The child born is a completely defenseless being. However, he already has more than 75 unconditioned reflexes, which ensure his survival and development in conditions that are not yet familiar to him. All congenital reflexes exist in newborns during the first three to five months. During this period they gradually fade. At the same time, conditioned reflexes are formed in newborns.
With the basic reflexes of the newborn and their significance, parents should be familiar, since their absence is evidence of serious diseases.
Unconditioned reflexes
Suckling and swallowing reflex. They refer to the basic physiological reflexes of newborns, which ensure the physical survival of the child in the world. Thanks to them, the child, when stimulating the sky, begins to suck milk from the breast of a mother or a bottle and, sucking food, swallows it. The sucking reflex in the child weakens after eating and again makes itself felt in an hour. The absence of a sucking reflex in a newborn testifies to the defeat of the central nervous system.
Grasping reflex. When touching the palm of a child, this unconditioned reflex manifests itself in the newborn by flexing his fingers and grasping the object into a fist. With the normal development of the child, the reflex is strongly pronounced from the first days of life. If it is absent, the infant may have problems with the cervical spinal cord.
Protective reflex. Every mother knows him. The essence of the reflex is that the child, laid on his tummy, lifts his head to not suffocate. At the same time he tries to turn his head to his side. The absence of a protective reflex in a newborn is a consequence of severe brain pathologies or damage to the upper cervical spinal cord.
Reflex crawling. This type of reflex manifests itself in newborns after the third day of life and lasts up to four months. The manifestation of it is the repulsion of the toes of the baby from the palm that is applied to his feet. The baby should lie on his stomach. Problems with the emergence of this reflex can be observed in toddlers who were born in asphyxia. Disturbances can be caused by intracranial hemorrhage, and malfunctioning of the spinal cord.
Vomiting reflex. The presence of this reflex in a newborn is vital, because, feeding on milk, the baby can easily choke. During the operation of the emetic reflex, the tongue protrudes from the newborn and the food, which the child chokes, goes back.
Reflex support. This reflex is one of the clearly expressed unconditioned reactions of the child. It appears in the cramping of the legs of a toddler in the knees and pelvis, if it is taken under the armpits. At the same time, putting the child out of this position on the pedestal, you can see that he immediately straightens his legs and the whole foot rests against the surface. If this does not happen or the baby crosses his legs, he becomes on his toes, he may have neuromuscular problems. Normally, this reflex fades to 4 weeks.
All unconditioned reflexes of newborns and infants,
Conditional reflexes
With the extinction of unconditioned reflexes, conditioned reflexes begin to form in neonates. This process lasts the rest of your life. In the first month of life, the child has conditioned reflexes associated with nutrition. The Kid develops a mode, waking up at intervals of time, to which his mother accustoms. Also, the neonate develops a reflex, directly responsible for the vestibular apparatus. The child learns to react to the position of the mother's body in space and expresses it by turning the head to the side where the mother's breast is. Conditional reflexes of the first month in newborns are unstable and subsequently easily fade.