Dd 3 yrs changing writing hands

[sagandswing]

Hi my Dd has always used her left hand to colour and make marks etc infact we decided she would be a lefty like my db a while ago, but she has now started to use both. Has anyone elses child done this? I understand she is still young but just find it slightly miffing that she has used the one hand for well over a year and is now using both.

[SizzleSazz]

Yes, DD1 did this. Not sure what age she switched. I think it was just as she started to try and write letters/numbers, so 3.5 - 4ish i would guess.

[smee]

V.common at 3. Lots of children decide to fix on a hand to use at school age. I was made to decide at 5, but can still use both, but I think that's unusual. Very useful though!

[DeWe]

I didn't decide until I was about 7. I can still write reasonably with both hands although I tend to use my right. Dm reckons in a left handed world, I'd have been left handed.

[mrz]

Hand preference is normally established between 2-4 years of age but for some children it make take several years. I use different hands for different tasks.

[GrumpySod]

Yup, Ds2 when he was 3.5yo. I was convinced he was right handed until then; sudden revelation he might be a lefty. Didn't really settle on it until he was more like 5.5yo.

[InMySpareTime]

I swapped hands at 7, from right to left (I wanted to suck my right thumb without having to stop writing).
I am reasonably ambidextrous though, and cannot use "lefty" scissors as I didn't like the ones they had at school.
It is fairly common in under 5s.

[Fuzzymum1]

When my eldest started writing he would write half a line with his left hand and the rest with his right, he finally settled on writing left handed at about 5. He does most things right handed, but writes lefty.

[LiegeAndLief]

My ds was mostly left handed as a toddler, then started using both equally about 3ish. He was still undecided in reception. I asked the teacher what to do and she said that if he was genuinely showing no preference encourage him to use the right, as it would make life much easier! Don't know how good that advice was but he is def right handed now.

[Tinuviel]

DS1 swapped throughout nursery. At the final parent consultation we discussed it and it seemed likely that he would be left-handed as he had used his left hand for about 6 months. A fortnight later he swapped to his right! I ensured that his reception teacher was aware that he might swap and although he tentatively tried with his left occasionally, he stuck with his right. He is reasonably ambidextrous with his hands but kicks a ball with his left foot.

[mankyscotslass]

DS2 is in YR2, just turned 7, and still uses both hands to write/draw.

[alanyoung]

My grandson, aged 5, uses his left foot for kicking and his right hand for writing.

I was born left handed and forced to change over, which caused me all sorts of problems. I didn't realise this had happened to me until I was about forty and I suddenly noticed that the things I had been taught to do such as writing and using tools I did right handed, and the things I did naturally such as dealing cards I did left handed. When I asked my mother about this, she confirmed the changeover.

My advice would be to not worry about it. Let nature take its course.

They do say that left handed people are more sensitive, but I'm not sure about people who were born left- and changed over to being right-handed!