3-Month-Old Baby – Left-Handed or Right-Handed?

[Rozzzeto]

Our son is 3 months and 22 days old, and we’ve noticed that he is significantly more active with his left hand—he prefers to suck on it and tends to stretch it upwards more often. He does the same with his right hand, but to a much lesser extent. Currently, when placed on his back, he is trying to roll over again to his left side. We found out that his great-grandmother was left-handed. Both of us, his parents, are right-handed, as are all his grandparents—except for his great-grandmother.

We took him to a neurologist, who told us that it’s too early to determine whether he is left-handed, and that this can only be confirmed after the age of two. The doctor did not find any other physiological concerns.

We would like to hear your thoughts: have you observed similar patterns in other children, and what is the likelihood that our child might be left-handed?

That’s enough mumsnet for today

I’m mortified for you that you took your baby to a neurologist to see if he was left handed

Tell me you have PFB syndrome without telling me. 😂

3 months is WAY too young to have fully lateralised handedness- some children will show a preference at 4-5 months but a consistent hand preference isn't usually observed until 3-4 years.

Why you think it matters is beyond me.

Jeez my 6 month old still thrashes around erratically and it didn’t even cross my mind to take them to a doctor.

You can actually detect left/right dominance in utero! There's a preference for sucking the left/right hand consistent with handedness that's seen before birth. It does take time to figure out as there's handedness and there's convenience and convention. I'm fairly ambidextrous but my left is my weaker side as the world is generally set up for righted people. I can write with both hands but neater with my right as I do it more often. During my degree and in lectures I used both hands- different colour pens and it was very easy to go between the two but I can't do this any more.

Why would you waste a neurologists time to work out if they were left handed?

Does it matter? Not really. Also they are ambidextrous for a few years before choosing a dominant hand!

Not sure why you're faffing about this tbh - was this the main reason you're seeing a neurologist?!
My son also usually preferred his left hand from a young age and ended up being pretty much ambidextrous.He chose to write with his left hand but plays a lot of sports right handed, and tennis can forehand on each side 🤣

My gran was a leftie and none of me or my 4 sisters were. But one of my nephews ended up also choosing his left to write.

You have a LOT of time on your hands.
Most parents don’t question whether their kid is LH is RH until they are in pre school and starting to use pencils.

My 3 yo showed pretty young that he was left handed and left footed.
my almost 6 month old shows absolutely zero preference yet. At 3 months old they barely even know what their hands are!

Last month you posted your concerns about your then 2 month old having autism. Then about arm movements, now about being left handed.

Your baby is just being a baby.

Get some help for your anxiety.

I've not read all posts but I imagine baby was taken to a neurologist as hand preference before a certain age can indicate cerebral palsy. Any competent GP should be referring premature hand preference for this reason.

Clearly the 'appalled' among you have no medical knowledge or training.

Dh and I are both lefties as are both our dc 😂 I think there must be some genetic link.

This is wild! I hope it was a private appointment.

Handedness is decided in the womb (apparently). If you know which thumb your DS sucked in the womb - there's your answer.

Crazy

I really hope it was a private appointment and this was money you could afford to pay

Up until DS was 4 (now 13) we were pretty sure he was going to be left handed as he always favoured that side. He'd hold pencils with his left hand and when drawing it was mostly left handed. However, once he was more confident using a pencil it was evident he was actually right handed.
You definitely can't tell at 3 months.

Wut?

My son's 4 and it still isn't obvious whether he's left handed!

My son used both hands until 4 years old. That’s for writting, cutting and everything else. He is now 4.5yo and he is starting to use the right one more but sometimes used his left still. We also have one grandparent only as left handed, no one else even in the extended family.

Unclench OP.

My parents noticed as a young baby (6 months?) that when they put a rattle into my right hand I would immediately transfer it to my left. All it meant was that predictably I turned out left-handed, which is a total non issue. No history of left handedness in my family at all except one great uncle who was supposedly ambidextrous.

I don’t wanna laugh but…. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 this post!!! It’s crazy!
Our daughter is left handed! My husband is also a lefty ( non political).
I don’t care although I have said my husband will need to help more with the writing as tricky for me to teach her. My child is healthy and happy.

My son is 4 and we still aren't sure yet.

Your baby is three months old you need to relax.

This really isn’t anything to be giving a second of your thoughts to. Who cares if a person is left or right handed.