Determining whether baby is lefty or righty?

[Morr]

So Scarlet is growing SO FAST!

Her motor skills are developing nicely... I was wondering though, she seems to be controlling her LEFT hand more than her RIGHT hand. She reaches out to toys much much more with her left than right.

Is it safe to assume that she has a greater chance of being a Lefty, then?

Her right hand doesn't respond as much as her left does, when she is presented with toys in front of her, or over one of her hands.

I was just wondering if that has anything to do with her future stronger hand/writing hand...


Thanks!

[Athena-Nadine]

I don't believe it has anything to do with their handedness later on. Robert favored his right and then his left and then his right again. He's now back to favoring his left. I read somewhere that children don't develop a true preference until 3 or so.

[wolfjan1]

Well, you just might have a lefty there. So, she's in her right mind(just a little joke).
Babies often show their strengths early. Some even do things with their left hand and write with their right. So, it's hard to say.
She sounds like a lefty, though.
New pics?
WJ

[Lightning Strike]

Kids are born with the ability to use both hands, ambidextrous, it is most often than not our conditioning which sends them one way or another. Hand your child a spoon and a bowl of food, see what baby does.

[Morr]

Interesting...

I was just curious about it... Her left hand seems to be responding much more than her right hand, currently.

She reaches out much more with it towards things she sees, uses it to grab things she sees.

Her right hand seems to still be in a fist most of the time, but if you put something near it that touches it, she will often open that hand and grab whatever is near it. But she won't really reach out with it. Not YET, anyways.


Here is a pic of her sitting like a big girl on the couch from a few days ago ;)

[Laoghaire]

My mom is a kindergarten teacher. She has children from 2.5 till 3. She keeps telling me it's a very good thing if children seem unable to decide. It's very good for them, because they work long enough with both brains. My youngest cousin, almost 4 hasn't decide yet. When I give him a pencil, there is a cautious look in his eyes. And while he's drawing, he will regularly change hands.
Just do not try to force it. I tend to give the pencil right into his left hand, because he seems to like that side. But that's wrong, he has to decide...

His older brother though needed some help. He had some problems and my aunt and uncle had to 'overstimulate' his right side, to correct the inbalance between left and right. He's right handed now, so... :p

[Athena-Nadine]

My goodness, Morr! She's so big already!
My mom is a kindergarten teacher. She has children from 2.5 till 3. She keeps telling me it's a very good thing if children seem unable to decide. It's very good for them, because they work long enough with both brains. My youngest cousin, almost 4 hasn't decide yet. When I give him a pencil, there is a cautious look in his eyes. And while he's drawing, he will regularly change hands.
Just do not try to force it. I tend to give the pencil right into his left hand, because he seems to like that side. But that's wrong, he has to decide...

His older brother though needed some help. He had some problems and my aunt and uncle had to 'overstimulate' his right side, to correct the inbalance between left and right. He's right handed now, so... :p

Interesting. I wonder if it's a better idea for me to just put the pencils and crayons down in front of them so they can choose which hands they want to use for themselves.

[Morr]

Yup.

She is huge!! LOL she is a big baby for her age. She was 3 months old a few days ago :)

[NefertSatSekhmet]

My son is right handed, but my daughter is left handed. With both, we weren't really sure until around age 4, when I was getting them interested in the alphabet and writing their own names, although I did have some idea that Mebet favoured her left hand, especially when eating with a spoon. I left it completely up to them which hands they choose. Being right handed myself, I find it very difficult to help my daughter with her handwriting, but I've never thought of trying to affect her natural inclination.

[Lyrien]

My daughter is right handed and my son is left. They too did not show an actual preference until they were around 4 and neither were encouraged one way or the other. Once my son started showing signs of his left handedness we did place crayons and pencils and such down on the table or just held it out in front. We didn't do this to encourage or discourage anything, it was more of a way for us to see if he was a lefty for sure.

Neither my husband or myself had any experience with left handed kids, or adults for that matter, so we really didn't know what to do. We figured it was our son's own uniqueness and let him do his own thing. However, I did read some stuff on how to know for sure and how to deal with difficulties he may face as he grew up. One of the things I read was that naturally left handed people are not just left handed. They will put their pants on with their left leg first, they will step off with the left foot first, and reach for many things with their left arm. This has proven true with our son. Not every time, but most times.

I think with as young as your daughter is right now that there is no way of telling what kind of handedness she'll have in the future. Babies are still learning how to reign in those arms at this point.

[RubyRose]

Xander favours his left hand over his right. He's almost 23 months, so we're almost positive he will be left handed.

[KaidaMidnight]

My oldest is a lefty, my youngest (until Feb) is a righty... so far... My oldest favored his left hand when he was really little... about the time that he started finger foods and coloring. He'd pick things up with his left hand, and use his left hand more. And it never changed. my youngest is the same way now, only with his right hand. I think it is different for each child, how they come about being a 'lefty' or 'righty'. :)

Cute pic btw!!! :D

[Willow Rosette]

Toria bounced back and forth for several years on which hand to use and even now at 5 will occasionally switch hands, but I think it has set in to be a lefty. I never handed her a crayon or pencil or whatever to a specific hand I just kinda handed it to her straight on and let her decide which hand to reach with.

[Amethyst Rose]

Quintin has been very strongly right handed since he was at least 2, maybe even longer. He never ever tried to do anything with his left hand.

Cameron started out very dominant with his left hand, but now he's starting to use his right more and more. Like others have said, a preference usually isn't determined until 3 or 4 years. That said, I'm left handed and every time Cam uses his left hand I'm secretely pleased. :)

[aluokaloo]

shannon uses both, so the way I see it, just kick back and observe.

[Ravenna Angellin]

Quintin has been very strongly right handed since he was at least 2, maybe even longer. He never ever tried to do anything with his left hand.

Cameron started out very dominant with his left hand, but now he's starting to use his right more and more. Like others have said, a preference usually isn't determined until 3 or 4 years. That said, I'm left handed and every time Cam uses his left hand I'm secretely pleased. :)

LOL!! I'm a lefty, too! When Aiden was little I used to get all excited when he used his left hand (Dad is a lefty, too... but then again, so are my Grams and one of my uncles...) Now he uses his right hand every once in a great blue moon he'll use his left. Finn is still very ambidextrous, but is leaning more towards his left hand as he gets older.

Dominant handed-ness generally takes at least till the age of 3 or 4 years before it really presents itself though... at least this is what I've observed in my kids and my friends' kids.

~ Ravenna