Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Can IQ be improved?

A question for those of you with kids who also had trouble with startling when asleep on their backs as newborns - do you know if they have a retained MORO reflex? My worst sleeper did, and working to integrate it has helped her appreciably.

I work with newborns and even at around 10 days old it is rare for me to see a newborn with a moro reflex as strong as my own kids had even months later. Many of the babies I see have little to no moro reflex at all, and they are much more settled babies.

Umm, well, I have an awful story about that. DD had horrible colic around a few weeks old. DH was walking her around in seated position facing outward because that was all she could stand. She wouldn't stop screaming and fussing, so at one point, he just went around in a circle a few times. I guess in desperation, I dunno. When he stopped, her arms were straight out, stuck there. She was dizzy. It was funny and didn't seem to do any damage, but I felt bad, anyway. She did stop crying for a bit. I don't know if that was out of the ordinary, though.

Also, DD never slept on her back. Oops. She always ended up on her side, cuddled up next to me. I'd be on my side, too. She used to nurse and fall asleep like that. I liked that I could hear her breathing and know the second she stirred. She sleeps on her back now sometimes, although I think she might end up on her front, too, but shes 9 months almost.

Yes, very interesting. What do you do to work on that?

It was something her OT picked up, though I am not clear what part of her OT treatment was for that. I also suspect the cranio sacral physio work she had done helped with the primitive reflex integration.

Exactly what I meant to say - Thanks

My son has a retained Moro. His OT worked on reintegrating it (and his other retained infantile reflexes), and it is reduced now, but still present. At least now we've gotten to the point where the sound of plastic packaging being opened doesn't send whatever he has in his hands flying.

I think there is a definite association between retained reflexes, anxiety, and sensory integration issues, but I would be reluctant to say that some were causes and others effects. I think it is just as likely that they all simply reflections or manifestations of the same difference in the underlying neurology.

ETA: To my knowledge, the first time he ever fell asleep on his own without being physically held still was when he was 8 YEARS old.

Oh Aculady, I really feel for you. My DD's moro was not that strongly retained, and she started "sleeping through" at 6.5yrs. Which is to say that she started being able to choose to stay in bed every time she woke up, but only with her sister in the room with her. Ideally she likes to co-sleep with her sister, but she wakes her up.

Edited to add that I also don't think that the group of issues are cause/effect. I was curious about whether the other parents here of "difficult" sleepers knew whether their child had retained reflexes. I also don't think that the sleep issues (except when sleep deprived) has impacted my DDs IQ necessarily, but I think it's related to her other issues and I certainly think that effects performance.

Yes!