Apparent regression in handedness - is this of any significance?

[vixen1]

Hi all,

DS's OT is coming over tomorrow and I plan on asking her about this issue. Was interested to see what you all thought as well...

My DS is 2.8 and was very well established with his right hand. In the last few weeks he's suddenly become totally unsure of which hand to use for everything.

I know it can be quite common for laterality to not be established yet but what about this apparent regression?

Is this of any significance whatsoever?
Thanks, Vixen

Has your ds always used his right hand and rarely the left?

I ask because I had this in reverse with my ds. He was completely left-handed from the very beginning. So much so that when he was a toddler I actually started to wonder if there was a problem with his right hand that I just hadn't noticed.

Then he suddenly started to experiment with using his right hand for some things. He's still very much left-handed but there's a bit more of a balance now IYSWIM. There didn't seem to be any particular reason for the sudden change.

It's definitely worth mentioning to the OT though. Good luck. :)

Hi Coppertop, thanks for that .

He went through the usual pattern of hand preference -we thought he was a lefty, then a righty, then lefty then finally righty etc but he's been vastly predominantly right handed for everything in the last 6 months. However his twin brother is definitely left handed (just like his dad) so maybe he's copying that? Mind you, it would be quite a result to see him copying something!!

Thanks for your input xxx

OOh, I meant to say: it's reassuring to know that there can be an apparent "regression" in this area for no apparent reason and I take it your DS is happy with his handedness now...

DS2 was left handed for ages and ages (never used his right hand), then suddenly, some time around his 3rd birthday he became right handed. He is now nearly 4, and he is probably 90% right handed.

Thanks Littlemiss, that help to reassure as well... seems to be totally normal then!

ds1 is 8 and still swaps them about. he's right handed for writing now (he used to be left until about 4.5...), but to see him trying to work out cutlery - he seems to change his mind every week or so. dd2 is left handed because of the pattern of brain damage she has, so she's always been left handed. dd1 has always been right handed.