The Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex (TLR) has two positions, the first of which is basically the fetal position, which the baby assumes when being cradled, and is normally present prenatally to about 3 months. The second position is "Superman" which the baby does at about 3 months, when held over Mom's head as they zoom around the room. When put on the stomach on the floor, the baby automatically holds her head and chest up off the floor - this is the position used to "integrate" the first position.

When my children were small and they held their heads up, I was so proud of them for being so strong. Yet, it is not strength or muscles that the baby uses to hold the head up - it is a reflex she cannot help. The Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex; the second position. The purpose of this reflex is to develop the muscles in the neck, back and shoulders that were not present.

My Baby Doesn't Like Tummy Time!

What if the baby does not like being on the floor on the stomach perhaps due to acid reflux or surgery? The baby cannot develop the muscles required to further develop along a developmentally correct path. Without the muscles developed from this reflex, the strength will not exist to hold her body up to crawl, and there are several physical and cognitive milestones to be developed along this path.  If this is your baby now, put her down on her stomach until she cries. Then pick her up and soothe her until she stops. Do this many times every day until she can tolerate several minutes. You need to start small and work your way up!

Don't despair if your baby did not crawl because these reflexes can be integrated at any age.

Symptoms

Let's look at the list of symptoms that accompany a "retained" TLR.

      Poor posture

      Weak muscles, poor core strength

      Poor balance

      Unable to copy from the board  - convergence

      Spatial problems - bumps into furniture, stands too close, poor space planning on paper

      Poor sequencing - necessary for reading, writing and math

      Poor sense of time, unable to tell time - mixes up yesterday/tomorrow or day/week/month/year

If you know of someone who has poor posture and can't tell a good story from beginning to end or is a poor joke teller, you are looking at a retained TLR.

What to do?

To help, consider the Maintaining Brains Everyday Video. This month it is on sale if you download it. If you prefer to get the DVD, it is still quite inexpensive!

From an email I received just last month:

Reflex integration has really made a huge difference in my son's life. Since beginning to integrate his reflexes, he has become less anxious, (much) less prone to catch colds, and seemed to rapidly mature before our eyes (Moro reflex). He doesn't fall off his chair at dinnertime anymore and can run faster than before (TLR). He used to absolutely hate to have to write, crying and begging me to be his scribe for even the smallest homework assignment; yet after correcting his ATNR, he hasn't complained once, and his writing is smaller and neater. (He even said, "Mom, I can see differently!" It felt like a miracle in our household.) He can also catch a ball very competently, instead of fumbling around in frustration as before. His running gait became less floppy after we did the Spinal Galant. Right now we're working on the STNR--I can't wait to see those changes soon!

-Stephanie