If You Stroke a Newborn's Cheek the Baby Will Turn Her Head Toward Your Hand This Is Called the?

As newborns take in a whole new environment outside the womb, they are far too busy to worry about survival tactics. Luckily, there are innate reflexes in place to help protect newborns in the first few months of life.

"Newborn reflexes are automatic responses to stimuli," explains pediatrician Edith J. Chernoff, MD, director of Premier Kids at La Rabida Children's Hospital in Chicago and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Chicago. "The nature of a newborn reflex is that the baby doesn't have to think about what to do, but rather does things instinctively."

Most newborn reflexes exist to help the baby survive in her first days, when she's most helpless. "Although we know that they occur in babies, we're unable to explain exactly why some of these reflexes exist," Dr. Chernoff adds.

Newborn Reflexes: A Look at the Developing Nervous System

The benefit of newborn reflexes to parents and healthcare providers is that the reflexes give information as to whether a baby's central nervous system is developing normally.

"Most newborn reflexes begin to fade by the second month, and most should be gone by around the fourth month," says Kenneth Wible, MD, medical director of the Pediatric Care Center at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Mo.

Parents who notice persistent newborn reflexes should discuss this baby behavior with their baby's healthcare provider. "In most cases things are fine, but baby reflexes that continue after the fourth to sixth month may indicate a neurologic concern," Dr. Wible says.

To help you recognize newborn reflexes as part of normal baby behavior, here's an overview of the most common reflexes, when they occur, and what they entail:

Rooting reflex. "The rooting reflex prompts an infant to turn her head toward the nipple when her cheek or mouth is stroked," Chernoff says. "The purpose of this reflex is to help the baby find the nipple at feeding time." Initially an infant will root from side to side, turning her head toward the nipple and then away in decreasing arcs. "By about 3 weeks, a baby will simply turn her head and move her mouth into position to suck," she says. The rooting newborn reflex disappears by 4 months.

Sucking reflex. "Sucking is a reflex that's present even before birth," Chernoff says. "An infant can sometimes be seen on a prenatal ultrasound sucking her thumb." After birth, when something touches the roof of a baby's mouth, he will automatically begin to suck. "Over time, sucking becomes coordinated with swallowing and breathing, and these synched baby behaviors improve with time," Chernoff adds. The sucking reflex is important to survival because an infant who can't suck and coordinate sucking with swallowing and breathing will have difficulty with feeding and gaining weight. Sucking doesn't disappear, but by 4 months it becomes a voluntary activity rather than a newborn reflex.

Stepping reflex. "If you hold a newborn upright and place the soles of his feet on a table, he will begin to take steps," Wible says. Although newborns can't support their own weight, they'll place one foot in front of the other and appear to walk. "The stepping reflex is ingrained in our primitive instincts to move," Wible says. The purpose of this baby reflex is to prepare a child to walk, and it recurs around 12 months. As a newborn reflex, however, it usually disappears by the second month.

Palmer and plantar grasps. If you stroke the palm of a baby's hand, she will grip your finger tightly. This newborn reflex is called the palmer grasp. Similarly, if you stroke the bottom of a newborn's foot, her toes will curl. This is called the plantar grasp. "When a baby is first born, the palmer grasp can be so strong that it may seem like you could lift the baby this way, and she would hold her own weight," Chernoff says. "But this is only a reflex, and the baby has no real control and could let go suddenly." Chernoff says the palmer grasp usually disappears at five to six months, and the plantar grasp by 9 to 12 months.

Startle reflex. The startle or "moro" reflex is a newborn reflex that doesn't have a clear explanation as a survival tactic. "The startle reflex occurs when a baby's head shifts position suddenly or falls backward, or if a baby is startled by something loud or abrupt," Chernoff says. "He will react by throwing out his arms and legs, extending his neck, and bringing his arms together as he cries out." The startle reflex is an odd-looking baby behavior that can be frightening if it's mistaken for a seizure. "But the startle reflex can be distinguished from a seizure because it only lasts a few seconds," she says. This reflex disappears at around 6 months.

Other Baby Reflexes

There are other defensive baby reflexes that newborns exhibit for the purpose of survival as well. "For example, if a pillow or blanket falls over a newborn's eyes, nose, or mouth, the baby will shake her head from side to side and flail her arms to push the object away so she can breathe," Chernoff says. Also, if an object comes straight toward a newborn baby, she will turn her head and try to squirm out of the way. But if the object is on a course that would result in a near miss instead of a collision, the baby will watch calmly instead of flinching, Chernoff adds.

Newborns are amazing creatures with one main goal as they transition from the womb to the world: survival. Your newborn's reflexes are in place during those first crucial weeks to help do just that.

If You Stroke a Newborn's Cheek the Baby Will Turn Her Head Toward Your Hand This Is Called the?

Source: https://www.everydayhealth.com/hs/your-developing-baby/newborn-reflexes/