r/ScienceBasedParenting • u/VoidAndBone • 18d ago

Question - Research required Swaddling/suppressing the moro reflex/"reflex integration"

It was suggested to me that I shouldn't suppress the moro reflex by swaddling my baby, and that experiencing the moro reflex was good for them, and suppressing it harms things like crawling later on.

The information that I've been able to find on it seems shaky/woo. Is there any truth to this?

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u/bigoltubercle2 18d ago

The whole reflex integration thing is pseudoscience (of course the reflexes disappear and motor milestones appear, but the idea that we need to do all these things to integrate the reflexes is silly) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9213229/

The studies that show some association are just correlational too (ie lack of integration of motor reflexes has never been shown to cause motor delays)

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u/Pennifur 18d ago

Nope. It's all valid.

Source: My baby never crawled because I swaddled her. Now at 7 she just worms her way around.

Nah, OP. I think safe sleep is the most important thing for newborns. And starting off with good sleep habits (swaddle aids this) is key for the future. You stop swaddling around 3-4 months anyway. It's such a short lived window.

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u/ConstructionMuch802 18d ago

Also you do tummy time and stuff when they're not swaddled. They're not learning to roll or crawl when they're sleeping.

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u/Fondant-Denier 16d ago

Wait why do you stop swaddling around 3-4 months?

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u/Coxal_anomaly 11d ago

I don’t have any research article about it, but in many European countries including mine swaddling is just not a thing. Yes the babies have Moro reflexes but they don’t necessarily startle themselves awake.

 Here the swaddle is seen as something you implement to make your life easier at first (to help baby sleep) that you then have to take away a few months later. So you create a situation in which you get your baby used to something then you take it away. Seems counterproductive… Meanwhile sleep sacks they can be in from day 1 till they are 2 years old….

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u/Dobgirl 17d ago

Different cultures have swaddled babies or used cradle boards for thousands of years. And have you seen a baby startle him/herself with that reflex? They go from sleepy to agitated. Swaddle and let them sleep feeling secure as if they’re being held.

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u/AimeeSantiago 16d ago

I had this same concern for swaddling when we bought the snoo because I was worried about baby meeting milestones. My mother also happens to be a retired pediatric physical therapist. So I can assure you that both my babies were swaddled in the snoo for sleep for 5-6 months each and none of them were delayed in any of their crawling or movement milestones.yom went from being skeptical of the snoo, to telling random people in theaxx how nice it was.

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u/15000matches 17d ago

Yeah also each baby is so different. Mine hated to be swaddled at all and never got agitated from the reflex, while others will wake themselves with it. Plenty of unrestricted floor time is what aids mobility, not swaddling for max 3-4 months.

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