# Question for those who have children who are left handed



## susan_1981

I just wondered how soon you noticed this? I'm not bothered at all and my son is only 11 months old so it's probably too early to tell, but he picks everything up with his left hand. He does use his right hand, but his left is always the first hand he will use. Neither me nor my husband are left handed although my twin brother is as is my husband's brother.


----------



## pinklizzy

My daughter is left handed, she has used both hands for most things but I noticed that she was predominantly left handed at about 18 months. Neither me or her dad are left handed although my dad is.


----------



## lindseymw

Both of mine are right handed but they started picking things up with their left hand, then pass it to their right hand. I'm left handed and DH is right.

OT: I read in your OP that your twin brother is your husband's brother.....I had to read it three times


----------



## susan_1981

lindseymw said:


> Both of mine are right handed but they started picking things up with their left hand, then pass it to their right hand. I'm left handed and DH is right.
> 
> OT: I read in your OP that your twin brother is your husband's brother.....I had to read it three times

Haha, I could see how you may have had to read that more than once to make sense of it! Nothing a comma wouldn't have sorted! And I'm usually so good with my punctuation! If my old boss saw that, he'd have a heart attack! x


----------



## Neko

My son was clearly left handed from around 9 months. He always used his left for reaching. He's strongly left handed; he's never used his right hand for much of anything. 

I think my DD is right handed, although she does occasionally use her left for things. Unlike my son who never used his right for eating, drawing, reaching etc..


----------



## RachA

I think DD is right handed as 9 times out of 10 she will use her right hand. 
However from when she started using pens etc until about 4 years she would use whichever hand the pen was in. She didn't favour picking things up in her right hand. If her left was closest she'd use that and wouldn't bother passing it over to her right hand.


----------



## seoj

My oldest (my SD) is left handed- and my hubby said it was very apparent around toddler age... my LO used to go back and forth around a year- but she's obviously right handed now. Although on occasion she'll use her left for some things- when she eats, or cuts paper etc... it's right ;) My hubby and I are both right- but his aunt is left.


----------



## MrsVenn

We noticed DD around 1 that she was dominant on the left. 

Both DH and I are left handed too.


----------



## tommyg

My mum knew from I was about 7 mths she'd have a spoon and id have a spoon she would watch me swap it into my left as soon as she gave me it.

DH was 5 before he settled on his slight preference for his right. DS was about 2.


----------



## Larkspur

Pretty much from weaning he would always favour his left hand, so I suspected then, and although he's still only two, it's very clear now. 

Something else to look for is being "left-footed" (often goes with left-handedness). Today I noticed my toddler attempting to step down off a top step with his left hand on the wall and starting with his right foot (opposite to his usual way). He was clearly uncomfortable and eventually switched to the other side. As someone who is strongly left-handed and left-footed, I recognized what was happening straight away. I hate even stepping onto escalators with my right foot first.


----------



## harveygirl

It was apparent very early, like previous poster said from about weaning, she would pick things up in left hand. She has always seemed to strongly favour her lefthand. However interestingly/weirdly she will walk up stairs right foot first and use scooter with her right foot etc?! Both DH and I are right handed.


----------



## Jchihuahua

I noticed when Daisy was about 12 months that she was left handed. Tommy is also left handed and I noticed with him about 18 months.


----------



## EcoMama

My ds is a lefty. It was noticable around 2ish. I'm a lefty, as is most of my family. My oh and all his family are rightys. Much to my annoyance my mil always purposely puts things in my ds right hand (even though he swaps), he's 5 and she still does it grrr!


----------



## susan_1981

EcoMama said:


> My ds is a lefty. It was noticable around 2ish. I'm a lefty, as is most of my family. My oh and all his family are rightys. Much to my annoyance my mil always purposely puts things in my ds right hand (even though he swaps), he's 5 and she still does it grrr!

Why do people do that? Think that by encouraging them to use their right hand that it will magically make them right handed? You couldn't make me left handed if you tried! And I don't actually get what's wrong with being left handed. 

I was speaking to my friend on Friday and she is left handed. She said she knew her daughter was left handed from well before she was 1. So I'm pretty sure my youngest could be left handed x


----------



## RachA

I find it amazing how many lefties have lefty children. My bother is left handed and he has 4 children, none of which are left. I have 2 children and a further 4 nephews/neices and none of them are. So no-one in the family have passed on the lefty gene.


