction. If at the time of testing the child is hungry, the reaction will be pronounced. The absence of a reflex or its non-manifestation within three months indicates a disturbance in the functioning of the nervous system.

The Moro reflex is very important for determining the state of health of the child - if the reflex is not fully expressed, this may be associated with congenital cardiovascular diseases

Reflexes to check muscle tone

Spinal reflex Galant. Put the baby on the tummy, gently run your finger along the left side of the spine, without bringing the finger to the vertebrae by 1 cm. The baby will react by arching the back in opposite side and flexion of the left leg. Swiping along right side, the child bends to the left and bends the right leg. It takes six months.
Robinson's grasping and automatism. Two similar tests designed to check the nervous system and muscle tone. When testing grasping automatism, attach your forefinger in the palm of the crumbs. The child must grasp it tightly by squeezing it into a fist. Checking Robinson's automatism, just touch the palm of the crumbs, causing a catchy reaction. A hungry kid grabs a finger so that it is difficult to open his fist. The grasping automatism goes away by 4 months. Growing up, the child will move from grasping to conscious action with objects, their correct holding and grasping.
Babinski's automatic gait reflex or step reflex. Take the baby under the armpits, lift it vertically so that it reaches the floor or other surface with your toes. Tilt it forward a little and see if the baby is trying to step over with its legs, imitating walking up the stairs. Some babies can cross their legs in the shins - this is also a normal reaction, it lasts up to the age of 1.5 months.
Perez reflex. For a competent check, you need to run your finger along the vertebrae, starting from the coccyx and bringing the finger to the neck. A sharp cry, bending arms and legs, lifting the pelvis is a normal reaction. We check muscle tone. Leaves for 3-4 months.
Bauer's reflex. An automatic action showing the crawling ability of the newborn. Having laid the baby on his stomach, press your palm to his foot. The child, sensing support, will try to push off from it, making crawling movements with his legs. The first manifestation of creeping automatism falls on 4-5 days after birth, the reaction disappears by 4 months. You can read about how to develop crawling in our other materials.

Photographers love to use Robinson's innate automatism when creating family photo sessions with children. Toddlers grip an adult's finger so hard that it can be difficult to open the fist

Search automatism of Kussmaul

The reflex is tested in the mouth area and is similar in reaction to sucking and palmar-oral automatism. It requires close attention when conducting it. Carefully, almost without touching, touch the corners of the baby's lips. The baby should start looking for an irritant hinting at the object of nutrition - he is looking for the mother's breast. The baby's lower lip drops and stretches with the tongue towards your finger. Make sure that your finger does not touch your lips, as this manipulation tests a completely different reflex. It lasts up to 3-5 months, then disappears. Important: if the reflex does not go away by 3-4 months, there are reasons for diagnosing a brain abnormality.

Correctly checking the basic reflexes of newborns on your own will help you with a video, which shows everything clearly, on a specific child. Carry out your manipulations carefully and carefully. Remember about positive attitude and try not to scare your treasure.

If the baby does not like your touch, he may turn away from you, be capricious, upset and cry. Start checking when the baby has good mood... Combine checks with play and communication, conduct them unobtrusively, observing the child's reaction.

The pediatrician checks the newborn in the same way. Finding the absence or slowing down of the reaction, the doctor may prescribe an examination by a neurologist. Unconditional automatism of a newborn is a programmed by nature indicator correct work all systems of the body, the main of which is the nervous system. If in the set of unconditioned reflexes there is no reaction to at least one item, urgently contact a specialist. Checking innate reflexes is very important for early diagnosis diseases and should be carried out in a timely manner.

The first 28 days after birth, the child adapts to absolutely extraordinary conditions for him. For the survival of the baby, he has a certain set of reflexes that nature and evolution give him. Congenital reflexes of newborns are absolutely necessary, until, as they grow older, they do not have their own acquired ones. Only thanks to the automatisms at birth does the baby have a certain set of skills for further development and growth.

