Reflexes are considered to be spontaneous reactions to any of the annoying external factors. They are inherent in all multicellular, including humans and animals. What is a sucking reflex? How old is it in babies? We will try to figure this out.
About the reflex
The sucking reflex in newborns begins to form as soon as they are born, at the beginning of their still small life. And his inclinations appear even in the womb of the mother: quite often on an ultrasound it is permissible to see how the baby put his finger in his mouth. If the baby is born on time and healthy, it must immediately be applied to the mother’s chest. So the child will calm down, having received even a minimal dose of colostrum. In this simple way, it is customary in maternity hospitals to encourage an innate instinct and to help ensure that the sucking reflex in the baby is established correctly.
As soon as the baby feels the most accurate touch to his lips, he seems to respond by performing certain movements. This will be a sucking reflex. To what age is it considered the norm in the implementation of protective functions? Doctors give a definite answer: the first year of the baby's life.
It is realized thanks to the participation of the nuclei of certain nerves that are in the medulla oblongata - its stem part. The nerves mentioned include the facial, sublingual, vestibular, vagus, trigeminal and glossopharyngeal.
Since these pairs of nerves are interconnected, a rather thorough coordination of the sucking process is ensured. When feeding is completed, the sucking reflex in newborns first weakens, but again comes to life after an hour and a half. If the central nervous system is damaged or at least one of the previously listed nerves, the reflex decreases, and then disappears completely.
If the reflex is not fully implemented
If the children are too early excommunicated from their mother’s milk and transferred to the mixture, they have the problem of an incompletely realized sucking reflex. Because of this, a neurosis of obsessive movements can develop. It can be expressed in the following:
- there is a habit of sucking various objects (your finger, dolls, blanket, pencil and others);
- there is a habit of nibbling nails;
- in adulthood, they try to smoke, hold a cigarette in their mouths longer, try to light up a cigarette as soon as possible, if they feel the approach of stress.
From the above it follows that every child needs to go through the oral stage of development correctly so that later, after years, neurotic reactions do not form. Those who were deprived of mother's milk at an early stage of development should be raised using a pacifier as a subject of sucking. If this is not done, then in the adult state, a person throughout his life will show oral aggression in a fairly active form - verbally snapping, biting, maliciously), and in the passive state - painful conditions, not a good appetite.
The baby's dummy pacifier must be given between two feedings, and wean not gradually, but gradually. This should take place with conversations, tenderness, during games. No need to yell at the baby or punish him. Nature independently determined when the sucking reflex dies away: a baby who is already older than a year or a year and a half, will no longer need it. But for a long time he will have suction movements in his sleep - until about three or four years.
Norm
Scientists have found that the described reaction of the body can have a huge impact on the health of the baby's psyche. Thanks to the fact that he owns it, the peanut can satisfy hunger, and this can ensure its survival. If the sucking reflex is not very good, mom and dad should pay attention to the fact that measures should be taken to restore it. If you wait, you can just be late. How can young mothers and fathers learn about the existence of pathology? Only by comparing it with the norm and by checking its symptoms.
Interesting fact. The sucking reflex begins to be laid fifteen weeks after conception, that is, a long time before the birth of the baby. For a long time there is a norm when it appears (what age is meant?) And when the sucking reflex in a child fades. This is really necessary to know, because you need to monitor whether everything is normal with the development of the little one. Any deviation that occurs will be an indicator that correction and the help of doctors are required.
The extinction of a useful reflex
Scientists have determined when the sucking reflex in the baby fades. Indeed, it is thanks to him that the protective function of the body is carried out. In infancy, a sucking reflex is vital. How old will it last? Such a reaction of the body usually "works" until about a year and a half. It is at this age that pediatricians advise to wean the baby from the nipple.
Nevertheless, a significant number of doctors give advice on breastfeeding the baby for as long as possible - up to two and a half years. It also has a connection with the sucking reflex. Therefore, we can say that the age framework is very uncertain and blurred when the sucking reflex in a child disappears.
