Reflexes - The Secret Key To Unlocking A Child's Full Potential?

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Did you know that the very first movements of an infant are reflexive? But what exactly is a reflex? Reflexes are nervous reactions or responses that happen automatically without you consciously thinking about it.

As an example, you will quickly withdraw your hand if you accidentally touch a hot plate or pot. This is an automatic reaction to protect your hand from damage. You don’t think about it. It just happens naturally. The same happens when you step onto something sharp. You will want to keep these reflexes working!

How A Reflex Works

So, how exactly does a reflex work? We all know that our bodies are equipped with senses.

Knowing that, let's look at your hand. In the skin of your hand are nerve endings that pick up on sensory stimuli. These nerve endings are called sensory or afferent neurons. It takes the sensory stimuli to the brain or spine, depending on the reflex itself.

The brain then says “hello, what is this?" and quickly interprets the stimuli. Directly after that, the brain sends a message back to the muscles in the hand via motor neurons or efferent neurons. This causes the muscles in your hand or arm to respond. This process of stimuli being carried to the brain and spine, and then all the way back, is called a reflex arc.

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The messages of certain reflexes have a short 'path' to travel in order to overrule the brain. They only need to travel to the spine and all the way back to the muscles. This allows for quicker reaction time.

An example is the withdrawal reflex which helps to protect the body from damaging stimuli. Now that you know what a reflex is and how it works, what role does reflexes play in the brain development of a child?

Reflexes And Brain Development

To understand how reflexes shape the brain, we need to look at the first notable reflex in the womb called the withdrawal reflex. It can be observed at about five weeks after a baby has been conceived. You can see this reflex in action when the embryo receives touch on his upper lip. He will then immediately withdraw from the stimuli or touch.

A few days later, the sensitivity of that area has spread to other parts of the embryo’s body as well. First it spreads to the palms of his hands, then to the soles of his feet and eventually his whole body is responsive to touch. At this stage, the withdrawal reflex involves a full body reaction.

It is interesting that at 9 weeks in utero this specific reflex lessens, and another type of reflex begins to appear. How does it happen that reflexes go away and new ones appear? It all has to do with a child’s brain development!

As the brain develops from the bottom to the top due to repetition and the constant feedback it receives via the reflexes, brain pathways start to become thicker and stronger. To protect the pathways, the brain will insulate them with fat, almost like the white tape around loose electrical wires.

This process is called myelination. This also helps messages to travel faster and in turn, it leads to a quicker response. Messages that travel along these insulated pathways, can travel up to a speed of 125 m per second. That is as fast as some of the formula 1 racing cars!

Now, as the brain ‘insulate’ the various pathways, new reflexes appear and ‘old’ ones go to rest or ‘integrate’. As you learn more of the various reflexes as well as their timelines, it will basically provide you with a small window through which you can ‘peep’ to see how a child’s brain is busy developing. Isn’t that just amazing! Thus, reflexes can help to assess the integrity or development of the central nervous system (CNS) & brain!

Remember that reflexes in a baby happen naturally, they cannot be learned. They also follow a predictable sequence of development and THAT serves as signposts of how the brain develops. Just take note, reflexes can develop into one another or it can develop in parallel or ‘next to’ one another.

Also note that the brain works on a ‘Use-it-or-loose-it’ principle. If the brain doesn’t use certain pathways, they will disappear. Think of it like a footpath. The more you walk in it, the more visible it becomes. If you do not walk in it, nature will take over and the footpath will disappear again.

What are the functions of reflexes?

Primitive reflexes and their function

Reflexes establish specific bodily functions that are necessary to help the fetus survive outside of the womb. This includes helping a baby to breathe after he is born or assisting the little one to feed outside of the womb.

Compared to the intra-uterine reflexes, primitive reflexes further help a baby to move and develop specific muscles of various body parts until he learns to do it by himself.

Have you ever wondered how it works that babies know when they need to turn and lie with their head pointing downwards as their birth is approaching? Together with the vestibular system in the ear, or the balance system in layman’s terms, these reflexes help the fetus to assume the correct positions in the womb. This is yet another function of primitive reflexes! It also helps the fetus to turn and move through the birth canal during a vaginal birth.