Conditioned and unconditioned reflexes

All the reflexes he has on this moment, are called unconditional, since they were originally laid down. Over time, some of them disappear, and new ones come in their place. Each age has its own conditioned reflexes, which, provided that they are preserved in the future, are considered pathological. Therefore, in the practice of a pediatric neurologist, checking the state of automatic reactions of a toddler to certain type stimulus is diagnostically significant.

At an older age, with some experience, the baby develops his own reflexes, which specialists call conditioned. As the nervous system and brain grows and matures, they become more and more, in addition, they are constantly becoming more complex.

Among all unconditioned reflexes, 15 are distinguished by neuropathologists, which are among the most important. Some of them are necessary in order to survive the transition from intrauterine existence to the external environment. Moreover, they disappear from a person immediately after birth. Others are needed to develop new skills and persist for the rest of your life. So, for example, normal life activity is provided by the swallowing reflex, sucking, a set of spinal reflexes and the breathing reflex.

Protect the baby's body from the effects of aggressive external environment a certain set of reflexes helps. They save him in cold and heat, bright light, and other irritants.

Among the vital conditioned reflexes, one can note the breath holding reaction, which works only during the passage of the baby through the birth canal of the mother. And immediately after giving birth, it disappears.

Types of reflexes and their classification

Let us consider in more detail what reflexes of newborns are, classification and research methodology.

Oral

Oral reflexes after birth in a child are the following:

Sucking. The ability to take the mother's breast or nipple on a bottle with nutrition almost from birth is called the sucking reflex, and the ability to swallow milk is a manifestation of the swallowing reflex. Both are essential for the nutrition of the newborn. But the difference is that the first gradually passes, and the second persists for the rest of your life.

Up to what age does a baby have a sucking reflex? It must be said that its formation still occurs in utero, since it is necessary not only for the process of absorbing food, but also for mental peace. Therefore, when the little one is capricious, the nipple helps him, he feels more confident with it. The significance of this automatism is great in the first three years of life, and decreases by the age of four, when the sucking reflex in the child fades away. Dissatisfaction with it can lead to a violation of the psyche and the development of neuroses and neurosis-like states in the child in the future.

When premature babies sucking reflex appears? In these babies, it may appear late and be too weak, so they have to be fed with a catheter or with a spoon. But worst of all, if it is completely absent. This indicates damage to the central nervous system.

One of the varieties of oral reflexes is the proboscis. In order to check its presence in a baby, you just need to lightly touch his lips, and they immediately stretch out in the form of a tube or proboscis. By two or three months, this phenomenon should completely disappear.

Neuropathologists also distinguish the palmar-mouth-head reflex, which also has a second name - the Babkin reflex. It lies in the fact that if the baby is pressed with his fingers on both palms at once, then he opens his mouth and tilts his head. Babkin's reflex in newborns is considered normal when it manifests itself from two to four months.

The search reflex, or the Kussmaul reflex, exists so that the child can quickly find a food source. It manifests itself when they touch the corner of the baby's mouth, while his head turns in the same direction. This phenomenon persists until the end of 4 months, for some this automatism disappears earlier. Then a more mature visual analyzer comes into play than at birth, and the baby looks for food when he sees the mother's breast or the nipple on the bottle.

Spinal reflexes

The working condition of the muscles provides a set of spinal reflexes. Among them, the most important is the upper protective one, which is determined already in the first hours of a baby's life, and is manifested in the fact that if the baby is put on its stomach, then its head immediately turns to the side. Sometimes he even tries to lift her. This protection helps the child not to suffocate while lying on his stomach. One and a half months after birth, this reflex is no longer noted.

Grasping reflexes

Not everyone knows what the Robinson reflex is in newborns. But many people know that if the fingers of a mother or another person, the baby can grab it hard enough in such a way that it can be lifted. Such a manifestation of the grasping reflex to a large degree of severity can be observed up to four months. Then he weakens and disappears completely.

Babinsky's plantar reflex is that when the edge of the sole is stroked in a child, his fingers open like a fan, and the pile is bent from the back. This reflex has been observed for a long time, and can be observed even in a two-year-old child.

