Baby Sports Thundering Right, Skillful Left
As new parents, we spend a great deal of time wondering what comes next as our baby girl continues to develop various skills and acquire new ones. Of course it’s far too early in the game to determine whether Maddie will be right or left-handed, but trying to predict which hand will become dominant has become great sport in our household.
First, let’s talk about Maddie’s right hand, quickly becoming known as the pile driver. This mitt is always out for justice. It punches through blankets, swaddles and quite possibly brick walls. It is not to be trifled with, especially during feeding time or a diaper change. During a typical day, you have to go the mat with this hand no less than four or five times.
Maddie has been known to swat your hand away in the middle of a diaper change or actually knock the bottle out of your hand during a feeding. She’s like a linebacker who takes that swipe at the ball rather than tackle the quarterback.
The left hand is a different story altogether, it’s really the brains behind the operation. It’s always on the move, but unlike the right hand, it always seems to have a sense of purpose. Maddie’s left is always probing, exploring and manipulating whatever it can get a hold of. The left hand also seems to exhibit a stronger grip than the bludgeoning right.
There also seems to be some amount of thought or possibly even intent behind the actions of the left hand. The right hand is still more of a flailing appendage that is still trying to find its way.
So when it comes to hands, is it the brawler (right) or the philosopher (left) which is more likely to become Maddie’s hand of choice? As I said earlier, it’s too early to say for sure, but it’s very interesting to watch the process unfold before us.
It is true that a baby might show preference for one hand or the other as early as 6 months old. But despite these early indications, data further suggests that a true right or left-handed domination won’t actually establish itself until the child is at least 2 to 3 years old.
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