For example, the two Spinal Reflexes, the Spinal Pereze & the Spinal Galant, are stimulated or activated by touch to the baby’s back. During the birth process, they help the baby to wiggle down the birth canal during contractions and also empty the baby’s bladder to get rid of any body waste.

This also assists the birth and it promotes the normal functioning of the baby’s bladder and bowel. The ATNR is another reflex that you will learn about later in the course. This reflex is also thought to assist the baby in the birthing process.

Another function of these reflexes is that they help to gather info from the sensory systems such as our eyes, ears and skin. It also helps to wire & establish a strong link between the sensory systems, the brain and the muscles. However, for this to happen the reflexive movements need to be repeated many times over and over again.

Postural reflexes and their function

The postural reflexes develop gradually on top of the primitive ones and can take up to 3 ½ years to fully develop. This is because they need to rewire the brain every time that the baby or child assumes a new posture. For example, going from a 4-point kneeling position into a standing position.

With every new body position, gravity pulls down & influences the vestibular system. These reflexes continually need to learn how to accommodate the various new movement patterns of the child. Their main function is thus to help our bodies work subconsciously against the pull of gravity.

They also help to keep our bodies in line, to maintain equilibrium or balance, and to ultimately prevent injury. Think of walking on a lawn and accidentally stepping into a hole. Your body will automatically react to try and keep itself upright.

Other than the primitive reflexes that need to go to sleep, these postural reflexes stay on for life and never go to rest. They are important for lifelong balance and explain why many clumsy people have balance problems.

Red flags

It is a red flag if any of the following conditions exist:

1. A primitive reflex does not appear during the 1st year of life

2. A primitive reflex appears normally BUT does not disappear before 1 year of age

3. Postural reflexes do not appear by the end of 1st year

4. Postural reflexes do not persist throughout life

5. A reflex is too strong or too weak

6. A reflex is asymmetrical when it should be symmetrical

7. One side of the reflex pattern is weak whilst the other side of the pattern is strong

Implications

As you know by now, the intra-uterine & primitive reflexes have very specific functions to fulfil & they help to wire the brain. But they are only age-appropriate from 5 - 7 weeks in utero up to 12 months after birth. Eventually, they will need to go to rest or become ‘integrated’ otherwise they will interfere with a child’s development.

If primitive reflexes are not stimulated or triggered during birth, it can result in later difficulties such as bedwetting, soiling, inattention or even hyperactivity. This is all according to the latest research.

The following types of births may not trigger these reflexes at all:

• a breech birth,

• a fast last-stage birth,

• an assisted birth using suction or forceps.

A C-section or caesarean birth may also cause a baby to 'lose out' on these primitive reflexes being activated as the baby does not pass through the birth canal.

A very important side note: If you did have any of the mentioned births or know of a child who was not born via a vaginal birth, do not be discouraged. There are various exercises that you can do to first help activate the necessary reflexes and later to put them to rest again. This is good news!

Remember, reflexes initially help a baby or child to develop without him having to think about it. However, later a child needs to move on and make use of the CEO that sits in the chair of his thinking brain. If reflexes do not go to rest or integrate, a child cannot go on to think properly when an unpredicted situation may arise.

Also, it can interfere with the willful movements of a child as reflexes can cause one's muscle tone to continually shift & change whenever it is triggered by the reflex. Further recall that important postural reflexes can only come 'alive' and stay awake once all the intra-uterine & primitive reflexes have gone to sleep.

Some professionals believe that delays in the appearance of postural reflexes are more detrimental to motor success than primitive reflex disorders. The bottom line is this: active primitive reflexes mean that the brain’s wiring is not complete yet.

According to Dr. Melodie de Jager, this can cause children to be immature for their age. "They will be slow to reach their milestones, clumsy & needy, dependent & clingy, over-emotional or even fearful". As you move through the different modules you will see that it can affect children on every single level of their development:

•  physically

•  emotionally

•  socially AND

•  indirectly, academically.