This can be called a typical way of forming such an unconditional reaction. And yet, in some cases, doctors have to diagnose that there is no sucking reflex in the child. To what age should it be preserved - this is no longer a question. This situation occurs due to the health problems of the baby, which disrupted the development of the reflex during pregnancy or prevented its activation after the birth of the baby.
By the way, doctors are aware of cases when too conscientious mothers continue breastfeeding until they are six to seven years old. In this way they stretch the framework of the age of extinction of the sucking reflex.
Why is there a lack of reflex?
Much depends on how long and how healthy the baby was born. If a very weak sucking reflex in newborns (to what age it lasts, has already been mentioned), then they succumb sluggishly enough to breast or a bottle. They can quickly fall asleep during feeding or even refuse to eat. This happens if the baby is premature, weakened or injured during childbirth. They can be discharged from the hospital only when they get used to sucking milk well.
The reflex may decrease for several reasons:
- paralysis and paresis of cranial nerves, for example, facial;
- mom has flat papillae;
- in childbirth or even in the womb, the central nervous system of the baby was affected by a hypoxic-traumatic form;
- respiratory viral infections, pronounced stomatitis, rhinitis;
- somatic disease in a severe stage (due to malaise and general weakness);
- children are mentally retarded.
If the sucking reflex is greatly reduced, the baby will be half-starved all the time. It needs to be fed every two or two and a half hours with mother's milk, using bottles or spoons.
About the causes of pathology
If the time of pregnancy or the birth process was complicated by the above factors, the baby sucking reflex is either completely absent or reduced to a minimum in the born baby. And this leads to starvation of the baby or to its inferior development (both physical and mental) in the future. If a child can be identified as a risk group, it is necessary immediately as soon as the baby is born to check how this unconditional reaction of the baby is formed. By the way, mom and dad can see a pathology without medical help if they know what its obvious symptoms are.
Information to young mothers. If their nipples have a flat shape, this is not a reason for weaning a baby. There are ways that they can be pulled. For example, through surgical intervention, special exercises, pharmacy proofreaders. This should be taken care of in advance, because the formation of the sucking reflex in the baby will also depend on it. Perhaps any mommy understands that when the sucking reflex in a child is extinguished, this is a big difficulty.
Symptom Brief
So, if the sucking reflex is absent or underdeveloped, certain signs are able to indicate this. Most often they can be identified even in the maternity hospital, where, if necessary, take measures to save the baby. If the doctors did not recognize the pathology, the mother herself can understand that this reaction of her baby is underdeveloped. Symptoms of deviations may be as follows.
1. Complete absence. If mom puts a newborn to her breast, he:
- not trying to catch a nipple;
- will not suckle a breast or hold it in her mouth when mother puts a breast in his mouth;
- this condition lasts more than half a day after the birth of the baby.
Quite often, parents ask a question, does the sucking reflex persist until what age, when it appears and fades away in premature babies? Such an unconditional protective reaction in these children develops much later than in healthy ones. Also, it is able to develop not very well, or not to develop at all.
But even if the baby is premature, this reflex should appear during the first days of his life with appropriate medical care in this situation. This is what doctors consider the norm. A serious problem will be considered if this does not happen for a long time.
2. Partial lack of formation or underdevelopment. After Mom put the baby to her breast after childbirth, he:
- trying to keep the nipple in her mouth, but releases it all the time;
- makes a few weak smackes;
- everything can’t calm down, but cries a lot.
In the following days, an unimportant sucking reflex can manifest itself as follows:
- mother feeds for a long time, but the baby remains hungry, and the chest is almost full;
- the baby is lethargic;
- the baby is not so much sucking as a rather loud smack;
- crying, acting up, sleeping badly and sleeping little - because he is hungry;
- swallows very rarely;
- falls asleep almost immediately after the start of feeding.
If the mother noticed that the reflex is weak, but still does not understand whether this is so, it is necessary to consult a doctor. Only he can refute or confirm the diagnosis. The mother herself can do this: put her own finger in the baby’s mouth and watch him react. A baby who is healthy will immediately take it and suck it. A child who is injured or premature will not make such movements.
Useful advice. If the mother found that her baby does not have a sucking reflex, you should immediately seek the advice of a doctor - a pediatric neurologist or a neurologist. This is precisely his field of activity.
