Infants are born with a number of reflexes that guide so many of their early functions- feeding, pooping, body movements, head turning, body strength and posture, etc. There are two reflexes in the hands that play a role in development, including feeding, the grasp and the palmer babkin.
When babies receive pressure in the palm it triggers their grasp reflex to curl their fingers around the object and hold. This promotes hand strength for fine motor skills. Then, the babkin reflex facilitates the hand-to-mouth action for oral exploration. Both of these reflexes are critical for future feeding skills. They develop in utero and fade out between 4-6 months of age as a result of consistent stimulation. Once they are no longer firing, the infant can develop higher level skills.
Hand Reflexes & Breastfeeding
When baby gets pressure into the their palm, stimulating the grasp reflex, it also stimulates the head to come forward and mouth to open. This can help get a little deeper of a latch if parent holds the palm while bringing baby to breast. The hands are highly sensitive, and benefit from being exposed to make contact with the breast during feeding.
As the babkin reflex stimulates baby to bring hands to mouth, it supports pre-feeding skills. Baby can make a mental map the inside of their mouth by exploring their hands and teething toys. This promotes novel oral motor movements like chewing and moving the tongue side to side.
Hand Reflexes and Solid Foods
By the time baby is ready for solids, the reflexes should be integrated. This allows baby to use their hands with intent, grabbing spoons and picking up food with a full handed raking motion. As the hands get stronger through feeding practice and weight bearing on the hands in crawling, they become better coordinated and progress to a pincer grasp, picking up small pieces of food between the thumb and forefinger by around 9-12 months. As fine motor skills in the hands progress, so do oral motor skills- baby is becoming increasingly skilled at moving small food pieces with their tongue to the chewing surface.
How to Support Healthy Reflex Integration
Lots of tummy time and unrestricted floor play
Let baby explore different textures on the floor
Uncover the hands
Let baby grasp and hold your finger
Offer teething toys early and often
Support baby in bringing toys to the mouth
Encourage self-feeding as soon as baby starts solids
Signs that May Indicate Retained Reflexes in the Hands
An older infant with fisted or clawed hands in tummy time or while crawling
Lacks interest in bringing hands or toys to the mouth
Strong hand preference
Dislikes getting hands wet/dirty
Texture aversion
Gags on solids, maybe even before getting food to the mouth
Thumb sucking, oral habits
These symptoms could indicate the the reflexes in the hands have not integrated, and are interfering with development. Often times, reflexes integrate together. And retained reflexes in the hands may also be associated with other retained reflexes, such as rooting and suckling. It is important to speak with your pediatrician about symptoms, and advocate for a therapy referral early.
Nourish Therapy specializes in holistic, whole body therapy, and takes primitive reflexes into account when littles are struggling with feeding skills. Schedule a free phone consultation if you are in Kitsap, Washington and have concerns about feeding development.
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