In response to the question of what the Moro reflex is, it must be said that it is named after the German pediatrician, who first described it, noting certain reactions at the time of treatment of newborns by an obstetrician immediately after birth.

The Moro reflex in infants is usually triggered in several ways:

legs of the baby, who lies on his back, sharply straighten, or raise together with bottom torso;

slap with both hands on both sides on a surface located approximately 20 centimeters from the baby's head;

take the child in your arms and sharply lower it by 30 centimeters, and then return it to its previous height;

just clap your hands directly next to the child.

I must say that it manifests itself in two stages. At the first stage, the child spreads the arms to the sides, unclenching his fingers on them, and at the same time straightens the legs. In the second phase, there is a return to the starting position, while the baby sometimes even hugs himself with his arms. The Moro reflex in newborns is a phenomenon that is characteristic of children under 5 months of age.

Kernig's reflex is that the baby, in response to an attempt to unclench the leg in the hip and knee joint after bending them, it shows strong resistance. V normal condition this cannot be done easily. The Kernig reflex is noted up to 4 months.

The reflex in the baby, which is called an automatic gait, is interestingly manifested. It manifests itself if the baby is lifted and tilted slightly forward. This automatism is known to many, and it also bears another name - a step reflex in a newborn.

The support reflex is that the child can step tightly with his feet when he is carefully placed on a flat surface. But first, he bends his knees.

The Bauer's reflex normally appears 3-4 days from the birth of the child, and manifests itself in the fact that the baby begins to make attempts to crawl if you put him on his stomach and press a little with his palms on the soles of the feet. Such automatism disappears in three to four months.

There is also the Galant reflex, which is that the child's spine reacts to external stimuli. If you run your finger along the spinal column, the baby will bend its back, and the leg will bend from the side of the stimulus.

If the baby's head is turned to the side, then you can see how his arm and leg are straightened from the same side. This reaction is called the Mangus-Klein reflex and it lasts up to two months.

Absence or decreased reflexes

Checking the presence and strength of the baby's unconditioned reflexes in response to various stimuli can sometimes reveal their absence or a decrease in the automatic reaction that should be observed in given age... This may be due to traumatic injury during childbirth or various diseases... Sometimes some medications you take have this effect.

Some weakening of reflex activity is observed in children who were not full-term, or were born with asphyxia. Let's take a closer look at the reasons for this deviation:

The weakening of reactions that are aimed at absorbing food is sometimes explained very simply - the baby is not hungry.

Situations when reflexes are not observed at all are especially dangerous. Their complete absence is considered a reason for the immediate placement of the child in the intensive care unit, while only highly qualified specialists should deal with it.

The reasons for the absolute absence normal reactions, there may be malformations, traumatic injuries occurring during childbirth, as well as severe ischemia immediately after birth due to the umbilical cord entanglement of the fetus in the womb.

However, parents should not despair, even if reflexes are not detected at first. They should understand that the reserve forces of the baby's body are large enough, and with a timely measures taken there is high probability the fact that his condition is normalized and, and he will grow up to be a healthy person.

What else do you need to pay attention to?

It is imperative to check the child with a neurologist for the timely appearance and extinction of reflexes. These indicators are very important, since they determine the degree of development and violation of the baby's central nervous system. A young mother should also be attentive to her child, and check:

symmetry of the manifestation of automatic reactions;

weakening or oppression of them;

an unusual increase in the form of nervous or muscle excitability.

Some reflexes should be used to conduct daily exercise with the baby. Best suited for this are automatic walking, the support reflex, and the grasp reflex. Their use in a daily complex will allow the child to take already meaningful actions in the future.

Formation of new reflexes

Conditioned reflexes begin to form at the end of the first month of life. The child's motor analyzer and vestibular apparatus begin to work. But such reactions are still quite weak, and can be easily slowed down. This indicates that the cortical structures in a small person are still immature, and excitement in them significantly prevails over inhibition.

In the second month of life, auditory, tactile and visual acquired automatisms appear. And the main types conditional inhibition can be determined by the fifth or sixth month. An important condition timely development of conditioned reflex activity of the brain is Active participation adults in the process of their formation through learning and games.

