Handedness?

[Anonymous]

At what age do children typically start using one hand over the other? Our DD - 20 months uses her left hand for everything and will move things from her right hand to her left when she wants to throw/color/eat/etc. and we think we may have a lefty - which is fine - but we're just wondering at what point do children determine their handedness?

TIA

[Anonymous]

I remember my son showing early on (1 year old) that he was a lefty. He is now 3 1/2 and is still a lefty (as am I). My younger son who is 17 months seems to use both more often, but definitely prefers his right hand most of the time. Good luck to your South Paw!

[Anonymous]

I just went to my son's preschool conference and the teacher said most children decide by age 4 which hand they prefer (though not all kids). My son is 3.5 yrs and uses his right hand for everything except for eating w/ a spoon. But he draws, paints, throws a ball, etc w/ the right. He did a lot of switching back and forth the last few yrs though.

[Anonymous]

I have also heard that you can't tell for sure until around 3 or 4. My four year old has always used his left hand for everything and now I am pretty sure he is left-handed. My 2 year old DD is also using her left for eating and coloring but I am not ready to say she is a lefty for certain. The odd thing is that handedness is a completly inherited trait (although it can be recessive). My husband & I are completly right handed and we have 2 left handed kids. Odd.

[Anonymous]

research has found that preference for handedness does not set in until 3.5 to 4 although you may see early signs

[Anonymous]

I'm not the OP, but I do have a related question. So if the preference doesn't happen until 3/4, how do you teach them in the mean time (for example to use a spoon) - do you show how to do it with each hand and then see which is easier? Or do you assume they are right-handed until shown otherwise? My DD is 16 months and starting to use utensils and coloring with crayons. I've seen her hold the spoon/fork in each hand, so I can't tell if she might be a leftie (and there are recessive genes for that in the family).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not the OP, but I do have a related question. So if the preference doesn't happen until 3/4, how do you teach them in the mean time (for example to use a spoon) - do you show how to do it with each hand and then see which is easier? Or do you assume they are right-handed until shown otherwise? My DD is 16 months and starting to use utensils and coloring with crayons. I've seen her hold the spoon/fork in each hand, so I can't tell if she might be a leftie (and there are recessive genes for that in the family).

I understand what you are asking, but I haven't really taught my kids any of those things - they just did them on their own. When my older son wanted to use a fork/spoon like Mommy and Daddy, he did and did it with his left hand. Was it messy at first? Yes, but as he kept practicing he got it down without my help. When he started coloring, he just held the crayon and did it with his left hand. We did not teach him any of that. I also have a 17 month old now, and he has also just learned to hold a fork and color (a little bit), although mostly with his right hand. The only thing I can actually think of teaching them as they get a little older is how to use scissors, which my 3.5 year old lefty son does have a hard time with. BUt I would not worry too much about teaching them those things - I think they just get it on their own.

[Anonymous]

Thanks PP. Maybe I'm just a little impatient? LOL. DD grabs the spoon and she clearly understands what the eventual result needs to be, but the way she holds it there's no way she'd be able to actually scoop up any food or bring it to her mouth. So I guess what I meant by "teaching" was that I would get her to hold the spoon correctly (age appropriately) and bring it to her mouth. I don't have an indication at this point whether it's easier for her to do it with her right or left hand (she grabs the spoon on her own with each). But thanks for your answer, perhaps I just need to let her practice on her own and see which she prefers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks PP. Maybe I'm just a little impatient? LOL. DD grabs the spoon and she clearly understands what the eventual result needs to be, but the way she holds it there's no way she'd be able to actually scoop up any food or bring it to her mouth. So I guess what I meant by "teaching" was that I would get her to hold the spoon correctly (age appropriately) and bring it to her mouth. I don't have an indication at this point whether it's easier for her to do it with her right or left hand (she grabs the spoon on her own with each). But thanks for your answer, perhaps I just need to let her practice on her own and see which she prefers.

A spoon is definitely hard. I don't think my older son mastered that until much later and even now he sometimes makes a mess depending on what he eats (he is 3). My 17 month old does not use a spoon - only a fork and even that is not perfect by any means. A lot of times he will just spear something with the fork, but can't really get it into his mouth very well so he uses his hand instead. If it makes you feel any better, I remember being the same way with my first child and feeling he needed to master using utensils early on - mostly because he hated when I fed him, but made such a mess doing it himself. He eventually got it without much assistance from me, and now that I have a second child, I am much more laid back about getting him to use a spoon or fork. Somehow they all figure it out eventually!