Is My Baby Right or Left Handed (and when will I know)?

About this episode

The episode explores the science behind whether a baby is right or left-handed and its implications for brain development.

How soon can you know whether your baby is going to be right or left handed, and what can that tell you about how their brains are developing? Kim and Leila dive into the surprising science that links dominant hand with language, emotion, genes, and the environment. And since Science Baby himself is a leftie, we consider his experience growing up in a right-handed world. In this episode: We introduce the idea of handedness being potentially linked to language, noting that left lateralisation of language in the brain could be linked to the predominance of right-handers within humans. We talk about the genetic basis for handedness preference We discuss when a hand preference is likely to emerge in our babies and toddlers We examine how much the external environement can affect dominant hand use We use brian lateralisation again to explain why mothers tend to cradle their babies on the left, regardless of which is their dominant hand We discuss a study that found that kids who show an early preference for their right hand tend to be more advanced with language - noting its strengths and weaknesses, as well as the opposite pattern seen in Science Baby We talk about the experience of…

People in this episode

Host: Leila Battison

Guest: Kim

Topics covered

• handedness
• brain development
• language
• genetics
• environment
• parenting

Keywords

• handedness
• language development
• genetics
• brain lateralization
• parenting

More episodes of The Science Baby Podcast

• Why is teething such a pain in the mouth (and how you can help) · June 1, 2026 · 57 min
• What to Expect in the Fourth Trimester · March 9, 2026 · 50 min
• Do Babies Always Look Like Their Dads? · February 10, 2026 · 35 min
• The IVF Hangover: An Emotional Aftermath Nobody Warns You About · January 26, 2026 · 48 min
• Making a Baby with Science: An IVF Deep Dive · January 12, 2026 · 1h 5m
• Opening the Science Baby Mailbox with Babies on the Mic · December 8, 2025 · 54 min