By the end of 12 months, active development the second signaling system and the combination of its activity with the first. At the same time, the first system makes it possible to analyze and control the reaction to various stimuli coming from outside. Such a system is also available in animals. The second signaling system is formed only in humans when there is an association of spoken or written words with objects or actions.

The main reflexes of newborn babies include sucking, protective, grasping, searching, stepping and setting. In addition, when talking about what reflexes a newborn should have, the reflex of Escherich, Moreau, Babinsky, Bauer and Babkin is mentioned. Newborns also have other reflexes - you can find out about their classification and characteristics in this material.

A healthy full-term baby is born with a certain set of congenital unconditioned reflexes, which ensure his nutrition and contact with the outside world, and are also the basis for the development of more complex shapes activity of the nervous system.

Therefore, it is recommended to strengthen the innate reflexes of newborns, stimulating the further development of the child's motor skills, the activity of the nervous system, as well as his intellectual and emotional development.

Some unconditioned reflexes of a newborn baby do not appear immediately after birth, but after several weeks or months. Checks and evaluates physiological reflexes newborns are a pediatrician, and on the basis of them, the development and activity of the child's nervous system as a whole is assessed.

What physiological reflexes does a newborn child have?

Sucking reflex

When stroking the lips or around the mouth, the child begins to make active sucking movements. This reflex of a newborn baby manifests itself immediately after birth and lasts up to 2 months. Then it is replaced by the child's desire to put any objects in the reach into his mouth.

This is one of the main reflexes of the newborn, it helps the baby to explore the surrounding space, soothes and helps prepare the articulatory apparatus for speech. Helps to stimulate this pacifier reflex.

There are many opponents of its use, and in each case the issue is decided individually, but positive side its application lies in the fact that when making sucking movements, the still movable bones of the skull seem to vibrate, and this prevents too rapid overgrowth of the anterior fontanelle, which can occur even before the end of the growth of the brain. In addition, increased blood flow to the head improves brain nutrition and accelerates the elimination of harmful substances.

Escherich's mouth reflex

With light pressure on the top or lower lip the child pulls out his lips with a tube. This unconditioned reflex newborns exist during the first month of life.

Search reflex

When stroking the child's cheek, he reflexively turns his head in the same direction, as if looking for a source of irritation. The reflex begins to manifest itself at 2 months and lasts up to 4 months. It is useful to train this reflex additionally, as it prepares the child to roll over from back to stomach.

Protective automatism

When laying on his stomach, the baby reflexively turns his head to the side, freeing his breath. This reflex of newborn babies of the first year of life is especially pronounced in the first weeks of life and exists up to 2 months.

Reflex Moro

It occurs when a feeling of falling (lowering the head relative to the body by more than 30 °), loud sounds, bright light. The child first spreads his hands and unclenches his fingers, and then brings them together, as if hugging himself. Having an idea of the characteristics of this reflex of the newborn, parents should remember that its manifestation should be avoided, since it causes a sharp rush of adrenaline. The conditions for the manifestation of this reflex arise when bathing, changing clothes, gymnastics and other sharp manipulations with the baby's body. When this reflex manifests itself, you need to calm the baby, take him in your arms, change the position, bringing it closer to the intrauterine one. The reflex exists from birth to 4 months.

Grasp reflex

Speaking about what reflexes a newborn child has, they definitely mention the grasping one. It consists in the involuntary grasping and holding of an object placed in the baby's palm. Sometimes babies hold on so tightly that they can be lifted by the object being held.

This innate reflex of a newborn baby exists from the moment of birth and up to 3 months. You can train it by placing an oblong object in the child's palms so that all fingers squeeze it. If the kid is hiding thumb in the cam, it must be removed and placed correctly. You can then gently pull on the object to develop your toddler's ability to grip objects.

Reflexes of newborns and infants in the first year of life

Reflex Babinsky

When passing along the outer edge of the child's foot in the direction from the heel to the V toe, extension and fan-shaped spreading of the toes occurs. This congenital unconditioned reflex of newborns develops the muscles of the lower leg and promotes correct positioning of the foot while walking.

