To think he may be leftie

[almightysockbandit]

Playing with ds today (4mo) and he always reaches to grab with his left hand (nothing wrong with right hand or arm just seems to prefer his left)

Am I reading to much into this or has anyone else though about this just interested to know

As an early years practitioner, it is fairly common to see children use either hand, even at reception age. The way we allow children to use whichever they prefer is to offer tools and implements to them in a neutral way, so by placing them in the middle of the paper or in front of them in the middle, or just to leave things in pots so they can take them out with whichever hand they want.

Research has shown that preference usually comes between ages 4-6 (although can be apparent from age 2) so we are careful not to influence children or force them to use one hand or another.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4803747/

www.researchgate.net/publication/298792919_Infant_Hand_Preference_and_the_Development_of_Cognitive_Abilities

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www2.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/sites/default/files/folders/documents/childreneducationandfamilies/educationandlearning/specialeducationalneeds/SEND/HandDominance.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiGquf4lYTfAhXGe8AKHesyCJcQFjACegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw3Fnnwre_kb5bPkR4ijuZEr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www2.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/sites/default/files/folders/documents/childreneducationandfamilies/educationandlearning/specialeducationalneeds/SEND/HandDominance.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiGquf4lYTfAhXGe8AKHesyCJcQFjACegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw3Fnnwre_kb5bPkR4ijuZEr

^ Agree.

We had left and right handed scissors at home for example. The DT's just picked whichever they wanted.

leftie is not useful outside political situations

Can't exactly remember but I certainly suspected my eldest of being a leftie by 6 months (we moved house after that but I have a strong visual memory of him reaching for things with his left hand at the old house).

He's 20 now and also a bit of a lefty.

Little
Two of your links are to the same article
and it says that preference is determined BY age two, not AT age two

My DD has always been a leftie and continues to be so. First noticed well before she was 1. HV, GP etc said ah this can change. It hasn’t and doesn’t worry me. DS was obviously a rightie from early days and is still. Either way, they’re healthy and that’s all that matters. Btw DD is 5 now. Still leftie.

My 4 and 2 year old are right handed but cut with their left, just like me!

Ds had a preference for his right hand by around four months and now is five yo, writes and eats with his right hand.

I showed a preference for my left by six months and am left handed.

If anything it's been an advantage. The extra use of my non dominant hand due to way stuff is designed has meant that I'm far more capable with my right hand than most right handed people I know are with their left.

We noticed very early on that ds was left handed...certainly by 6-9 months...

Having had a leftie, it was easy to spot dd1 & dd2 were right-handed...dd3 seems to favour her left too but not as dominant as ds was...

I'm on my mobile, I can't be bothered to find more detailed research I've read! But it does also say it's by age 2 for some children, not all.

I guess I can only stand by my years of early years work and state that some children have no preference even at age 4. I believe any parent should allow their child to demonstrate their preference in their own time, just as we do in the early years settings I've worked in.

Yes I noticed this when my ds was about 4 or 5 months old and HV said its too early to tell.
He is 18 months now and I have never seen him use a fork or spoon in his right hand and he scribbles on paper holding pens in his left hand.
I am pretty sure he is left handed.

I have two children, one left handed one right. I guessed at a few months old correctly with each. My theory was that they both had strong preferences for a side which showed because their nails were shorter on the preferred hand. I presumed this meant they used that hand more. The theory did prove to be correct. Could also be bollocks though.

Scottie
Your links were fine. They said what I expected
Handedness is normally spotted by age 2.
Some are earlier, some are later

whereas @iabvvu
said that it did not exist before 18 months
which is untrue

I read a study once (a long time ago, don't ask me for a citation) that lefthandedness is more common in babies that have been subjected to extra ultrasound scans in the third trimester. It's also more common in first babies, I think.

Well that would be strange if is fact I had 5 scans in total

I started off left handed, turned out to be mostly right handed with some ability to use my left hand. I do find bat and racquet sports easier as a leftie but was made to use my right at school for reasons I never fully understood.

In my later childhood I used to write with both hands at once as a party trick.

Mattfrei
that lefthandedness is more common in babies that have been subjected to extra ultrasound scans in the third trimester. It's also more common in first babies, I think.
How does that explain the number of left handed people older than ultrasound ?

And FWIW both my kids had lots of scans because I was part of a research study
neither is left handed
DH and I are

Hand dominance shouldn't be established before 18 months - might be worth seeing someone in case there's an underlying reason like right sided weakness

I was told this too (and a paediatrician family member maintains it to be the case) but my DD was clearly left-handed by 6 months and has no issues. You do want them to be using their "wrong" had to some extent at least though.

How does that explain the number of left handed people older than ultrasound?

Well, it doesn't, obviously! I don't think that the study was claiming late ultrasounds are the only cause of lefthandedness!

My cat is a leftie. DH and I are both right handed though so I don't know where she gets it from

Talkinpeece my DD was also left handed at 8 weeks. She was a tiny little thumb sucker with her finger crooked around her nose.
I mentioned her being left handed at her 8/9 month check, I was made to feel like I’d made it up!

OK, I just did a super-quick google and apparently late/multiple ultrasounds were correlated with a 32% increase in lefthandedness. Whether that was causal or not was not speculated upon. It supposedly only affected males, but since the cohort was all male I'm not sure if that was all they could conclude for sure, or whether it was ever suggested that this was a departure from female neurodevelopment (and if so how/why?). I would have to do a more thorough literature search and haven't really got time just at the minute. Interesting, though!

My little brother was clearly right handed by that age. His preference was such that the health visitor thought he was blind in one eye.

DS1 showed an inclination to use his left hand from about 9 months. We had to take him to physiotherapy for other issues and mentioned it. The Physio said true left/right handedness isn’t developed until around 18 months and what we may be noticing is a weakness on his right rather than a preference for his left.
Now he is in his thirties he is right handed but still occasionally shows a left handed preference.

mattfrei
correlation is not causation

maybe its just because ultrasound came in around the time they totally stopped trying to make kids right handed it was done to me in western countries.

Testable with the number of left handed kids in islamic countries where there is ultrasound - not many because of social pressure