Is my baby a righty or lefty? When should I know.

I often hear mom’s saying, “I know my baby is only 6 months old (or 1 year old or 1 1/2 years old), but I think my baby is going to be a righty (or lefty) because he uses this hand more.”  Moms often ask me when should my baby have a hand preference and why.

A child typically shows a hand preference at around 2 1/2 years old. Why is this?  A baby develops various hand skills the first 2 1/2 years of their lives such as grabbing toys, using their fingers to pick up finger foods, manipulating toys in both hands and using both hands independently of one another.  These skills that are learned in the first 2 1/2 years of their lives should be performed equally with both hands.  It isn’t until they begin to develop more fine skills such as purposely drawing a line or circle, using a utensil with good control, or learning to stabilize an object with one hand while manipulating it with their dominant hand do they begin to show a hand preference.

My baby will be 2 years old next week.  He uses both hands to scribble, stack, push cars, place puzzle pieces, eat and use a utensil.  As his skills become more fine tuned he will begin to use one hand more because he will naturally have better control in his dominant hand.

If you see your baby favoring one hand at an early age it is good idea to encourage use of the other hand so that their little hands develop equally.

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