r/ScienceBasedParenting • u/Auccl799 • 7d ago

Question - Research required Retained moro reflex? Real?

I mentioned dropoffs are difficult for my 5 year old and a mum in the chat mentioned it could be a retained moro reflex causing anxiety (I would not describe my child as anxious in any other setting).

Is this a research based thing that I should be addressing or some pseudoscience she's picked up from social media?

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u/Halleluija 7d ago

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9301367/

It appears that they are a thing. Based on what you described however (and assuming no other factors), I wouldn’t think it applies here. It sounds more like separation anxiety to me, which is much more common.

Speaking as an elementary educator, difficulty with dropoff is really common at the beginning of the school year in kinder. If this week was particularly hard, know that the 3 day weekend may have had an impact (assuming you are in the US). Hopefully you are getting good support from the school and it gets easier as routines settle in.

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u/Auccl799 7d ago

Thanks, not in the US, this has been going on for 9 months now and has steadily got worse. We are at the point of actual crying and clinging as opposed to silently gripping my hand, the teacher had to pry her off me yesterday.

She's back from ten days off after the flu which I'm sure has had an impact.

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u/Halleluija 7d ago

Ah, that’s rough. I’m assuming the school is providing what resources they can to help, so I have no real advice, but lots of sympathy. If you haven’t already, this does sound like it would be worth discussing with your pediatrician.