“Why can’t they just sit still?”
A comment I hear so much! And a challenge I love helping to reduce!
If your child seems to bound through the day with endless energy, struggles to sit still in class or at home, is fidgeting, constantly on the move, bounding out of their chair at the dinner table, moving from one activity to the next or wriggling and writhing when sitting anywhere, then know they are not alone!!
There are many reasons why this may be. Some reasons help us to embrace or at least understand a child’s energy and need for movement, even if it exhausts us as parents! Other reasons may point to a specific need for reflex integration to integrate particular reflexes contributing to the restlessness.
Let’s look at why your child may be on the move!
The Spinal Galant Reflex
A big contributor to the restless or ‘on the move’ child is the Spinal Galant reflex.
This is a primitive reflex that is foundational in the natural birthing process. During birth, the vaginal contractions trigger the reflex producing a twitch of the hips to the side. This sashaying movement of the hips, triggered by each contraction, assists the infant in fish-tailing their way down the birth canal. The birth process is the centre stage for this reflex and is what this reflex emerged for!
Interruptions of any sort to the birthing process means this reflex often ‘hangs around’ in the body waiting for its moment to fully ‘perform.’ While hanging around, it interrupts a child or adult’s ability to function and can create challenges with focus and attention.
While before birth the reflex is triggered by the contractions, outside of the womb the reflex can continue to be triggered by stimulation to the lower part of the spine. Think of scratchy labels on the waistbands of clothes, a child sitting in a school chair with their back contacting the chair, rolling over in bed onto their back.
If your child ticks the box for any of the following:
- was born by caesarean
- had interruptions to or instruments used to help in their birth process
- dislikes labels on their waistbands of their clothes
- dislikes tight clothes
- bed-wets at night beyond 5 years of age
then this may indicate that their Spinal Galant reflex is still active in their system.
A simple way to check for this reflex is to firmly stroke your finger down your child’s back about 1cm either side of their spine. This can be done with the child standing or on all fours. You can try each side separately or both together. If you notice a twitch of the hips or the shoulders then this indicates the Spinal Galant is still active.
Development of the Basal Ganglia
Primitive reflexes reside in the brainstem. If we consider the brain to be an onion, the brainstem would be at the centre. Surrounding the brainstem layer is the basal ganglia. It is in the basal ganglia that our cerebellum resides which modulates movement or, to put it more simply, puts the brakes on movement.
Primitive reflexes teach our body to move. Reflexive involuntary movements, triggered by various sensory stimuli, trigger the muscles to begin their earliest movements and explore the vast array of movements able to be performed. Through these earliest movements, the brain also begins to develop; strengthening the connections it has between the hemispheres and between the various layers of the brain.
Once the brain has sufficiently developed to a point that it has strong connections into the basal ganglia region, then the reflexes no longer have the ability to control our movement in an involuntary fashion. A body’s reactivity to its environment settles once the primitive reflexes integrate. The higher centres of the brain take over conscious control and a body can choose whether to move or not to move.
Stillness is, after all, the highest form of movement.
Until the brain has developed, refined and strengthened the neurological foundations and connections and integrated primitive reflexes, the choice to be still will be interrupted as our primitive reflexes constantly respond to the sensory stimuli – sound, temperature, smell, action, movement, tactile – around us. So long as primitive reflexes and the brainstem are ‘running the show,’ the higher centres of the brain where choice and decision making ability resides is overridden.
How can I help my child to focus?
The great news is, reflex integration using Rhythmic Movement Training provides a way to integrate primitive reflexes and strengthen the connections between the layers of the brain and the basal ganglia region to give access to all types of movement….including stillness and a new level of focus.
Contact me today if you’re having some ‘aha’ moments as to why your child is struggling with focus and attention.