[aartcreations]

My son will be three in May and has been steadily talking since the age of two. In fact, he is such a little chatter box, non stop talking. However, for about the last week or so, he has been studdering constantly. Sometimes repeating the first word of the sentence five plus times. Sometimes he has trouble with more than the first word. I feel so bad for him as he tries to get out what he wants to say. Has anyone else's children had these problems? There have been no changes in his routine to cause any stress on him, so I'm not sure what would have caused this.
Thanks

[kellum5]

Please don't think I am trying to make light of this but I think all kids go through this stage.
It is like they have a hard time coming up with the words they want to say quickly enough. My theory is they are thinking more abstractly and the words get in the way.
Vocabs at 3 tend to be somewhat limiting and that can play into the stuttering.
Four out of six kids have stuttered for a while and #6 doesn't talk well enough yet to have problems.
Interestingly the one who did not stutter tends to have the smallest vocab and did not have the best imagination as a child. She saw things pretty much as they were and didn't enjoy pretend play too much.
DS once said when he was about 4, "I can see a picture but I can't find more words"
It was a big concern of ours because my husband does stutter. He didn't want our children to have problems.
I tried to never make them feel self conscious and listened intently. They eventually got out what they were trying to say. We didn't ignore it but didn't make a big deal out of it and it slowly stopped.
Sometimes I would ask them to slow down some and reassured them I would sit and listen to them.
If is a very hard thing to watch your child go through.
If he doesn't stop in a few months though you might want to talk to his doctor.

[MamaS]

My daughter started stuttering suddenly at about 4 years old. I was panicked and went to a specialist. Apparently this is VERY COMMON. It is called "developmental stuttering' and it occurs when the child's mind is forming words faster than their speech can produce them. He said there were three rules:
1. Listen patiently.
2. Do not "help them along" by saying the word for them.
3. Do not allow anyone (siblings, etc.) to tease or mock them. It will make them self-conscious and they will feel there is something "wrong" with them.
Developmental stuttering usually disappears within six to nine months.

[WVUMom418]

My daughter came home at 14 months old and started stuttering at about 3 years old, neither of my bio children had done this so I was concerned. I was told my many that this was the age that their minds were working faster than their mouths and she would outgrow it. Don't make too big of a deal about it.

She is now 4 1/2 years old and I can't tell you exactly when it stopped but it did.

[shelbydog]

My son did it too! Around 2.5 until age 3.5 - just to warn you, it came and went. It would happen for a few months. Stop and we'd think "Whew! It's done" and it would start again for a few months. My son was actually IN speech therapy at the time (for articulation) and the therapist kept an eye on it but said the same as above. As hard as it is, wait patiently for them to finish. Do not finish the sentence for them. And pretty much life as usual.

Also, FYI - our son did it during times of greater stress (adoption, and also when we were moving out of state). There can be a correlation between "life speeding up". Some of the best advice I got from a stuttering specialist was to slow life DOWN as much as possible....that this actually does help with stuttering.

Good luck

[angelkisses0102]

My DS has a severe speech impairment and is in ST 10 times per month...and he gets developmental stuttering which has absolutely nothing to do with his speech issues. I have brought it up to his ST's (he has two) and they are not concerned. We typically see a developmental stutter right before he has a huge step forward in his speech. Right now he is yet again struggling with it...but we just tell him to relax, take a deep breath, and start agian and he is usually fine. I fully expect it to end soon and to see another big step forward in his speech.

If it continues for more than a couple of months...I would get it check out but for now...I wouldn't worry.

[afl]

My daughter is about to turn three and has recently started doing the same thing. I can tell that it was just as people have described and her mind is working faster than her mouth so I haven't been concerned. Also, it's entire words, not just sounds or parts of words which seems to me to be indicative of just trying to find the next word.

[Larue]

Sabrina just turned 3, and she went through a phase for several months where she stuttered at the beginning of sentences. Not always. But often. I talked to our Pediatrcian, and she said this was common in kiddos around this age. When their verbal skills can't quite keep up with their thoughts. She said if it persisted we would look into it. But over the past few months it has gradually diminished, and I haven't heard her stutter for several weeks. Best wishes and try not to worry.

[b_fettes]

Hi, our son went through this too. things we did which helped were : 1. Slowed down our speech to an almost robotic pace, this had an amazing impact as we talk fast and he was apparently trying to mirror our pace. Secondly the speech therapist told us to stop asking him questions but rather say eg ' I wonder what you will have fro lunch'. This is not forcing him to answer but allowing him to answer at his own pace. As a Guatemalan living in Ireland I started to notice just how many questions adults were asking him, he was under so much pressure. we started answsering for him and this also helped.

Mary

[bls0708]

It always amazes me how just when I have a question about something my son or daughter is going through, I get on the forum and there's my question! Already posted by another parent.

My son turns three in June and did this for about 2 weeks. He seemed to do it most when he started a sentence with "I..." I almost think we was searching for the right verb and would say "I... I... I..." until he figured it out. I think the other parents are right when they say that the thoughts are coming faster than the words and they're trying to form larger, more complex sentences.

This phase has somewhat already passed with Aidan. He does it every once in awhile, but it's rare. For awhile there I kept asking everyone, "do you think he's going to be a stutterer?"

Glad to see this is normal and thankful someone asked the question before me!

[TerriBB]

Our son did this for a full week when he was about 33 months. I work at a university, so I quizzed several departments. Like the previous posters said, don't interupt and try not to notice. He knew he was doing it and he'd get more frustrated and he'd beg "help me Mama" ... it broke my heart. (there was a physical reason about shedding neurons and that we're born with an excess amount...?)

Flora did this over the Christmas holidays, so she was about 2 months past her 3 year birthday. She thought it was funny and she would start laughing and get the hiccups!

I was much calmer with her and thrilled that she was doing this, knowing that her vocabulary would take a jump and boy, did it!

(fave MIL story - "DON'T SAY IT A BUNCH OF TIMES, YOU SOUND STUPID") Yikes, we were with them the worst stuttering weekend, due to a family graduation. I almost canceled, knowing that they wouldn't be understanding. She ALWAYS is asking what is wrong with our kids, lol!

Take care,

[aartcreations]

Thank you everyone for reassuring me . He was talking so well before, it's hard to hear him struggle. Hope he out grows it soon.

[Mommy K]

I was told that when children are learning how to form longer sentances-that stuttering is very common, and it will gradually go away.

[azamboni]

I'm an SLP, and it is VERY common for children to go through this at this stage of development. My son (3.5) does it from time to time, and it is not anything to be concerned about. When this type of stuttering happens, it is usually easy, rhythmic repetitions of the first word or sound in a sentence. If the repetitions seem forced or choppy (or are accompanied by blinking or another physical characteristic), that might be a sign of a bigger problem. Try not to worry!

[CEB]

Consitent with the post above, my son (2 years 10 months) either stutters or draws out the first words of sentences a lot (mainly like "IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII want to play in the backyard" but also sometimes "Uh uh uh uh I want to play in the backyard"). He is getting speech therapy through EI and is about to age out so yesterday was his evaluation through the school district to see if he qualifies for their services after 3. I asked the evaluator about this and she said that we should watch it but that most kids with stutters do not develop them until after the age of 4 - and right now it sounds more like his mouth is not yet keeping up with his brain (and he does not have any of the twitching or blinking often associated with a stutter). That is consistent with what his current therapist told us. So we are hanging tight - but if it does not stop in 6 months to a year, we will probably seek another opinion.