HD (Week 4) Infant Reflexes

What are the primitive reflexes?

Rooting Reflex

Suck Swallow Breathe

Moro Reflex

Grasping (Palmer) Reflex

Primitive Walking (Stepping) Reflex

Spinal Galant

Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex

Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex

Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex

Landau Reflex

What facilitates the rooting reflex and what is its purpose?

Facilitation: Stroke cheek and baby turns toward touch and opens mouth

Purpose: Assist with initial feeding

When is the onset of the rooting reflex, when is it integrated?

Onset: (Prenatal) 11 weeks Gestation

Integrated: 5-6 months

What facilitates the suck, swallow breathe reflex and what is its purpose?

Facilitation: Downward pressure of tongue

Purpose: Sucking/nutrition

When is the onset of the suck, swallow, breath reflex, when is it integrated?

Onset:  28-weeks gestation and present at birth

Integrated: 2-5 months and then turns into a

What facilitates the moro reflex reflex and what is its purpose?

Facilitation: Sudden drop of head or noise -extends arms and legs and arches back, followed by flexion and often a cry

Purpose: Beginning of flight or fright

What is the onset and intergration for the moro reflex?

Onset: (prenatal) 9 weeks gestations

Integrated: 2-4 months then turns into an adult startle

What facilitates the grasping reflex and what is its purpose?

Facilitation: Stroke palm of hand and response is a fisted tight grasp

Purpose: Beginning of grasp/release patterns

What is the onset and when is the grasping reflex integrated?

Onset: (prenatal) 24-28 weeks Gestation

Integrated: 3-4 months

What facilitates the primative walking (stepping) reflex and what is its purpose?

Facilitation: series of stepping motions when baby held under the arms with feet on the ground

Purpose: unknown

When is the primitive walking reflex integrated what is the onset?

Onset: In utero, present at birth

Integrated: 2-3 months 

What facilitates the spinal galant reflex and what is its purpose? When is the onset and when is it integrated?

Onset:  20-weeks gestation and present at birth

Integrated: 3-9 months 

Facilitation: Baby is in prone. Touch down one side of spine results in hip flexion and lateral flexion toward stimulus

Purpose: emerging crawling patterns

What facilitates the spinal tonic labyrinthine reflex and what is its purpose? When is the onset and when is it integrated?

Onset: In utero, present at birth

Integrated: 6 months

Facilitation: Prone - flex head forward and body flexes. Supine - extend head and body extends

Purpose: Postural stability and head control

What facilitates the asymmetrical tonic neck reflex and what is its purpose? When is the onset and when is it integrated?

Onset: (in utero) 18-weeks gestation and present at birth

Integrated: 4-6 months

Facilitation: Head is turned to one side, the arm and leg on that side extend, while the leg and arm on the opposite side will flex.

Purpose: early eye hand coordination, cross pattern movements, and dissociation of right and left sides of the body.

What facilitates the symmetrical tonic neck reflex and what is its purpose? When is the onset and when is it integrated?

Onset: (after birth) 6-9 months

Integrated: 9-11 months

Facilitation: In quadruped flex head - arms will flex and legs extend. Extend head and arms will extend and legs will flex

Purpose: Anti-gravity positions, moving into quadruped, dissociation of top and bottom half of body

What facilitates the landua reflex and what is its purpose? When is the onset and when is it integrated?

Onset: (after birth) 3-10 weeks

Integrated: 1 year 

Facilitation: Baby held horizontally in the air and head will extend, arms extend and legs slightly flex. More about being suspended than head position

Purpose: Postural Develoment

What are the two postural control reflexes?

• Righting reactions

• Equilibrium Reaction

Do postural control reflexes integrate?

No

What facilitates the righting reactions reflex and what is its purpose? When is the onset and when is it integrated?

Onset: (after birth) 3-12 months

Integrated: Matures 

Facilitation: Quadruped - head maintains midline position when other body parts of body move to side or forward Oculo head righting - uses visual cues Labryinthine head righting- uses vestibular cues

Purpose: Reactions of Gravity, maintain upright posture. Safety - helps against falling

What facilitates the equilibrium reactions reflex and what is its purpose? When is the onset and when is it integrated?

Onset: (after birth) 9 months

Integrated: Matures

Facilitation: Stimulation of labyrinths - arms extend to maintain balance. Parachute - infant held in air and tilted forward. Sideways parachute- arms to side when sitting to prop self

Purpose: Foundation for adaptive responses to environmental changes

Does Asymmetrical or symmetrical tonic neck reflex come first?

asymmetrical