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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

Left or right handedness - when can you tell??

20 replies

cruisemum1 · 23/11/2006 17:04

ds 11 weeks always looks to the left and sucks fingers on left hand. Does this mean he'll be left handed? My brother and sister are both left handed but no-one else in the family. I was just curious. Anyone got any tips for telling?

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Sobernow · 23/11/2006 17:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Jam77 · 23/11/2006 17:29

So weird! DD is 10 weeks and I have wondered the same thing - has recently discovered hands and it's always the left...I wonder if it is a sign?

Original poster

cruisemum1 · 23/11/2006 17:45

Jam - you seem to be as addicted to MN as I am! Keep seeing we are on the same threads. Have you found any others that would be of use to me bearing in mind our lo's are only a week apart?

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Jam77 · 23/11/2006 17:52

Hi Cruise - not really any other threads apart from the dummies advice needed one I'm on. I do love MN, sometimes I can't get on for a few days and then I have a good day like today when I'm at home and it's lovely I have to go in a sec though but will be back on tomorrow

kid · 23/11/2006 17:55

I didn't know DD was left handed until she was around 1 year. Even then people were telling me I couldn't tell for sure. Turned out I was right though, knew about the same age for DS too.

NatalieJane · 23/11/2006 18:01

We thought DS was left handed right up until he was about 3 and half years old, he has always (and still does) use his left hand for everything, but it was only when he started learning to write his name that he started using the pencil in his right. Even to this day (coming up to 5yo now) he still uses his left hand for everything except writting, oh and when he is cutting something up.

Ellaroo · 23/11/2006 18:01

We would put things into ds's right hand and he would automatically switch it to his left hand from a very young age (am thinking about 8 months, but memory is poor when it comes to timescale...and a lot else ).

Ellaroo · 23/11/2006 18:01

myturn · 23/11/2006 18:02

dd3 and dd4 are both lefthanded. I was sure by the time they were a year old that they were left-handed but it had been obvious for a while before that they were favouring their left hand. My HV argued with me though and insisted it was impossible to tell until they were about 2yo...

Peridot30 · 23/11/2006 18:30

When ds at nursery they said you could normally tell by 3 and a half what handed they will be.

Original poster

cruisemum1 · 23/11/2006 19:34

crikey! can't believe how long it takes to find out. So, at 11wks there is no real indication at all then.

Nataliejane - funny how your lo alternates his hands for tasks and writing. i wonder if he would be classed as ambidexterous?

I guess i shall have to be patient and wait!
thanks for all the responses

OP posts:

juuule · 23/11/2006 22:04

I agree it's around about 3 years of age.

sunnysideup · 23/11/2006 22:15

Ellaroo, I agree, my ds was exactly like that and always swapped things to his favoured hand, from as soon as he could sit up really. It was the choosing the swap that made me convinced from the early months that he was left handed - it was a really really marked preference.

When I visited a pre-school with ds when he was 2 yrs 9 months one of the things they said was "we can help identify whether he will be left or right handed" and I remember telling them that it was already established - they said "oh, it can change you know" but it never did...

Matonic · 23/11/2006 22:27

Ds is 4.10 and is still variable. He is beginning to favour his left hand more and more, but it's only six months ago that he was holding a pen in each hand and doing alternate strokes of a letter with each. Even now, he'll start a line of writing with his left hand and then swap halfway through.

He played cricket with some older boys in the summer and although he would 'bowl' (well, I say 'bowl', but to be honest he's a bit of a chucker) with either arm indiscrimately, he was batting fairly consistently left-handed.

Tips for telling? I noticed him favouring his left hand for things at about three months, but everyone said it was far too soon to tell. I may yet turn out to be right.

iwouldloveadollypleaseSanta · 23/11/2006 23:13

what an interesting thread - i have often wondered as my dd will favour one or the other hand randomly, she is 10m so i suppose i will have to wait!

suedonim · 24/11/2006 14:42

Head turning is supposed to be an early indicator of handedness. But as with anything to do with children, nothing is set in tablets of stone! I suspected my dd's were l-handed at about 15mths and 9mths.

ComeOVeneer · 24/11/2006 14:45

We suspected dd was left handed at about 6 months, the same for ds at that age. DD is almost 5 and ds almost 2 and without a shadow of a doubt they areboth left handed. Dh and I are right, but both our fathers are left.

tegan · 24/11/2006 14:54

DD1 favoured her left hand until she started school and now at 8.7 is useless with her left hand, but dd2 is definately left handed and can't use her right hand at all and even has less strength in her right hand.

Original poster

cruisemum1 · 24/11/2006 18:40

All your posts are really interesting so many thanks! The bottom line is that it doesn't really matter either way but it is great to see how and when you all found out. As I have two left handed siblings but their lo's (now big ones!) are all right handed it will be fun to see how my ds pans out. He definitely has a preference for his left hand right now but at only 11 weeks this appears not to be an indicator of anything! As with the colour of his eyes, it is fun to keep guessing!

OP posts:

Piffle · 24/11/2006 18:44

With ds it was from very young, 8 weeks maybe, he was so overtly left handed
DD sucks her left thumb, but at age 4 she is still very ambidextrous, I think she prefers her right for pencil work but then changes suddenly and id as equally competent with her left.
Differs widely would thus be my considered opinion

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