And to quote Dr. de Jager, "Learning will be close to impossible for children with active reflexes and they may be labelled as problem children". From personal experience as well as case studies in our practice, I do not completely agree as I have seen that children are able to learn. However, they do take longer & work harder than what they are supposed to.

Now, it is important to take note that reflex integration is never totally complete. Thus, primitive reflexes never totally disappear. According to Professor Kokot as well as Cheatum & Hammond sickness, fatigue, chronic stress, or even an accident can cause primitive reflexes to pop up from time to time and become active again. This is completely normal!

Also, when brain trauma or a head injury occurred these reflexes will wake up to help repair the wiring in the brain again. In severe cases of injury, they will kick in to try and help the body physically survive. These reflexes will only go back to sleep once they have built & rewired all the necessary pathways in the brain again.

Postnatal Factors Influencing Reflex Integration

Now let's look at postnatal factors that can have an influence on reflex development and integration after a baby has been born. This includes a baby who may have had:

• Prolonged jaundice

• Illnesses associated with a high fever

• Convulsions in the first 18 months of life

• Harmful reactions to toxins

• Severe allergic reactions

• A history of recurring ear, nose and throat infections

A lack of opportunity to move during the first year of life is also something that should not be overlooked. This may be due to a medical reason where the baby may have broken a bone or he had excessive reflux that prevented him to do a lot of tummy time. However, it also extends to the restriction of movement due to the over use of walking rings, baby seats, playpens, or jolly jumpers. Even swaddling after 8 weeks of age or sleeping in a car seat can have the same effect.

Lastly, the clothes of the baby and the physical environment such as the floor are all things that have an influence on the movement of the baby. Also, do not forget the effect of screen time in our modern-day society.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that babies under the age of 1 should not be allowed any screen time at all. They also do not recommend sedentary screen time for babies between 1 and 2 years of age. For those aged 2 years and older, sedentary screen time should be no more than 1 hour per day; less is better.

Reflexes And Premature Babies

It is well-recognized in the medical community that the strong persistence or reappearance of primitive reflexes after the age of 12 months, is abnormal. But before you are unnecessarily worried about a child's development, please take note of the following important exception – premature babies! If a baby was born prematurely, you need to keep that in mind when looking at the timeline with regards to the integration of his reflexes.

Remember, premature babies do need additional time to catch up with their peers. They were born too early & did not spend enough time in the womb. Thus, they are a little bit behind and require a few more weeks in their overall development, compared to a full-term baby.

In order to determine how many weeks of grace they need with their development; you can calculate their corrected age. This is the adjusted chronological age where you deduct the time that a baby was born prematurely.

Let’s take Peter as an example. He is born at 28 weeks. This means that he is 12 weeks premature. Although he is currently 4 months in age (chronologically), he is in actual fact only 1 month old in ‘corrected age’. This means that he needs an additional 3 months or 12 weeks of grace with the integration of his reflexes.

This adjustment is only used until a premature baby reaches 1-year corrected age. By this time, he should have caught up with most of his developmental milestones. Also remember that children develop at their own, unique pace. Thus, if a child is on par with the rest of his overall development, do not be too much concerned about 1 or 2 primitive reflexes that may still be visibly active close to his first birthday.

Final Thoughts And Recommendation

The strong existence or reappearance of primitive reflexes after the age of 1 should be checked out by the child's paediatrician. Depending on the type of reflexes still present, they can physically lock the child in a certain position and the child’s motor development can then become stuck.

Persistent primitive reflexes and the delay of postural reflexes are often also associated with developmental challenges such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, hyperactivity or autism. Furthermore, research has shown that some typically developing children may continue to have persistent primitive reflexes such as the ATNR.

The integration of reflexes requires the professional intervention of a trained physical therapist, physiotherapist, occupational therapist or any other paediatric professional who specializes in reflex integration. They all have a degree as well as additional advanced training and are more than qualified to help a child with reflex integration or severe neuro-motor delays.

You are also welcome to contact our practice for more information on reflexes and how we can possibly help your child integrate them by doing a series of exercises. Alternatively, we will be able to help you get in touch with the most appropriate professional who will be able to help your child reach his or her full potential.

Until next time,

Happy moving moments!