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Original poster

At what age does a child become left/right handed??

75 replies

Drinkandknowthings · 16/04/2020 20:34

Just curious. DD is 3 and still swaps between hands when holding a pencil/crayon. She does seem to favour her left though and seems to have a bit more control (lines are a bit straighter). So I’m just wondering.

OP posts:
TypicalMeBreakMyTypicalRules · 16/04/2020 21:20

DS right handed and obvious from very young age

BillywigSting · 16/04/2020 21:37

Ds was very obviously right handed from about 12 months.

lunar1 · 16/04/2020 22:05

My boys were obviously right handed from the moment they could use their hands. Holding things, waving, pointing, eating. Absolutely everything was right handed.

Funnily though, my eldest broke his right arm recently and we discovered he was ambidextrous when his teacher asked him to have a go writing with his left hand. His normal writing is exceptionally neat and 3 days into using his left hand it was just as neat but with a slight slant.

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Families
CountFosco · 16/04/2020 22:21

Mum said they could tell I was left handed very early on, I did everything left handed. DD1 was the same, it was reasonably obvious as soon as she started picking stuff up and particularly walking she was left handed and left footed (she's 11 and a keen footballer and now spends ages training her right foot to be as good as her left). DD2 (a righty) was similarly confirmed in her handedness. DS is 7 and is left handed but right footed. He took a very long time to decide which hand he used, was much later mark making than his big sisters and was still swapping hands at 5. FIL was ambidextrous and I suspect DS is as well but in a predominantly lefty house he has turned out left handed. Suspect if he had two right handed parents they might have pushed him the other way.

Handedness is genetic but not a normal inheritance, there's a 'randomness' gene that is linked to handedness. There is a link to your hair crown, left handedness is linked to having a double crown and how it rotates (but again, not always). This randomness means 2 left handers can have right handed children, much to the disgust of my only other left handed relative!

whathaveijustseen · 16/04/2020 22:24

dd1 we had to put that we weren't sure when started reception, turned out that she's ambidextrous!

ScorchioScorchio · 16/04/2020 22:24

My son was still fully ambidextrous at almost five and a half. We made the decision for him about handedness by asking him to write with his right hand since it was his slightly neater writing. He's now, at nine years old, left footed for football, scoots with his right foot, bowls (cricket) with his right and throws with his left!

bakingcupcakes · 16/04/2020 22:26

I started to think my son was left handed before he turned one. When he fed himself he tended to use his left hand, the same when he picked up his bottle. By the time he was 2 he kicked a ball with his left foot but would switch hands sometimes with crayons. I think that was partly because I kept giving him crayons in his right hand without thinking. When he started nursery at 3 I said I believed he was left handed but the teacher said it was too early to be certain. He's 5 now and definitely left handed.

LaurieSchafferIsAllBitterNow · 16/04/2020 22:28

DS1 was left handed from as soon as he was taking things
DD is right handed...don't remember anything else for her
DS2 is right handed, but used to use either as a baby/toddler depending who he was watching/playing with

I am right handed, but can make a decent job of most things with my left
DS1 ...taught him to do lots of things right handed just to try and make things easier...chopping/scissors/eating and he manages fine

My dad was left handed, but made to use his right and MIL is also lefthanded.

hyacinthbouquetsbucket · 16/04/2020 22:33

DD1 was very obviously right handed, DS1 would use either hand interchangeably until he was 3/4 but is not obviously right handed, DS2 was very obviously left handed by age 2/3.

hyacinthbouquetsbucket · 16/04/2020 22:34

^ now obviously right handed

Sostenueto · 16/04/2020 22:34

See what leg they lead off with. Or what leg they kick a ball. My husband was a leftie, I'm right handed. My eldest DD is right handed and so is her Ds. My youngest DD is left handed and so is her DD. So weird but that's genes for you! They will soon find out what they are. It does not matter either way! Not like my day where they would tie your left hand behind your back at school if you were a leftie!

AudTheDeepMinded · 16/04/2020 22:41

My eldest son was very obviously a leftie from the moment he started to reach for things and grip them, a few months old. Dh and I both righties, so not something he could have learnt from copying. Both other siblings right handed, despite being younger and learning lots of things from their brother!

Jasharps · 16/04/2020 22:45

4 kids here, 2 left and 2 right. The lefties showed a preference from super early although did occasionally swap before nursery at 3 then decided on left.

Husband is 1 of 4 and his siblings are 2 of each too and his dad is left handed so I believe genetically do play a part

pallasathena · 16/04/2020 22:45

Both myself and ex were lefties. All three children were lefties too.
Must be genetic.

Greenandcabbagelooking · 16/04/2020 22:51

I write with my right hand, but do everything else left handed, and I’m left footed. My Reception school report stays I hadn’t settled on handedness at the age of 4 years 7 months.

nowaitaminute · 16/04/2020 22:56

I have one of each and it's was clearly obvious for both dc they were right handed or left handed by the time they were 2

elliejjtiny · 16/04/2020 22:57

1 of my dc is left handed, 3 are right handed and my nearly 7 year old still can't decide.

TaTuirseOrm · 16/04/2020 22:59

Both mine are R- handed, but eldest is left footed and has been since as long as I can remember.

MuchTooTired · 16/04/2020 23:01

My DTs are just over two. Ds is obviously right handed, dd uses both but seems to be more left handed as she uses it more. Time will tell I guess!

UnaCorda · 17/04/2020 00:09

My son is half way through primary school and still hasn't settled on which hand to use. He uses his left on the page on the left and his right on the page on the right.

I love this! Grin

myfav · 17/04/2020 00:21

DD2 is same age. She uses both for colouring and eating etc. Trying to encourage the right hand as I think this may be better long term.

Noti23 · 17/04/2020 00:28

I was swapping between hands up until I was 8 years old. I’m predominantly right-handed but I’ve got no dominant side in sports. I can write with my left if I need to but I’m a bit slow.

BadlyArrangedToasties · 17/04/2020 00:42

My daughter is 4 and still swaps, although I think she will be a leftie like me. My son was always strongly right handed. Definitely by 2 we knew he was right handed.

DaveMinion · 17/04/2020 01:02

I was very obviously ambidextrous from an early age. I’d write on the left side of a notebook with left hand and right side with right hand. I can still write either handed but left is more comfortable and right is neater so I tend to use right. I worked it out myself.

I eat left handed. I play pool and other sports left handed but tennis and badminton right handed. I don’t have a clue which footedness I am lol.

user3274826 · 17/04/2020 01:06

I'm left handed and so was really interested to see if any of mine would be too and watched closely from as soon as they could hold things. All three had a very obvious right hand preference before they were 6 months old but was no doubting it whatsoever when they started weaning at 6 months. I've always been a bit dubious of those that say you can't tell until age 3, but I expect there is a spectrum of hand dominance.