What reflex causes a newborn to make sucking motions when a finger or nipple is placed in the mouth?

• A. Moro Reflex
• B. Rooting Reflex
• C. Sucking Reflex
• D. Grasping Reflex

Answer: (C)

Newborns have several primitive reflexes that help with feeding. When something touches the roof of the mouth or lips, the sucking reflex kicks in, producing rhythmic sucking motions to draw in milk. This reflex is about the mouth actively sucking, not just turning toward the stimulus. The rooting reflex, by contrast, makes the baby turn the head toward a touch on the cheek and open the mouth in preparation for feeding, but it doesn’t itself produce the sucking rhythm. The Moro reflex is a startled spreading of the arms, and the grasping reflex is the fingers curling around a placed object. So, the reflex that causes sucking motions when a finger or nipple is placed in the mouth is the sucking reflex.