Right Vs. Left Hand

How soon do you know which "hand" your baby will favor?

I ask because it seems Cooper uses his left hand more.... he swats at toys with his left when given equal chance to use either. 

At this age (11 weeks) should I encourage use of his right hand MORE since he favors his left?  

(My husband always hands him toys to his left hand - I try to switch between the hands.)

I plan on googling this later.... when I am not working.

Thank you!

Cindy

OMG! You crack me up! You are definately a new, first time mom......

I am believer that a child is born righty or lefty. So I am not sure it matters really or not if you "focus" on one hand or the other. But then again......it wasn't something I had ever paid attention to or even noticed too much until they began eating things themselves, or putting blocks together, or throwing toys....LOL

Curious to the responses though.

no advice (as usual) but he is just so cute I can't NOT comment! :)

I remember reading somewhere that most of the time you don't know until they are around 2 or 3. Mallory is now 3 and we STILL aren't sure, as she still uses both depending on what she is doing. For a long while I was convinced she was a lefty, but still can't really tell. It'll come to pass.

jayson uses both.... eats with his left... plays with both.. hits with right LOL... reaches with both.... it will take time for them to figure it out... what a handsome little man you have

When my daughter was 2 and 3 she only used her left hand and then sometime when she was 4 it switched to her right hand now she is 7 and still uses her right. I think you should just let him be. He is going to do what ever comes naturally to him, try not to worry to much. I used to worry over every little thing with my first two then when my 3rd came along I learned to relax and I have enjoyed him so much more.

Most of what I've seen says you can't tell for sure until at LEAST 3 or so.  That is one handsome little man you've got there, how alert and smiley he is!
-Donna

I think it's too early to tell.  I think you usually can tell around 2 years of age.  
What a cutie! :)

HI Cutie Cooper's Mama.....

I have no idea...Nathan seemed to favor left but does both now and man does he have an arm....give Coop a snuggle from Nathan and I....

Hugs,

Ann

When I was a first time mom 5 yrs ago... I was also concerned about this because when my son started coloring... even as early as 18 months... he kept coloring with his left hand. As a right handed mom... I didnt know what to do, so I asked my left handed dad if I should try to "encourage" the right hand or just let him do what he wants....

His advise to me was... there has been a lot of sudies that say if you try to "change a childs nature handedness" it can cause studdering.  This happened to my dad... they tried to change him when he was a child and has studdered ever since. I didnt want to take a chance at that... and I wanted my son to feel "natural"... so I just let him do what he wanted. I assisted in the grip of the crayon or whatever it was... but that is it... and now he is 5 yrs old and he is DEFINATELY left handed. It is difficult for me sometimes to remember when im teaching him something... to teach him the "left handed way"... like I kept putting his right hand fingers in the bowling ball holes... because that is what I do.. lol. I had to fix that... hehe

Now... I think your son is too young to know what "handed" he is... yet. wait about a year... because they use both hands to learn to have control with both. So I wouldnt worry about it yet. Just let him be who he is...

Hope this helps... if you have any additional concerns you think I can help you with... please dont hesitate. 

Emily