How do you tell if your baby is a leftie or rightie? I saw my little one mostly using only his left arm for the first few months so assumed he was left handed but… wrong! According to science, you can’t really tell until your baby’s 2 to 3 years old.
So why was he only using one side of his body? Will the lesser-used right side become weak and uncoordinated?? Is this how lefties are made?! (My older child is a creative, smartie-pants leftie so nothing against lefties btw!)
Leftie or not, we all want our kiddos to be proficient at using both sides of their body. Turns out, a few Otteroo sessions + some easy activities were all it took to encourage my boy to start using his left and right arms equally!
What Causes One-Sided Movement?
One-sided movement is rather common, and originates from a reflex called ATNR (Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex). This reflex makes babies swing out the arm on the side of their body that their face is turned, making them look like they’re striking a fencing pose. If the baby looks left, his left arm swings out and right arm tucks in close to the body, and vice versa.
Eventually, if the baby’s head is turned to one side often enough - for example, if you always carry your baby on one side of your body or always sit on a specific side of him - the baby is going to keep on using that arm more and will get used to depending on it.
Change it up with Otteroo-time! How?
With Otteroo, it’s super easy to encourage your baby to use both sides of their body and work on balancing out their movements!
You can help your baby break out of their ATNR reflex by simply rotating the baby’s direction in the tub so their head is pointing in the opposite end of the tub than usual faucet side or the other end of the tub) and then, doing a few simple things to encourage using the side of their body that they use less often.
How to do it:
- Place your baby on their back while in Otteroo.
- Position them so their less active side is closer to you.
- Call over to the baby so they look towards you - and stick the arm on that side out.
- If that arm isn’t moving, either hold their hand and gently splash it in the water to remind them it’s there, or put toys on that side of the tub to encourage reaching with that arm.
- If their leg isn’t moving, try holding it and doing gentle kicking motions so they can see and feel what their legs can do.
- To practice different movements and positions, try the same but with the baby’s tummy side down in the water.
Tips:
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Use your voice and toys as an incentive to move their arms and legs.
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Not in the tub? Try putting toys on the side that the baby uses less to encourage movement of that side.
Most importantly, please remember to ALWAYS stay within arm’s reach of your baby while in or near the water.