advice needed!!!!!?

Question

My daughter is 4 and is left handed.She is very good at using her left hand apart from food.Things start to get very messy and she ends up using her fingers she stars school this year and iam wanting to help her but she wont let me.Has anyone got any suggestions .

i would like to thank you all for all advice thanx

Answer 1

my son is also left handed when he was small i had the same problem in the end i went out and bought him a children's knife, fork, & spoon set he was really happy to use the fork in his left hand to eat his food with he also sat at the table with us and copied our actions we gave lots of praise during meal times and he never went back to using his fingers hope this helps

Answer 2

Hope a puppy analogy won't offend. We have a puppy who likes to chew on you when you put a hand, leg, face, what-have-you close enough to gnaw on. Could not for the life of us find the right words (we speak mostly English though my wife can do a line or two of German here and there) to explain to him why this was bad and that he should stop. Once he was big enough to put in with the adult dogs, he stopped within a few days. They showed him through not doing so themselves that this was not the dog way. And when gentle peer pressure didn't work, they nipped him. Almost 100% stopped. Not perfect, but amazing how fast he picked it up and with no long explanations or cajoling on our parts.

Let her go to school with some mild attempts between now and then to get her to use her utensils better. At school, she will see almost everyone using them and want to follow suit. And when she backslides, some of the kids, not all of them, will chide her about it and that bit of pain will likely do the rest of the job. A little cruel I suppose, that last bit, but what else isn't? Not letting her eat anything that's not on a utensil? Letting her but punishing her somehow else? This is a mild way that will likely bear most of its fruit from seeing the example of a hundred other kids.

Answer 3

My 5 year old dd is also left handed. We began the food teaching at 2.5, but now is as good a time as any. Find a friend who is left handed, patient with children-and have him/her sit down with your child and work with them on holding a fork, spoon, plus using the knife safely.

A friend of ours did this for us over the course of a couple weeks, having dinner with us 2-3x a week. It is not intuitive and they cannot copy a right handed person-it's not a mirror image.

Ask around-you will be surprised how many friends you have who are lefties-and most are more than happy to help. But it needs to be casual so she doesn't feel attacked-plus, an adult friend (or better yet, a "big kid"/teen) will be less likely to offend her when they try. Been there, done that-child eats neatly. Good luck!

Answer 4

As a left-handed, super-neat-eater-really-early, I can't help but wonder if your daughter is a messy eater either because she's four or because she's careless or has some other issue; and if you're just assuming its her being left-handed.

A person is left-handed because that is the hand with which things come most naturally. It seems to me you could be imagining eating with your left-hand and thinking how awkward it could feel and "putting that on her". Her left hand is her natural hand. Since she uses it well doing other things you can assume she doesn't have a problem with using her hand.

Left-handed people will tell you that the world (and history) is full of assumptions and misguided beliefs about left-handed people; and when I grew up I could sense my parents' almost watching for signs of "oddness" in me!!

If she starts school in September she's got another nine months to perfect his small motor skills (or her left-handed eating skills, if that's the problem). Other than pointing out she should try to be as neat as possible, and other than telling her she'll be one to be bumping elbows when sitting in a cafeteria, I don't think you need to do anything.

Maybe mention it to your pediatrician, and see what he/she says.

I'm wondering if she either has no problem and is just messy because she's four or whether she may have some kind of small motor issue (rather than a handedness issue). How does she do with crayons and pencils or fastening Barbie clothes?

Answer 5

When I was a toddler I was also left handed and my parents tried to swap round the knife and the fork so it would be more natural for me, however I found it easier to use my right habd just for eating. It takes time to get used to but it does become simple after a couple of years. Anyway just remember that
LEFT HANDERS RULE!

Answer 6

my main advice would don't worry my niece is left handed and she has no problems.....

but being a messy eater is probably just your daughter's way. my son is the same. he is in year 1 and will be 6 very soon he has gradually got less messy as time has gone by.

just gentle encouragement will help along with peers doing it when she starts.

blessed be

Answer 7

As a leftie I must respond to the above post - DO NOT try to make her right handed ! As with any 4 year old, fine motor skills are still developing. In time, she will get the hang of it.

Answer 8

nothing to worry,its all kids actions,you know many of the world famous guys are left handers,do things infront her in the correct way bcoz kids have tendency to follow whatever action thier parents do also tell stories that include how to eat food with out messing it,acting stories in a happy moode to her.i think this will help.

Answer 9

I'm left handed and I remember how hard it was to learn to tie my shoes. Everyone in my family are right handed. I finally figured it out as will your daughter. I really wouldn't worry about it. Theres alot of us south paws out here that manage fine.......

Answer 10

I'm Left-handed and the holding food with their hands thing is a phase pack her some fingerfoods and nobody will notice. Here's a tip don't ever try to change her from being lefthanded to right and go to her school and tell the teacher you want her to be left handed
LEFTIES ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Leftie 4 Life