Inborn Reflexes

Reflexes

Reflexes are the newborns most obvious organized patterns of behavior. A reflex is an unlearned, inborn, automatic response to a particular form of stimulation. A wide variety of reflexes are seen in the normal newborn. Here are a few examples of some common reflexes observed in the newborn.

Babinski- When the soles of the newborns foot is stroked the toes fan out.
Moro- When the crib is jared or the infant is startled the arms flare out and inward in response.
Rooting- When a babies heel is stroked it turns its head toward the cheek that was stroked and opens its mouth.
Stepping- A baby who is held in an upright position and moved forward begins to step rhythmically.
Sucking- A baby sucks when a object is placed

The key to a strong emotional relationship is to respond to the infants needs. Infants are born responding to people around them. They are able to recognize voices of their mother, father and others that were around them throughout the pregnancy. The baby can begin to smile around 6 weeks of age, and laugh around 3 months. Often between 5-7 months infants developments a fear or shyness of strangers known as stranger anxiety. This usually disappears by the age of two but can last on up into toddlerhood. Complex emotions such as guilt, embarassement and pride surface around 18-24 months.
Babies show the majority of their emotions through crying. At 0-4 months the infant has at least 3 different cries, the basic cry, hungry cry, and the other signal pain and anger. Social smiling begins in this time frame. The infant who is 4-8 months now can express wider range of emotions such a s pleasure, happiness, fear by way of cooing, babbling , gurgling, kicking and waving arms about, rocking and smiling. Around 18 months self awareness arises. During this period the child will spend much time looking at pictures of himself. They will also refer to themselves as "I" or