Why do we prefer to carry the baby on the left side of the body? There is a scientific explanation.

You may not have noticed, but Up to 85 percent of the time, mothers tend to carry their babies on the left side of the body, especially when they are cradled (even those that are left-handed). It may seem shrubby, since sometimes we put them on one side, sometimes the opposite, but there is a strong tendency to do it more on the left side than on the right.

For what is this? Although we believe it is casual and not important, this preference It has a very interesting scientific explanation. It is an instinctive behavior in which the cerebral hemispheres of the mother and the baby are involved, and is related to the strong emotional bond which is established between the two in the first months of life.

Behavioral asymmetry

In a study published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, researchers from Russia, Australia and the United States studied the lateralization of mother-child interactions in various mammalian species to discover what lies behind this preference to carry or carry the offspring on the left side of the body.

The left hemisphere of the brain is more rational, it is related to language processing, calculations, etc. While the right hemisphere is more emotional, related to social processing, emotions, facial recognition, spatial orientation and music.

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As you know, motor functions on the left side of the body are controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain, while those of the right, by the left hemisphere. That is why the tendency to cradle the baby on the left side of the body is directly related to the most emotional hemisphere, which results in the building a mother-child affective bond.

This preference reflects the socio-emotional processes that occur in the first months of the baby's life. Let us remember the importance of the mother and father interacting with the baby, talking to him even though he still cannot understand them and smiling at the baby, as well as the mother watching him while he is feeding him.

Lateral bias on the left side when carrying the baby in arms has an advantage for social processing, controlled by the right cerebral hemisphere. It facilitates visual recognition of the baby's facial expressions, and optimizes maternal surveillance by the direction of the sensory information predominantly to the right hemisphere of the mother.

An earlier study by the University of Sussex published in 2004 supports this claim, that between 70 and 85 percent of women and girls show a bias to hold their babies, or wrists, on the left side of their body.

Humans are not the only ones who do

To test this theory, researchers led by zoologist Karina Karenina studied the lateralization behavior of ten other marine and terrestrial mammal species, including oxen, reindeer, antelope, horses, walruses, sheep, three species of whales and two kangaroo species .

In doing so, they discovered that, like humans, in all the species studied, mothers had a similar preference. But when moving by themselves, most of the time It is the young that prefer to keep their mothers on their left side. Except in situations of stress or danger in which the young change sides to obtain protection from their mother.

In nature, the young need to know that their mother is present at all times and when there is a danger, a mother should closely monitor her child.

Human mothers cradle their babies on their left side while they are young and vulnerable, but this may change as children grow older and more independent, the researchers suggest.

Other theories

Although this seems to be the most studied, there are other theories regarding the lateralization of the left side of the body to carry babies. As we mentioned in a previous post, American psychologist Lee Salk explained that we put them on that side, instinctively, because that way babies could be close to the heartbeat parental.

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Another reason is that most people are right handedTherefore, by placing the baby on the left side, we leave our most skillful side free when doing things. Although this theory would be refuted by the previous one that they suggest that most of the time left-handed mothers also choose the left side to cradle their babies.

Have you paid attention to which side do you use most to carry the baby? Does it coincide with the study?