Signs, Symptoms, and How to Help Your Child
It can feel confusing when your child reacts strongly to everyday sounds, movements, or transitions—especially if those reactions seem bigger than the moment calls for. Maybe your child jumps at loud noises, struggles with unexpected changes, or has intense emotional outbursts that seem to come out of nowhere.
As pediatric occupational therapists specializing in neurodevelopment, we want you to know: you’re not imagining things. These behaviors might be linked to something called the Moro Reflex—a primitive reflex that should have integrated in infancy, but sometimes doesn’t.
Let’s talk about what that means, and how it could be impacting your child today.
What Is the Moro Reflex?
The Moro Reflex is a survival response present at birth. It’s the startle reflex you may have seen in your baby when they were laid down quickly or heard a sudden noise. Their arms would fling out wide, then pull back in with a little cry. This reflex is nature’s way of helping infants respond to potential danger.
Normally, the Moro Reflex begins to fade around 3–4 months of age and is fully integrated by 6 months. But in some children—especially those with birth trauma, sensory processing challenges, or developmental delays—this reflex may remain active long past infancy.
When that happens, the nervous system stays in a heightened state of alert, reacting to the world as if it’s constantly under threat.
Signs the Moro Reflex May Still Be Active
An active Moro Reflex can affect a child’s emotional regulation, attention, sensory processing, academic ability, and overall sense of safety. Some common signs include:
- Oversensitivity to sound, light, touch, or motion
- Startling easily and often
- Anxiety, especially in new or unpredictable situations
- Difficulty with transitions or changes in routine
- Big emotional reactions to seemingly minor stressors
- Poor balance or motion sickness
- Trouble settling down or relaxing
- Frequent meltdowns or emotional overload
- Difficulty with recall of previously mastered skills, facts, or events
If these patterns feel familiar, it may be that your child’s brain and body are still wired for survival—making it hard to stay calm, focused, or socially confident.
Why This Isn’t Something They’ll Just “Grow Out Of”
Primitive reflexes don’t disappear on their own—they must be integrated through developmental movement and nervous system maturation. If that process didn’t happen naturally or fully during infancy, the reflex doesn’t simply go away. It lingers beneath the surface, influencing behavior, posture, learning, and self-regulation.
That’s why even older children—well past the baby stage—may still be living in a constant state of reactivity, even if they can’t explain it. Their bodies feel unsafe, even when their minds know they’re okay. And that mismatch creates stress, fatigue, impulsivity, anger, and frustration—for them and for you.
The Good News: Reflexes Can Be Integrated
The nervous system is incredibly adaptable. Through targeted neurodevelopmental therapy, we help children complete the movement and sensory experiences their brains missed in early development. This allows the Moro Reflex to fully integrate—freeing the nervous system to respond appropriately, not reactively.
Once this happens, parents often notice their child becomes:
- Less anxious and more flexible
- Better able to handle transitions and surprises
- Calmer in their body and mind
- More focused and emotionally resilient
- Better at recovering from frustration
- More confident in social settings
- Better able to demonstrate known facts and skills and achieve academic success
In other words: they’re not as easily overwhelmed, and daily life becomes a lot smoother for the whole family.
You’re Not Alone—And There’s Help
If you’ve been wondering why your child seems “on edge” all the time, or why typical parenting strategies haven’t worked, we want to assure you—there is an explanation, and there are effective, evidence-informed ways to help.
Our team at Sense Able Brain specializes in identifying retained reflexes like the Moro and creating personalized therapy plans to support integration. We look at the whole child, not just the symptoms, and we partner with parents to bring lasting change.
You don’t have to navigate this on your own.
Ready to learn more?
Schedule a Free Parent Consultation, or explore our blog for additional information on reflex integration and sensory development.