Why Do I Always Hold My Baby On My Left?

Human beings are the most unique and beautiful of nature's creations. Everyone individual is unique in all aspects. No two people look the same, of course but for identical twins but they too have some distinguishable differences. The way we talk, react, our passion, choice of food, colors we like everything is unique to each individual with certain things common between a few that makes them relate to each other. Yet there are many things that most humans tend to do the same way with their body part. Take for example our hands; whether one is a leftie or a righty, humans always use only one of their hands more than the other even though both have excellent motor skills to be equally effective. One theory says that the reason why humans have a dominant hand has to do with how our brain processes speech. It is said that the left brain hemisphere where the speech center of most people reside is more intricate in its wiring than the right hemisphere and as such the left brain also controls the right side of the body and vice versa.
Similarly it has been seen that two out of three babies are always carried on the left arm. Every mom has their "Strong Arm" or the baby holding arm. Whether one is a leftie or a righty mostly it turns out that mother's tend to hold their babies on the left. This is more than just the leftie and righty thing out here and there happens to be a scientific explanation for the urge to choose the left over right while holding a baby. Study shows that 79 to 85 percent of moms prefer to hold their babies on the left and this natural tendency has been noted in pre-school age little girls preferring to hold their baby dolls on their left arm.
Now for the scientific reason behind this tendency according to a study in the journal Brain and Cognition explains that our preferences for using our left arm has to do with how signals are processed and sent by our brain. The right side of our body receives signals from the left hemisphere of our brain, while the right side of the brain actually handles how we focus, the way we interpret social cues and build our relationships. So according to the study when we hold our babies on the left we are actually helping the right part of our brain to shore up those motherly instincts and bonds by being able to observe the child held on the correct side. The study also found that even children seem to prefer being on the left of their mothers. It is said that keeping the baby on the left close to the heart has a calming effect on the baby and also helps regulate the baby’s heartbeat. Other than that when the baby is held on the left, the baby's right ear is near the mother's mouth and the left hemisphere of the brain is one that translates information from the right side of the body and is responsible for building language.

By: Madhuchanda Saxena
Content: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190716095547.htm