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Behaviour/development

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Original poster

What hand does your 18 month old use?

9 replies

SpiceAddict · 08/08/2013 09:42

My DD seems to be consistently using left hand to spoon feed and brush teeth. If I give her the spoon in her right hand she swaps over to her left again.
Does this mean she is likely to be left handed?

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YBR · 08/08/2013 13:21

I've read that "handedness" doesn't become fixed until about 2-2.5 years. My DD (20mo) uses both hands (sometimes at once!) so it does seem yours is showing strong tendencies.
I know that my DD seemed to learn Left-hand dexterity first when very young, but I think that's because we're right-handed and were passing things to her left hand IYSWIM.

TattyCatty · 08/08/2013 13:26

My left handed DD had very good fine motor skills from an early age, and used her left hand pretty much from the start. There is video evidence of her passing her first ever piece of cake into her left hand to eat on her 1st birthday! Frustratingly, her Nursery key worker insisted that she "hadn't made her mind up" at the age of 4, and insisted on encouraging her to use her right hand for cutting out / drawing. It knocked her confidence enormously, and she struggled to learn to write when she got to Reception as a result, but thankfully she has now caught up with her peers at the age of 7.

BJR · 08/08/2013 15:43

DS (19mo) seems to have a very strong preference for his left hand. He feeds himself and colours etc much more easily with his left hand, it will be interesting to see if this changes as he gets older.

bruffin · 08/08/2013 15:45

Dd was strongly left handed by 2.3 because she had an operation on her left hand and was bandaged for about a month. Once the bandage came off she went straight back to her left hand.

sarahloula · 08/08/2013 18:22

We suspected out dd was left handed at 6 months, she is now two and a half and still consistently uses her left hand for everything.

BabiesAreLikeBuses · 08/08/2013 20:28

My 5yo dd was left by preference from 1 and even scooters on the opposite foot to her right handed brother. That said, she's more ambidextrous than him, she can form letters and words equally well with both hands and swaps mid sentence if her hand gets tired! The teacher said to let her use both as it strengthens cross lateral pathways in the brain...

stowsettler · 09/08/2013 08:43

My nephew appeared to be left-handed from when he was a babe in arms. He's nearly 5 now and is definitely a leftie. DD, 5mths, is showing the same traits. Her fine motor skills are inifinitely better with her left hand. It's a bit of a family trait, so as a leftie myself I'm delighted...

olivo · 09/08/2013 08:45

I would not bet I it entirely. My Dd has consistently used her left hand for everything, but when she started to write and draw using the correct hand grip ( as opposed to the whole fist) she used her right. She is nearly 4 and definitely will write with her right but left remains a favourite for everything else.

AnotherStitchInTime · 09/08/2013 08:48

Both of mine showed a preference for their right hand from early on during baby led weaning. Dd1 is still right handed at 4 and dd2 is using her right hand to spoon feed herself and draw at nearly 18 months.

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