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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

DD (3) seems to be ambidextrous...

14 replies

alittleteapot · 05/02/2011 19:22

Should I just leave her to it or should I support her left hand in any way e.g. by getting special scissors. She seems equally comfortable with both hands, as was my grandfather (who used it to beat people at squash!) She's starting to draw figuratively and seems very steady whichever hand she uses.I haven't observed if she has particular preference for different sides depending on activity.

I guess my instinct is to leave her to it but just interested to hear from others with older children with similar...

tia

OP posts:

peanutbutterkid · 05/02/2011 19:25

If she's drawing stuff that's great. Just work on a good pencil grip (for age) with either hand, I suggest.
DS2 seems to be ambidexterous, I didn't notice until he was 3.5yo . He's now 6.5yo.

PrincessScrumpy · 05/02/2011 19:25

dd is the same and dh was apparently like that until he went to school and teachers insisted he chose a hand - he chose left (just to be difficult). He now does some things right handed (like eating and playing golf and cutting) but other things like writing he does with his left hand. She'll figure it out.

Original poster

alittleteapot · 05/02/2011 19:43

thanks. I guess these days they're a bit more switched on in schools about non-righthanders...

OP posts:

DeWe · 05/02/2011 20:40

I was ambidexterous until I was 7 or 8, would write with either hand. Gradually I started using my right hand more, but even now I don't use it exclusively. I suspect if I'd been born in a left handed world I might well have been left handed.
Dd#1 was noted down as left handed at preschool, but is now definitely right. Have been surprised at the number of times I've been asked which dd#2 is considering she was born missing her left hand.

containher · 05/02/2011 21:02

Just leave her to it, if she seems comfortable with either, she will start to show a prefered hand. I used to write with my left hand for the first half of the page and then when I got to the middle I swapped the pen to my right hand to finish off- think I had chosen my right hand to write with when I was about 8, but still do other things like a leftie!

CharlieBoo · 05/02/2011 21:22

My ds was like that at this age, but at nearly 6 he is definitely right handed. My nan was ambidextrous all her life. Just let her go with what's most comfortable.

izpie · 06/02/2011 02:43

My dd was using both equally but over the past month (now 3.8yrs) has started to use left more than right, still uses right often though. I've just left her to it & shown her correct pencil hold with whichever hand she happens to be using. Did buy left handed scissors last week as she seems to be going that way.

MmeBucket · 06/02/2011 02:55

My DS was also that way when he was younger. I thought he might stay that way, because both of his grandfathers are, but somewhere along the way he turned into a very definite right hander on his own.

ragged · 06/02/2011 06:20

lol @ DeWe.

adja · 07/02/2011 14:20

Myself and my daughter are both right handed, although we hold our knife and fork as a left handed person would, and wear a watch as a left hande person would.... I think we are both just a bit odd :)

SummerRain · 07/02/2011 14:26

I'd just leave her be and not make an issue of it, let her do things with whichever hand feels most comfortable. Do make sure though that if she writes or draws with her left hand that she doesn't curl her arm around.... teach her to do it correctly if she wants to use that hand.

Apparantly more people are ambidextrous than are left handed (pointless factoid of the day folks)

My father and dp are both ambidextrous. I'm rigidly right handed and my older two prefer the right hand but ds2 seems to be ambidextrous, he switches from left to right quite often but seems to favour left more often than right. He's only 2 though so may change.

conkersdropped · 07/02/2011 14:29

DS is still at 5, although he is leaning more to his left hand at the moment. He swaps between the two dependent on what he is drawing or trying to write.

H has a good pencil grip with either hand, and I have shown him how to angle the paper to avoid smudges. (I am left handed)

mumof2girls2boys · 07/02/2011 17:16

My DS2 is 7 in 2 weeks and he still switches, his teacher didn't even know he was doing it until I asked if he did it at school as he does at home. His handwriting is equally appalling with both. I have asked his teacher to try and get him to choose as I think the lack of a definite hand for writing is the issue with his writing. He however says he will never choose as it is nice to be able to switch when your hand gets tired (out of my 4 he is my awkward one). Guess he will get there in the end, I wouldn't worry about it yet with yours. :)

yotty · 07/02/2011 21:50

My DS1 (10years old) uses his left hand to write but his right hand to throw a ball. When he was younger he would draw a picture using his left hand for the left side and his right hand for the right. His writing is appalling, but so is mine and DH, so not really expecting beautifully formed letters.

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