----------



## EcoMama

susan_1981 said:


> EcoMama said:
> 
> 
> My ds is a lefty. It was noticable around 2ish. I'm a lefty, as is most of my family. My oh and all his family are rightys. Much to my annoyance my mil always purposely puts things in my ds right hand (even though he swaps), he's 5 and she still does it grrr!
> 
> Why do people do that? Think that by encouraging them to use their right hand that it will magically make them right handed? You couldn't make me left handed if you tried! And I don't actually get what's wrong with being left handed.
> 
> I was speaking to my friend on Friday and she is left handed. She said she knew her daughter was left handed from well before she was 1. So I'm pretty sure my youngest could be left handed xClick to expand...

I know, it's mad! Like you'll suffer in life if you're a lefty! I have coped using a tin opener right handedly, I'm sure my son will too!


----------



## Jchihuahua

RachA said:


> I find it amazing how many lefties have lefty children. My bother is left handed and he has 4 children, none of which are left. I have 2 children and a further 4 nephews/neices and none of them are. So no-one in the family have passed on the lefty gene.

Nobody at all in my family are left handed but Daisy and Tommy definitely are left handed. No idea where they got the lefty gene!


----------



## katy1310

We noticed when Sophie was about a year old that she favoured her left hand for picking things up, putting shapes into shape-sorters etc, then as soon as she started scribbling with crayons she always used her left hand. She's one of 5 left handers in her class of 18 in reception - her teacher said she's never had so many left handers in one class! DH and I are both right handed but our dads are both left handed xx


----------



## katy1310

EcoMama said:


> susan_1981 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> EcoMama said:
> 
> 
> My ds is a lefty. It was noticable around 2ish. I'm a lefty, as is most of my family. My oh and all his family are rightys. Much to my annoyance my mil always purposely puts things in my ds right hand (even though he swaps), he's 5 and she still does it grrr!
> 
> Why do people do that? Think that by encouraging them to use their right hand that it will magically make them right handed? You couldn't make me left handed if you tried! And I don't actually get what's wrong with being left handed.
> 
> I was speaking to my friend on Friday and she is left handed. She said she knew her daughter was left handed from well before she was 1. So I'm pretty sure my youngest could be left handed xClick to expand...
> 
> I know, it's mad! Like you'll suffer in life if you're a lefty! I have coped using a tin opener right handedly, I'm sure my son will too!Click to expand...

My dad is 73 and he says that when he was little, people really tried to force lefties to become right-handed, it just wasn't "the done thing" to be a leftie. His brother is a leftie as well and their mum used to actually try to make them right handed, as did the school! They tried to switch them to writing with their right hand and everything. And his mum also insisted my dad was just copying his big brother and that he wasn't actually really left handed. I can't even imagine how awful that must have been, being forced to write with the other hand - my left hand is weak as anything and if I try to write with it, it's awful :haha:


----------



## Baby_Dreams

My daughter is 13 months and mainly uses her left hand for eveything. My sister is the only left handed person in either family xx


----------



## babyjan

My son does the exact same thing! Always favours his left hand for everything which has got me wondering if he is left handed or it will change once his older.


----------



## jogami

My MIL said her sister was left-handed and her mother used to tie her sister's hand behind her back and force her to write with her right. I just don't get it. 

One of my twin girls is right-handed; the other is left. I noticed it from very early on. She always favoured that hand to grab, eat etc. Now that she will be 2 next month it is very apparent that this won't change. She colours with the left, holds a spoon with the left etc.

MIL was over the other day and said when she saw DD colouring "Are you not going to keep putting the crayon in her right hand so she takes to it?" I politely said no that I actually LOVE the fact that she is left handed and I will never ever change what is natural/ instinctive behaviour on any of my children. She respected that though and I wasn't offended. They did not know any better in those days and I suppose her mother felt ostracized by a daughter who was "unnaturally" left-handed. 

Neither DH or I or any of our family is left-handed (except for this aunt of his). However, my cousin had triplets and just like me one of her girls is right-handed and the other is left-handed.

I read a statistic the other day that left-handed odds double in twins than single babies that one is left and the other right-handed. I would have thought only in identical babies; but my cousin and my sets are fraternal. I found this interesting.


----------



## alicecooper

DD and DS1 I could tell from around 1 that they were very definitely right handed.

DS2 is 5 years old and very VERY slightly prefers his left, but is basically ambi as he uses both hands almost equally.

DS3 is nearly 16 months and to be honest I'm still not sure.


----------



## Kte

My youngest is left handed, she holds crayons with it and her spoon. It is certainly her preferred hand. My Dad who was left handed and was forced to be right handed seems funny about her being so too (apparently if it's in the genes it can affect anyone in the family). I think this must be because he had such a bad experience with it. I'm quite happy for LO to be left handed, I have researched on some things that will make her life more easier as it's much more supported now too :)


----------



## venapols

I cant remember when exactly we noticed but as a ball park figure between 6 and 9 months


----------

