Have You Noticed What Your Newborn Can Do? All About Newborn Reflexes

Your baby is born with a set of reflexes. Some you will notice and some are a little more unusual and you might not have really thought about what is happening.

The reflexes are there to support your baby’s survival and development in the early months while they are learning more about how to control their own body. They are automatic, involuntary muscle responses originating in the brainstem.

As your baby grows and develops, gaining more control over their body and more awareness of their behaviours, the reflexes gradually disappear. The reflexes you notice in your newborn or across those first 3-4 months are not an indicator of their physical or emotional readiness for any big developmental steps.

Your baby’s reflexes will be assessed in the first couple of days of their life, usually by the doctor or midwife undertaking the Newborn Infant Physical Examination (NIPE). If your baby is born in a hospital it will commonly be done before you go home. They might also be checked again when you see your GP at 6-8 weeks.

Moro (Startle) Reflex

This is probably the one you are most familiar with and impacts the most on yours and baby’s life. It is a protective response to a sudden movement or loud noise, particularly when baby’s head is falling backwards. You will notice it when you try to lie your baby down; their arms and legs reach out to the sides, palms up. They may also do it if you are playing games where you move them up and down, those little arms coming out to the side as they feel the ‘fall’ sensation.

It can also be something that wakes your baby up; sometimes those arms fly out and they startle themselves awake. They may also cry from the startle.

This reflex usually disappears around 3-4 months although you might still notice is occasionally. Whilst this is a really normal, involuntary response to a stimulus it can make life tricky for both you and your baby. To help them you can try a swaddle or letting them sleep in a smaller space such as a moses basket or small crib where they don’t have space to move their arms wide. Make sure you still follow safe sleep guidelines.

Rooting

The rooting reflex is the one that helps your baby find the nipple for those early breastfeeds. A light touch to baby’s cheek or mouth will see them turn their head to that direction, open their mouth and maybe start to make sucking movements. It is a great survival instinct to help them feed for the first 3-4 months until they become more intentional about their need and search for food.

Sucking

The sucking reflex is a really important one for baby to feed. Babies even start to practice in the womb, you might see them sucking their thumb or their mouth moving when you have your scans.

The reflex response is to the nipple, or bottle teat, touching the roof of their mouth. This stimulates the suck. It can be a bit of a tricky one to co-ordinate with breathing and swallowing, so although it is a reflex it can take a bit of practice.

Sucking is really calming for babies so it can go far beyond feeding. If you use a dummy/pacifier for your baby they will show the same sucking response with the dummy teat as well. For some babies this can help them calm and settle but just be cautious not to miss feeding cues by using the dummy.

This becomes more intentional sucking than reflex around 4-6 months.

Palmar/Grasp

If you stroke the palm of your baby’s hand you will find they grip your finger. If you try and move away they might hold even tighter! This is such a cute early reflex with baby reacting to and holding your finger.

You will start to see a shift to more intentional grasping as your baby reaches around 4 months. Earlier than this you can give them a toy and they will hold due to their reflex but then you start to see them realise they are holding, to reach or grab with intention and, usually a few weeks later, work out how to release their grip.

Stepping

Does it seem like your baby can walk? When you stand them up with their soles on the floor they have a stepping reflex where they put one foot in front of the other. It does look like they know how to walk!

This stepping reflex likely helps your baby ‘crawl’ their way to the breast when they are looking for their first feed. Pushing their feet on your tummy helps them move to find the breast. You might even notice in those early weeks that your baby likes to have something to push their feet on when they are feeding.

This one is usually gone after around 2 months. Don’t worry it won’t feel like long before your little one is back on their feet and getting ready to really walk this time.

Babinski Reflex

When you stroke your baby’s foot from heel to toes what do you see happen? This reflex causes your baby’s big toes to move upwards and the rest of the toes to fan out. It can take around 12 months to integrate as your baby’s nervous system and brain/spinal cord connections mature. After 12-24 months you can usually then see a plantar reflex where you touch under baby’s toes and they curl.

Tonic Neck

You might not even realise your baby is doing this as a reflex but once you see it, it is fun to notice.

When your baby’s head turns to one side, that arm moves out straight and the other bends at the elbow usually with fist clenched. Your baby looks like they are about to start fencing or flying like superman! You can have fun with this for around 5-6 months.

Tongue Thrust

A reflex that has a protective function. If you try to insert something into your baby’s mouth they will push it back out with their tongue. When it is a nipple or bottle teat they need the rooting and sucking reflex to help them figure out what response they need to give! Something like a spoon or toy going in unexpectedly should get pushed straight back out.

Losing the tongue thrust reflex around 6 months is one of the indicators of being ready to introduce solid foods.

There are a few reflexes that we don’t lose – you still have them too. Things like blinking when something is bright or close to your eyes, coughing or sneezing, yawning and gagging.

It can be fun to spot and stimulate these reflexes in your baby. Some of them might seem a little odd but they are all part of your baby developing a functioning nervous system and co-ordination of their body themselves. As their body and brain develops they lose the reflexes and, when the time is right, move on to their next milestones.

Some of these reflexes will be part of your baby’s newborn or 6-8 week check up because they do show a healthy baby and developing nervous system. If you notice anything that concerns you mention it to your doctor or health visitor.

Beth x