Left handed ??

When Jamie was about 6 months I remember taking him with me to Sam's leaving do from the library. One of the (left handed) people who were there pointed out that Jamie seemed to favour his left hand. At this time I asked a number of people about whether or not this could be an early sign, but everyone thought it was too early to tell. Recently I have been watching Jamie with his drawing and play and he still seems to favour his left hand.

It seems that this could be my fault as women over the age of 40 are more than twice as likely to give birth to left-handed babies than younger mothers, according to a Canadian study. This may be because older women are more likely to experience difficult pregnancies and arduous deliveries. Studies conducted over the past decade in Canada, Britain, Australia and the US show consistently that left-handedness increases with birth stress. Stanley Coren, an experimental psychologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, conducted a survey of 2228 first-year students at the university. He asked them a variety of medical and personal questions, including how old they were, what their mothers' ages were when they were born, and whether they were right- or left-handed. Coren used mothers between the ages of 17 and 24 as his baseline. He found that mothers aged between 30 to 35, had a 25 per cent higher chance of their offspring being left handed.www.newscientist.com/article/mg12717262.800-science-older-mothers-have-more-lefthanded-babies-.html

According to http://www.babyexpert.com/Toddler/Spotting-a-left~handed-child/v1 once your baby is on the move and starting to talk, interesting clues will begin to emerge as to his future personality. It's also around this time that he'll start showing a preference for using his right or left hand. If he's left-handed, then he'll be among 10 per cent of the population. There's no set age as to when children show a preference; some 18-month-olds use one hand consistently, others not until they are three or four years old.

Signs of left-handedness to look out for include: which hand your child uses to hold a spoon when eating; which foot do they prefer to kick with; which hand do they use to hold a crayon or pencil; when standing on one leg which leg do they feel more secure on? Lefthanders may find it easier to stand on their left leg.

If you think your child could be left-handed there are ways to smooth the path. ‘Firstly, make sure they learn to write left-handed,' advises psychologist Dr Stephen Williams. ‘It may sound obvious but it's their dominant hand and, otherwise, will cause a lot of problems later on. Never force a left-hander to be right-handed. They will be clumsier at tasks, which can lower their self-esteem.

‘Investing in basic specialist left-handed equipment like scissors is a good idea too, but above all, be supportive of your child. 'Most children want to fit in, and because left-handers are in a minority, it can be difficult for them, so make sure they know how special they are.' Remember that left-handers are at an advantage in many sports. Left-handed fencers and tennis players (Monica Seles, John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Ivan Lendl) for example,