What are reflexes?

Reflexes exist to keep us safe. Essentially, they are nervous system reactions caused by physical stimulation of the body’s receptors. These responses occur without conscious control. They are rapid and take a short cut to action.

As an example, you quickly withdraw your hand if you accidentally touch a hot or sharp object. This is an automatic reaction to protect your hand from damage. You don’t think about it. It just happens. You will want to keep this reflex working!

The reflex that produces saliva when eating makes swallowing and digestion easier. You will want to keep that one too! Many other automatic functions in the body are essential, such as maintaining blood sugar levels and digesting food. We need them throughout life for survival.

In contrast, the primitive baby reflexes, usually referred to as primitive reflexes, or infant reflexes are not needed in later childhood and adulthood. In fact, their persistence can hinder the child’s brain development and can be a major contributor to physical, intellectual, emotional, behavioural and social problems. In children with developmental diagnoses and related issues these persisting reflexes have a wide range of effects.

What are Primitive Infant Reflexes?

Every baby needs them before and after they are born!

They are automatic.

In utero they:

• maintain the correct position of the foetus
• help progress and turning during a vaginal birth
• train the bladder and bowel to function automatically
• provide movement in set patterns

In a newborn, they:

• aid survival in very early childhood.
• provide the first breath of life
• protect the airway
• assist feeding.
• aid survival in very early childhood.

Early Emergence of the Primitive Reflexes

These primitive reflexes relate to the very early stage of human development and are in-born, most developing in utero. The baby doesn’t learn them. They should develop naturally during the pregnancy.

One example is the grasp reaction of a baby. This Robinson Grasp Reflex is triggered by specific touch on the baby’s hands. I remember the strong grip on my hair when my babies were new!

Most primitive reflexes are present before birth and the earliest one, The Fear Paralysis Reflex, develops at 5 to 8 weeks of pregnancy. Most mums-to-be don’t even know they are pregnant at this stage.

Another example, the two Spinal Primitive Reflexes, Spinal Pereze and Spinal Galant, are stimulated by touch to the back. During the birth process they help the baby wriggle down the birth canal during contractions and also empty the baby’s bladder to rid the body of waste. This automatic response assists the birth and promotes normal functioning of the baby’s bladder and bowel. Having served their purpose during the natural birth and in early life, the reflexes are no longer required and they become progressively inactivated by a process of maturation leading to reflex integration.

What if the Primitive Reflexes don’t integrate?

If these Spinal Reflexes are not stimulated during birth and subsequently inactivated, they can result in later difficulties controlling behaviors, for example with attention, being still and/or bedwetting, soiling and other far-reaching problems with coordination and anxiety. In fact anything that should be controlled by their brain.

Such difficulties may be related to a traumatic birth or C-section (in which the baby does not experience passage down the birth canal), a breech birth (which provides stimulation in reverse), or a fast last-stage or assisted birth (ventouse or forceps) that may not provide the time or stimulus for the natural processes to complete. Many more babies are being born by C section. In 2023/24,  42% of all uk deliveries were C-section (caesarian). This is increasing year on year. There are many other influences on neurodevelopment in utero including environmental, medication, drugs, smoking and alcohol.

This is just one example of how the incomplete maturation of primitive reflexes can affect the older child in many ways. If this primitive reflex integration process is incomplete, the functioning of the brain can be affected. Their brain may then be unable to function efficiently in various ways, potentially influencing the whole child, physically, socially, emotionally, behaviourally and/or intellectually, depending on the nature and extent of non-integration.

There are twelve primitive reflexes addressed by the Brainchild Individualised Program and EBO for Schools and EBO@Home. At Brainchild we refer to these as the Key Primitive Reflexes. Additional ones are also included. Their integration enhances brain organisation by pruning connections that are no longer useful, allowing maturation to occur.

Although each reflex has particular influences on physical, emotional, social and educational areas, their combination can multiply the effects. A complex reflex profile can produce wide ranging difficulties. This is very tiring for the child, and the parent/carer.