Opening reflex

When stroking the back of the hand from the wrist to the fingers, the child opens the fingers. If a 4-5 month old baby, lying on his back, is taken by the forearms and transferred to a sitting position, then in response he reduces his shoulders and bends his arms at the elbows, as if pulling up. The flexion of the arms is so strong that the child can support his weight in this position for a while. The reflex can be trained several times a day by pulling on the handles and forcing you to pull yourself up. This reflex develops the muscles of the arms and contributes to more accurate reaching for objects.

Stance reflex and stepping

The child is brought into an upright position and the body is tilted forward, in response to this, he straightens his legs and leans on them or even takes a step forward. This reflex of newborns in infants exists from birth to 3 months. After 3 months, the child is already confidently standing on its legs.

Kick-off reflex

When the palm touches the feet of a child lying on his back with legs bent and pressed to the tummy, he pushes off the palm and straightens his legs, moving forward. The reflex trains the muscles of the legs, helps to strengthen the skill of standing up, and helps with the accumulation of gas in the intestines. It is important that the baby should push off with both legs at the same time and with the same force.

Plantar "grasping" reflex

When pressing on the base of the toes of a child lying on his back, he reflexively flexes the toes. The reflex lasts up to 9 months. Develops walking skills and can be strengthened, for which you need to regularly press on the baby's foot at the base of the toes.

Cross-leg reflex

When you touch the middle of the baby's foot in the arch area with your finger, the other leg first bends and then straightens. The reflex exists from birth to 1.5 months and contributes to the development of walking skills.

Bauer's crawl reflex

In the position of the child lying on his stomach with the pressure of his palms on his feet, he makes attempts to crawl. This reflex exists from the 1st to the 16th week of life and requires mandatory training, as it is the basis for the development of crawling. At first, the kids do it rather reluctantly, grunt, but then they get better and better.

Nothing should distract the infant from feeding. Already in the first days, he is sensitive to emotional condition mother, and by the age of one month she usually refuses to suckle if the mother is agitated. During the meal, the child should feel that the mother is in no hurry and is not nervous.

What else refers to the basic reflexes of newborn babies (with video)

Babkin's palmar-oral reflex

When pressed with fingers, on the palms of the hands of a child lying on his back, he has a reflex opening of the mouth, protrusion of the tongue, sometimes rolling of the eyes and extension of the legs. The reflex exists from birth to 3 months. You can develop it using famous game"Forty-forty". This reflex lays the foundation for the further development of speech.

Talent reflex

If a baby, lying on its back or on its side, draws strokes in the lumbar region on both sides of the spine, it bends the legs and pulls them to the stomach. If the child lies on his stomach, then you need to irritate the pelvic region in the same way. This causes the hip to lift and the leg to bend on the same side.

Installation automatism

Speaking about what reflexes newborns have, we must not forget about the installation automatism. When the head is turned, the body also turns at the same time. The reflex lasts from the 1st to the 4th month.

Chain attunement reflex

When the head is turned in the same direction, the shoulder girdle, trunk, and then pelvic girdle... The reflex manifests itself in children over 5 months of age.

All of these reflexes are normal for babies. a certain age and fade away in due time.

Watch the Newborn Reflexes video below:

Pathological reflexes of newborns

Talking about the main congenital reflexes newborns, we must not forget that babies may develop pathological (incorrect) reflexes that are not provided for by the "program" laid down in them. As a rule, they do not arise by chance, but due to some reason. And there are many of them. One example is a child's habit of sucking on their thumb.

It must be remembered that the child constantly does this not out of harm. The reason for this behavior can be different.

If the baby begins to suck his thumb in early age, from 1 to 3 months, then he can do it in between feedings, as if imitating them, or in case he has a tummy ache. The fact is that the baby sucked a finger while still in the womb, and this became a habit for him. As a rule, this habit goes away with age. Generally, pathological reflex newborn babies can have any normal reflex that lasts longer than the time it is set for. In this case, you need to consult a pediatrician.