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Original poster

Can you normally tell if they are going to be left or right handed by 3?

45 replies

blueteddy · 08/05/2006 18:48

My DS2 (just turned 3) seems to always favour his left hand & always seems to hold a pen in his left hand when drawing.
Do you think it is a pretty sure bet that he is going to be left handed, or is it still quite early to tell?
My family seem quite concerned that he appears left handed & when I told a friend yesterday that he is using his left hand, her response was "Oh dear...well I guess he will make up for it in personality!"
Is it really such a disadvantage in life to be left handed?

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jalopy · 08/05/2006 18:58

You'll get deluged with replies!!! No, it can still be a while before handedness is established. My daughter did everything with her left hand right up until reception year. She suddenly changed to her right hand (at the age of 5) for no apparent reason. My son only writes with his right hand but does everything else with his left hand, he's even left-footed.
There are lots of advantages of being a leftie, don't look upon it as a disability. It isn't Grin

Piffle · 08/05/2006 19:13

With ds it was easy I knew at 6 mths
DD is now 3.5 and I still am not 100% sure
Ds is a leftie and quite brilliant - he does most sports and instruments right handed grip and has had very few problems at school - infact he quite the cleverest child in the world :)

Original poster
blueteddy · 08/05/2006 19:22

That is good to know, piffle.Smile
My BIL came round the other week & kept putting DS's pen in his right hand, telling me I should encourage him to use the right hand. Everytime he did this DS quickly swapped it back to his left hand before drawing.
Interesting that your DD favoured her left hand right up until reception age & then changed to being right handed, jalopy.
DS1 has always been right handed.

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notasheep · 08/05/2006 19:27

dd is left handed,i could really tell by the time she was one with her wooden spoon and saucepan.

Who cares what handed they are,some people are just so neurotic about it.

Take a look at the most fantastic tennis players-huge majority are left handedSmile

Original poster
blueteddy · 08/05/2006 19:32

Everyone does seem to be very neurotic about it! People react like it is some real disadvantage in life & my friends "Oh dear, he will make up for it in personality" comment really got to me.
Hadn't realised about the tennis players!

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Blackduck · 08/05/2006 19:35

bil and mil both left handed - took me ages to realise so can't be that much of an issue! Lots of IT people are left handed.....

notasheep · 08/05/2006 19:36

i think its and advantage,what they think is there problem Wink

dd happens to be top in her class-i am proud she is left handed-does tend to smudge her felt pen drawings though Sad

kid · 08/05/2006 19:38

Both of my children are left handed. DD has really bad handwriting but we are working on it. She doesn't have any other difficulties from being LH.

DS is very energetic, he is an excellent climber, kicks a ball really well, runs fast and has a fantastic memory!

I knew they were both going to be LH from about 1 year old. I have never encouraged them to use their RH, its up to them. I don't think I could change their preference anyway. I'd be really annoyed with anyone that had a bad comment towards left handers. You need to have a quick remark to throw back at those ignorant people!

Original poster
blueteddy · 08/05/2006 19:42

I have never encouraged him to use his right hand & told BIL to stop trying to force him to use his right hand as you cannot change him if he is naturally left handed & it was painful to watch. Poor little chap wanted to do his drawing in peace!

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kid · 08/05/2006 19:45

Why don't you get your BIL to try and use his left hand and see how difficult it is for him? I wonder if he would try and force your DS then?

Original poster
blueteddy · 08/05/2006 19:45

It's nice to hear all these positive stories though, as even though I work with children, I haven't come across many left handers.

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Original poster
blueteddy · 08/05/2006 19:45

Good idea, kid!

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kid · 08/05/2006 19:46

You are a classroom assistant aren't you?
I am too, in my class there are 7 left handed children (out of 30)

Original poster
blueteddy · 08/05/2006 19:48

Yes I am a classroom assistant, but we have a real shortage of left handers in the class I work in. 7 out of 30 is quite a lot!

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Original poster
blueteddy · 08/05/2006 19:52

What year group do you work with, kid?

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kid · 08/05/2006 19:59

I work in Year 2.

nikkie · 08/05/2006 19:59

In my class 5 out of 9 are left handed
(special needs school)

Original poster
blueteddy · 08/05/2006 19:59

So do I!

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Original poster
blueteddy · 08/05/2006 19:59

Blimey, 5 out of 9!

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mousiemousie · 08/05/2006 20:01

no.

was not apparent in my daughter unitl 5, and she does lots with her left hand still and is fairly ambidextrous. Stop worrying about this already - it is a waste of your time and energy!

kid · 08/05/2006 20:02

Are your yr2 doing SATS this week?
We are, its awful. The last test for most of them is Wednesday. It come soon enough if you ask me!

Rach69 · 08/05/2006 20:07

My dd is 8 now and was always left handed, although there is no-one in her family who is left handed. She has beautiful handwriting (better than ds1 who is 12!) and she excels at sport and art like many other left-handers. The only disadvantage is making sure she has equipment such as left handed scissors to cut with.

joec · 08/05/2006 20:09

my dad is left handed, so am i and my dd1 is aswell....
never doid any of us any harm, and have never viewed it as a disadvantage.
also use my righthand for lots of things, can actually write with my right hand but am more comfortable with my left.
my dd1 has just had her c;lass results in school and has come third in the class for her exam results.

obviously nothing to be worried about i think

browniechick · 08/05/2006 20:21

Blueteddy - my Dad is left-handed (as are some others in his family), anyway, his twin was right handed and he is left-handed. His school (ala you bil) used to try and make him write with his right hand. He now has a stammer - I beleive there is some research which proves that trying to force a child to change their natural handedness can cause them other issues (eg stammer).
Don't want to frighten you, but you should point this out to your bil - what business is it of his anyway, which hand your child writes with??? Your DS will be what he will be, and good on him I say. I am not bothered which hand my ds chooses to write with, as long as he is both happy and healthy.

B

Original poster
blueteddy · 08/05/2006 22:35

Absolutely, browniechick!
I haven't a problem with DS being left handed, but others around me seem to!
I don't know many people who are left handed, so it is nice to hear some positive things rather than the "Oh dear" type comments that I have been receiving.

Kid, we start SATS in a couple of weeks.

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