Here's an extract from a new book we are currently developing on How Children Think.
Understanding an Infant (0-18months)
Physical and Motor Development
Many changes occur in the first 18months of a baby’s life. When babies are first born they have very basic motor abilities. They have a range of inborn reflex responses that occur involuntarily in response to specific stimuli. These reflexes are primarily to ensure the baby’s adaptation and survival in their new world. Basic reflexes include breathing, sucking, blinking and swallowing. These reflexes will stay with the child for life, but become partly, or entirely voluntary responses. Babies are also born with a range of other reflexes that weaken and disappear over a few months. for example the rooting reflex, where the baby turns their head in the direction of touch to the cheek (in order to find breast or bottle to feed), and the grasping reflex, where the child will curl their fingers around objects placed in their palms.