Neonatal Reflexes

• Neonatal reflexes
  

  (Table by GGS Information Services.)

  Reflex	Stimulation	Response	Duration
  SOURCE : Table after Child Development, 6th ed. Wm. C. Brown Communications, Inc., 1994.
  Babinski	Sole of foot stroked	Fans out toes and twists foot in	Disappears at nine months to a year
  Blinking	Flash of light or puff of air	Closes eyes	Permanent
  Grasping	Palms touched	Grasps tightly	Weakens at three months; disappears at a year
  Moro	Sudden move; loud noise	Startles; throws out arms and legs and then pulls them toward body	Disappears at three to four months
  Rooting	Cheek stroked or side of mouth touched	Turns toward source, opens mouth and sucks	Disappears at three to four months
  Stepping	Infant held upright with feet touching ground	Moves feet as if to walk	Disappears at three to four months
  Sucking	Mouth touched by object	Sucks on object	Disappears at three to four months
  Swimming	Placed face down in water	Makes coordinated swimming movements	Disappears at six to seven months
  Tonic neck	Placed on back	Makes fists and turns head to the right	Disappears at two months