It begins in the mother’s womb, involving involuntary movements that protect the fetus, influence the birthing process, and control development in the baby’s first year of life. In healthy development, these reflexes gradually disappear, allowing the child to develop motor skills. However, if the innate reflexes are not fully integrated, they can impede both physical and psychological development. In individuals with neurological impairments, improperly integrated reflexes are often noticeable, necessitating regular and intensive intervention. Reflex integration can be achieved through various methods, including the use of cold lasers to integrate primitive reflexes.
Early Childhood Reflexes
From the first days, a newborn has developed many early childhood reflexes that allow it to respond to stimuli from the external environment. These include searching, sucking, swallowing, excretion, defense, orientation, gripping, positional reflexes, etc. Some reflexes help the child survive, adapt, and orient to the environment. Such reflexes develop gradually, and over time, they are integrated. They are a cornerstone of further development. However, it does not mean that only children are affected; it happens that these early childhood reflexes have also been incorrectly integrated in adults, making therapy important to improve physical and psychological development.
The second group of reflexes is not important for the actual survival of the child; they are relics of phylogenetic development. However, they are important for diagnosis, and control can provide evidence of the newborn’s normal development and brain functions. Such reflexes disappear in the first months of life.
Behaviors that the child previously mastered reflexively must be relearned in later stages of development, but learned behavior is an expression of higher nervous system activity (e.g., Moro reflex, grasping reflex, swimming reflex). However, the newborn is much more than a bundle of unconditional reflexes. The probably most important ability it possesses is the ability to learn. This ability is explored from about the fifth day of life, but it can be assumed that it is present from birth. The newborn is capable of learning causal relationships, whether real or imaginary. For example, children who have experienced negative feelings (e.g., suffocation) during breastfeeding avoid breastfeeding after only a few repetitions.
