The hands of a newborn touch us but they also surprise us by the force they have when squeezing, this is called a grasp reflex . When we put an object or our finger on the baby’s hand, he takes it and squeezes it with his little hand in such a way that we could even lift him up without letting him go.
It is one of the primary reflexes of babies, also called primitive or archaic , they are a series of involuntary muscular movements with which babies are born, and that respond to certain stimuli in particular. These are not learned, but happen automatically and innate.
This same grasp reflex is also found in the feet, it is what is known as plantar grasp reflex in the newborn. It refers to the bending movement that the toes make if we touch the sole of the baby’s foot, and may even retain the object or the finger with which we do it.
When the grasp reflex disappears and how it evolves
This reflex disappears in a short time, around six months , and is replaced by a new type of behavior that is learned, that contains intention and that develops as the baby’s brain matures, when it begins to acquire coordination, ability to grasp and manipulate things, etc.
Mastering the hands in a baby requires learning and continuous discovery that we can clearly see. During the first month we see how the baby keeps his fist closed almost all the time, the grasp reflex is the order of the day. During the second month, he continues to retain this reflex but with less rigor, the baby opens his little hands more often. In the third month a remarkable change begins, he holds without force an object that you put in his little hand and shakes it, although he still does not look at it.
In the fourth month he starts looking at his little hands, puts them in his mouth and sucks on them. The change begins to be accentuated much more thanks to the maturation of his brain, already into the fifth month, the baby begins to stretch his hands to try to touch an object, although it still costs him a bit since he does not calculate the distances well. The change from the fifth to the sixth month is very significant, he can already pick up objects with one hand and look at them. During the seventh month he is able to pick up two objects at the same time, one in each hand thanks to the development of his sense of coordination and visual focus.
From this moment, the awareness that the baby has on his hands is very noticeable, during the eighth month, the baby learns to let go of things and even drops toys on purpose, this action is part of his learning related to coordination. In the following months until the birthday, he will take the toys to explore them, he will hit them to make them sound, he will begin to take small things, using his thumb and forefinger as if they were tweezers. If you give him a children’s book, he will try to turn the pages, he will manage to build a tower with the toy cubes and he will throw a ball at us with his hand.
Up to this point, your child has undergone a great evolution thanks to continuous learning, numerous trials have paid off, they are small and great advances that help him and allow him to continue evolving. Observing how a baby develops in all its aspects provides great satisfaction, their intellectual, physical and emotional evolution are guaranteed, since thanks to their hands, they have the world at their fingertips.
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In Babies and more | Putting your fist in your mouth: why babies do it