Children with cerebral palsy or other difficulties involving gait (walking) may benefit from working on the integration of additional infant reflexes specific to the condition.

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Primitive reflex development and maturation during the primal period (conception to one year)

Pregnancy

As early as the 5th week of pregnancy, the first primitive reflex develops to protect your baby. Throughout the pregnancy your baby continues to develop further reflexes that will influence the position during the pregnancy, help the birth process and support survival, starting with taking the first breath. However, in some cases, these reflexes may not emerge.

Birth

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 particular automatic inborn infant reflexes. They help to position the baby and enable the birth to progress through the different stages.

As mentioned above, these reflexes are progressively integrated following a natural birth, but this process may not occur when the progress down the birth canal is missing ( C-section) or modified (assisted by forceps or ventouse) or a fast last stage during the birth. Our neurodevelopmental programs can help the integration, giving the brain a second chance.

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Baby’s first year

This is the period of time when most of the primitive reflexes integrate. This means that the reflexes become less dominant and are progressively replaced by conscious movements. Management of a baby should allow natural movement, stimulation, care and love.

Tummy Time

During the first year of life, babies would naturally lie flat on their tummies as well as their backs and move freely. As well as valuable movement to integrate the primitive reflexes, this allows them to learn to locate sounds and direct their vision. Upper body strenghtening through support on their hands helps progrssion to crawling and begins important reflex integration.

Crawling

This important stage contributes to the integration of two of the Key Reflexes, the Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (STNR) and Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR).  When crawling, some babies stop, sitting back on their heels to look ahead and then move along head down. Crawling while looking ahead is important for integration to take place.

In the picture, the presence of shadows is just too fascinating!

Movement , Gravity and Touch

Babies need to be held, moving with the adult, developing sensory skills relating to touch, balance and proprioception, as well as emotional attachment. They also need to move freely, lying flat for sufficient time, until they are able to sit themselves up. There are many intermediate developmental movements to learn on the way from lying to standing! Practice and repetition of these is an important factor in developing the learning pathways in the brain. As babies experience their environment in this way, at their own pace, they are able to make the movements that help the primitive reflexes to be replaced by conscious control.

Often, this is not fully achieved and problems emerge. This may occur, for example, through inactivity in a fixed position, such as long periods spent in inclined seats, rather than lying and moving freely on a horizontal surface.

Primitive Reflex Integration

The integration stages of several primitive reflexes rely on the baby being held and moved in relation to gravity, lying prone (on the front) and horizontally with freedom to move. Government guidelines issued in the UK and USA regarding the sleeping position of babies have encouraged parents to sleep babies on their backs. However, it is very important that babies also spend time on their fronts (prone) to encourage the normal progression to walking by crawling.

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Subsequent development and postural reflexes

As the child’s primitive reflexes become integrated, postural reflexes begin to emerge. If the primitive reflexes do not integrate, then postural reflexes will be negatively affected.

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. 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. ( unusually early in her case. My grandaughter became a good gymnast.)

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Complex difficulties =  A selection from The Neurodevelopmental Spectrum

There are many children who find learning difficult, or have difficulty concentrating, comprehending, making friends, being motivated or being still.

For example, one child may have problems sitting still in relation to specific reflexes. They may also dislike labels on clothing, tight belts and have difficulties with urine control. Another may show aggression, fear or low self esteem relating to a different reflex. Yet another may have problems with balance and co-ordination or have difficulties with communication.

The involvement of a group of reflexes may present as a more complex difficulty with varying severity. A child in this situation may be struggling at a low level of neurodevelopmental maturity with many aspects of life or may have been given a diagnosis such as Autistic Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, language or behavioural difficulties. All the behaviours associated with these labels arise from the way in which the brain functions. It reflects their neurodevelopmental maturity.

The BrainChild Developmental Program concentrates on the reflexes and behaviours that the child is exhibiting rather than a diagnostic label. The program works at the foundation level of brain functioning, using specific sets of movements to make enduring changes to the child’s functioning.