Medical help is needed!
If parents notice even the slightest deviation in the state of their child, you should immediately contact a doctor. Because this can be a signal that a serious pathology is developing, therefore, immediate treatment is necessary. Reducing the sucking reflex will require observation in dynamics, involving a specialist doctor - a neurologist.
The first symptom of CNS damage is the absence of such a reflex. To be more precise, this means that damage to the stem of the medulla oblongata, and this is predicted to be a very unfavorable sign. Such babies have very little chance of survival, and they only eat through a probe.
The reasons for the complete lack of sucking in babies include:
- deep prematurity;
- weak chewing muscles, weak circular muscles of the mouth and tongue;
- the medulla oblongata is injured in childbirth.
In any case, specialist advice and subsequent treatment is really necessary. After all, even if the consequences cannot be completely removed, they can at least be minimized. And this gives the baby and his parents at least a small, but still hope, which is already important in a similar situation.
About the features of the reflex in premature babies
These kids have a lot of health problems. Therefore, the features of nursing and development are slightly different. For example, sucking and swallowing reflexes in premature babies are absent, especially if the body weight is less than one and a half kilograms, while many organs are underdeveloped, their volume is small, breathing is difficult, thermoregulation is impaired, and so on. And here the question is no longer raised about age restrictions regarding the sucking reflex. To what age the baby will suckle or use a nipple, in this case it is not so critical. The paramount task is to save his life.
The inferiority of reflexes is due to the fact that the mechanisms of nervous regulation are not sufficiently developed, and the sucking muscles are not fully formed. It is impossible to apply such tiny little ones directly to the chest, but it is impossible to make a large gap between birth and attachment so that the body weight does not decrease even more.
The doctor can give a long delay if there is a suspicion of hemorrhage in the brain or a child has a serious injury. If the baby is not applied to the breast for more than half a day after birth, doctors will transfer it to parenteral nutrition with glucose solution. Premature babies are fed through a probe if sucking or swallowing is significantly reduced, while the amount of feed will be dosed with a special syringe. After the baby has a good reflex, you can proceed to feeding from a bottle.
About whether it is possible to breastfeed a baby, the question will be decided by doctors separately for each of the small patients. This takes into account the condition and stability of reflex signs. As a rule, they start once or twice a day. If the baby gets tired at the same time, he will be fed from the bottle. In total, these babies are fed about ten times a day. It is important here not to form events and nursing of premature babies will end successfully.
Of course, the process can be quite lengthy, but if the doctors and mothers of the babies are very competent, these babies may well catch up with their peers by the end of the first (maximum - third) year of life.
From all of the above, we can conclude that it is the sucking reflex that is one of the most important inborn ones that nature has awarded man in order to provide him with the most comfortable conditions for survival and development subsequently. If he will be absent - this is a terrible misfortune, which is incompatible with life. Its decrease is a signal that the child has a very serious neurological problem. You need to start looking for it and then immediately eliminate it in all possible and affordable ways, necessarily involving not only neuropathologists, but also other specialists who can help in solving this problem.
Word to the doctor
Many parents are interested, sucking reflex - to what age? Komarovsky Eugene, a well-known children's doctor, argues that such a reflex is really quite important for every baby. And you can satisfy him with a dummy: it is much better for a child than sucking a finger. Such an unsatisfied sucking reflex is in all newborns. It takes place at a certain age.
Kids suck their fingers not just because they feel like it or are bored. This is an instinct that is useless to fight. And if mom makes a choice between a finger and a nipple, the nipple will be the best option. It will calm and lull the baby, develop facial muscles, stimulate intestinal motility, satisfy the sucking reflex.
So when does the sucking reflex disappear? Regarding age, Komarovsky says that in some children from birth, the sucking reflex is steady and strong, while in others it is weaker. Therefore, these, second, babies will spit out a nipple, which they are no longer interested in. Children with a persistent reflex can require it even up to three years. So the doctor does not build a strict framework about the sucking reflex. To what age are a nipple and a bottle acceptable? The pediatrician replies that between the ages of three and four, the reflex fades away completely.