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?

Agree. I'm left-handed, none of my kids are.

Why does it matter?

The baby barely knows they live outside the womb, let alone which part of their body to move...
I wouldn't read too much into it if I were you.
Both my husband and I are right handed but we have other left handed in the family (my son's cousin) . My son is left handed. Never bothered us or him.
If this is your first child I understand you have worries. The best place to ask for advice would be your health visitor. They are quite experienced.

@LovingLimePeer
i have do have Cerebral Palsy, which certainly can’t be detected before a child has coordination.
I wasn’t diagnosed until 18 months as they first thought I had congenital dislocated hips.
it was first spotted when I started to sit and would lean to my affected side.
My DP’s were told I’d probably never walk.. but at 21/2 I did.

As a (very) few posters have stated, a strong hand preference at a young age is a red flag for neurological disorder, and it’s absolutely appropriate that this be investigated.

It would have been better if this had been made clearer in the OP, but really it’s incredibly hubristic for so many poorly-informed people to make scathing remarks about the OP’s health anxiety and general preciousness…

Sorry meant to tag @nocoolnamesleft

This is batshit

In fairness to the OP, my son was referred to a physiotherapist at a similar age after we had some concerns about his shoulders (very traumatic birth).

The physiotherapist said she wouldn’t expect any baby to use one hand more than another before about 12 months and gave us some exercises to do with him.

It will depend on the type of CP.

I was diagnosed with a hemiparesis well before 18 months. Because the nature of a severe hemiparesis can be so obvious and striking - particularly in a case where a traumatic injury is already on record (as it was in my case).

If your kid has a problem with its arm to the point of a doctor being concerned (doesn't sound like doc was concerned), handedness is the least of your concerns surely. FWIW one of mine is left handed and has experiences zero issues. Was noticable from weaning (using cutlery with left hand).

And what if he is? maybe try and relax while letting your baby grow and explore.

This

I am left handed but my parents are right handed. It coukd be possible your child may be left hand. Both of my children are right handed.

Please get some help for your health anxiety

I'm assuming you took him to the neurologist because you were concerned that he didn't actually have full use of his right arm, and not because you were concerned he might be left-handed?

Left-handedness is a genetic thing but it's really complicated - it's not one of those things like eye colour where you can fairly easily work out the chances of it being passed down. I can't remember why, but I think it's something to do with there being loads and loads of different genes that contribute to it. It's impossible to say what the likelihood of your child inheriting it is.

I thought very small babies used their hands (or handedness) interchangeably at this stage.

Children typically begin showing hand preferences between the ages of 18 months and 4 years, with some exhibiting signs as early as one year old. Actual handedness, or hand dominance, usually develops between 3 and 6 years old.

That's what struck me!

@LovingLimePeer

I've read all of the comments and I'm glad someone finally pointed this out! Some real 'experts' on this post...

I noticed my child had a hand preference at 3-4 months old... they were then diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at 12 months. People probably wrongly assumed I was overly anxious or crazy but I couldn't have cared less what others thought as long as I was doing right by my child. A mother always knows.

Perhaps the narrow minded posters would do well not to judge others, especially if they have no frame of reference to go on other than their opinion.

But surely not on its own?
Would you not expect more than one indication of CP?

Gosh that's interesting. I never knew this! My (now adult) child had a strong preference for her left hand from the minute she was able to control her hands and reach and grab things. She did indeed turn out to be left handed. just as well really as I completely missed that red flag!

You need to chill out. And no one says their baby is 3 months and. 22 days…. Just a last almost 4 months or similar.

ignoring the neurologist situation… I think hand preference can be something that does emerge very early and I’m sure there is a bit of a spectrum with it. One of my children was always going to be left handed. It was obvious from 3-4 months, became even more obvious as she started eating and there was never a doubt she was 100% lefty.

My other child is also left handed but swapped hands fairly consistently and is probably closer to being ambidextrous. If she plays tennis, she’ll interchangeable swap the hand her racquet is in and in reception she’d write with both hands fairly equally.

If the child did not use its hand (or one side) at all, or minimally, that alone could be indicative of something.

I was under 1 year old when I was suffered the neurological injuries that led to - ultimately -a diagnosis of hemiplegic cerebral palsy. After recovery from the initial injury, the key symptom that led to a diagnosis of hemiparesis WAS the lack of use of the affected upper side.

No idea. But why do you care one way or the other? It makes no difference to anything. It never occurred to me as anything to even think about with my own babies. One of them turned out to be left-handed, but so what?

But that's not what OP has said. She said she had noticed (perhaps some confirmation bias?) that her baby stretches/grabs a bit more with left side, not that baby doesn't use/move right side, or any significant difference.