Understanding Newborn Behaviour

Original Editor - Robin Tacchetti based on the course by

Pam Versfeld

Top Contributors - Robin Tacchetti, Robin Leigh Tacchetti, Tarina van der Stockt, Ewa Jaraczewska, Kim Jackson, Jess Bell and Tony Lowe

Introduction

Newborns are born with an innate capacity to interact with their environment. (speaker) Instinctive cognitive and sensorimotor behaviour contribute to survival and social bonding.  Infants naturally find ways to use touch, manage arousal levels, self-soothe and adapt to their new physical environment. In addition to adaptation, they signal their needs with different cries and temperaments.

Adapting to the Environment

One of the most effective ways for an infant to adapt to their environment is through skin-to-skin contact (baby on their mother’s chest). UNICEF outlines the many benefits for mother-infant skin-to-skin contact:

• “Calms and relaxes both mother and infant
• Regulates the infant’s heart rate and breathing, helping them to better adapt to life outside the womb
• Stimulates digestion and interest in feeding
• Regulates temperature
• Enables colonization of the infant’s skin with the mother’s friendly bacteria, thus providing protection against infection
• Stimulates the release of hormones to support breastfeeding and mothering”

Research shows skin-to-skin contact may have secondary benefits on the mother’s long term mental health in addition to infant development.

Reflexes vs. Actions

Reflexes in infancy refer to synergistic movements that serve a purpose, are predictable and do not adjust to various conditions.  Rooting, sucking, stepping, reaching and grasping are movements that have been referred to as normal infant reflexes.  Recent evidence shows that these particular synergies involve complex movements that are goal-oriented and adaptable to ongoing changes in the environment questioning that they are deliberate actions versus a reflex.

Rooting

Rooting refers to stimulation around the infant's mouth whereby the infant move towards that provocation. The motion of the infant's head and mouth occurs simultaneously with whole-body movements suggesting rooting is more than a reflex.

Sucking

Sucking is another newborn behaviour that involves a complex interaction of muscle contractions that is adaptable to the environment.  Babies adjust sucking pressure based on the flow of milk by sensing the upcoming flow.  Studies show that newborns adjust the sucking pressure in a precise and anticipatory way demonstrating action vs. reflex. Sucking adaptation can also be seen when newborns suck for comfort instead of food.

Stepping

The stepping reflex has been described as steps an infant takes when they are lowered to a surface from an upright underarm supported position.  Studies are now showing that infants adjust the number of steps based on the visual field beneath them.  When the infants feel they are standing and moving forward they take more steps than when they perceive they are just standing in an upright position.

Reaching and Grasping

Reaching and grasping for objects are behaviours that can be action-oriented rather than reflexive. Infants demonstrate the ability to control upper extremity movement in the direction of a visual target and proprioceptively grasp an object.  This type of motor behavior illustrates goal-oriented behaviour where the infant is adapting to their environment.

States of arousal

Understanding an infant’s communication and language can be done successfully by observation.  Attending to a newborn’s needs of social interaction, sleep or feeding can be done by learning the differing behavioural states/stages. Throughout the day, an infant will cycle through these stages, some quick others slow.  American paediatrician Dr. T.B. Brazelton identified six states of infants behaviours.  The chart below by Centre for Perinatal Psychology describes Dr. Brazelton’s six stages of arousal:

“1.     Deep sleep	Lies quietly without moving; eyes are firmly closed; breathing is deep and regular with no motor activity; baby may have brief startles but will not rouse; in this state growth hormones are active.
2.     Active (light) sleep	Moves while sleeping; startles at noises; eyes are firmly closed, but there may be slow rotating movements of the eyes, as this state is REM (rapid eye movement) sleep; bodily twitches and irregular or shallow breathing may be apparent; facial movements include frowns, grimaces, smiles, twitches, mouth movements and sucking; it is thought that brain growth and differentiation may occur during active sleep.
3.     Drowsy state	Eyes may open and close, but look glazed in appearance; may doze; arms and legs may move smoothly; breathing is regular but faster and shallower than in sleep; babies in this state may be stimulated to a more alert, responsive state.
4.     Awake, alert state	Body and face are relatively quiet and inactive with bright shining eyes.  Sights and sounds will produce predictable responses.  In this state the baby can be very rewarding for parents.  This is the state in which your baby is most amenable to play.
5.     Alert but fussy state	This is a transitional state to crying; available to external stimuli and may be soothed or brought to an alert state by attractive stimuli; if stimuli are too much, may break down to fussiness; movements are jerky, disorganized and these movements may produces startles in themselves.
6.     Crying	Cries, perhaps screams; sets off automatic responses of concern, responsibility and guilt in parents; this is the most effective mode for attracting a caregiver; different types of cries communicate hunger, pain, boredom, discomfort and tiredness.”

Body Language and Cues

Newborns can express their wants and needs through observational cues and body language. Raising Children has created videos demonstrating the following cues infants convey.

Tired

• Yawns
• Fusses
• Losing interest in people or toys
• Starring into the distance
• Jerky movements
• Sucking fingers

Hungry

• Head turn towards breast
• makes sucking noises

Play

• Smiles
• Hands reaching towards you
• Eyes wide and bright
• Eye contact with you
• Smooth movements

Need a Break

• Squirms
• Kicks
• Turn head away from you

Infant Temperament:

How a baby responds and reacts to citations and expresses emotions is temperament. Thomas et al, 1970 proposed 9 temperament traits that are still used today;(how to quote)

• Activity level: how active the infant is
• Rhythmicity: how regular the infant’s sleep/wake and feeding routines are
• Distractibility: how easily the infant can be distracted from something they are doing
• Approach/withdrawal: how the infant responds to new experiences
• Adaptability: how the infant adapts to new situations
• Attention span/persistence: how persistent the infant is when faced with challenges
• Intensity of reaction: how intense the infant’s responses and emotions are
• Sensitivity: how sensitive the infant is to flavours, textures, and noises
• Quality of mood: whether the infant has a happy, positive mood most of the time or an unpleasant, negative mood most of the time SPEKER-(THOMAS and CHESS)

Based on these traits, infants are classified into three categories:

1. Easy or flexible:  adaptable, not easily upset, happy, regular sleep and eating patterns
2. Active or feisty: fearful of new people or situations, easily upset by stimulation or noise, fussy, intense in reactions
3. Slow to warm or cautious: withdraw or react negatively to new situations, but over time become more positive with repeated exposure, less active

Not all babies fit into a category.  40% are easy, 10% are active, 15% slow to warm up.  The basic temperament trait remains the same over time, but the intensity to the trait may change.

http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/resources/wwb/wwb23.html

Understanding the baby’s temperament is an important aspect for early interventionists.

Resources

• https://www.childrenshospital.org/research/centers-departmental-programs/brazelton-institute https://skillsforaction.com/highly-sensitive-child https://www.marchofdimes.org/complications/learning-your-baby-s-cues.aspx https://raisingchildren.net.au/newborns/connecting-communicating/communicating/baby-cues https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/baby-friendly-resources/implementing-standards-resources/skin-to-skin-contact/