She turns 3 on March 10. The stuttering began around 3 weeks ago. It started off here and there for the first few days, got worse & for the past 2 days it was gone. She woke up today just repeating a word here and there. Mainly the first word of the sentence. And not every sentence. It has escalated through out the day to her repeating syllables such as, "wh-wh-where" & "l-li-like". Our pediatrician says that this is more than likely a phase that she will out grow due to her brain going so fast! Any advice you have would be appreciated (:
I should add that she was a really early talker. She has always been easily understood and very quick with a response.
UPDATE:
This evening she has had a pretty rough time with a few words that came so easy to her before this day. It's so hard to not be overly concerned. 😞 I know she needs time to work through this, but it breaks my heart to see her struggle. She has always been a great talker. I have noticed within the past few days that she has started to use more compound sentences. That most certainly hasn't been the case today. 😟
UPDATE 3/2/17
Today has been much better. She has mainly done it today when asking a question. An only about 10-15% of the time when doing that. I notice that she does it when trying to hurry and tell me something. We shall see what the rest of the day is like. 😐
UPDATE 3/5/17
She hasn't stuttered in two days. It seems to come and go. I have noticed a pretty large explosion in her vocabulary. She is using much larger sentences. She will still repeat words here and there. If she does, it's the first word of a sentence. But not often. At this point I'm thinking she's going through a growth spurt.
Very, very normal. Just be patient with her. Try to let her know that she doesn't need to rush. Most kids go through this phase. Totally normal.
Yes, mine went through this.
Dr. Sears is a good website. You might want to check it out (below)
Between 2 and 3 years of age, it's normal for many children to go through a speech developmental stage called "normal dysfluency," which is a milder form of stuttering that can be self-correcting. As toddlers learn to talk, they'll frequently repeat syllables, such as "I-I-I ..." or "L-L-L-like..." It's also common to hear them use "hesitation syllables," such as "uh" and "um," as they change words or thoughts. Toddlers become particularly dysfluent when they are excited, anxious, in a hurry to speak, or when they feel pressured to talk or answer a question.
My granddaughter developed a bad stutter at around 2.5 years old - so much so that my daughter took her to be evaluated. They did give her some exercises to practice, but not for the stuttering. They said that would resolve on its own (turns out she was not pronouncing some letters correctly and since she was there for the eval, they provided the exercises). She is almost 3.5 now and we rarely hear the stutter.
Interestingly, I noticed that her stutter was MUCH worse on Mondays and Tuesdays. Turns out that the guy my daughter is dating who has two young girls, he older daughter actually has a stutter. My granddaughter was "copying" her to some degree, which is why the stutter was SO much worse on Mondays and Tuesdays (my daughter and her boyfriend do not live together and get the kids together on the weekends to play).
Is she in daycare and around another child who is stuttering as well? Just curious :)
Good luck!
My daughter went through a similar stuttering phase at about the same age. It lasted maybe a month or 2 and then it ended. Totally normal.
this sounds pretty normal; their mouths can't keep up with all their thoughts.
My son also went thru a stuttering phase around 3 and a half ofr so, but he was also a late talker....his speech therapist helped him out
But, with that said, listen to what your pedi said and if it continies maybe have her evaluated.
We went through it with our oldest son. He always seems to have a lot on his mind and a lot he wants to share with the world. For us it was a case of his brain being faster than his lips. His phase lasted nearly a year but his pediatrician said to give him time to grow before we did discussed taking action. Good luck.
Typical for many children. If it causes her no concern, just wait it out. If she gets frustrated, it often helps to change her environment a bit. Simplify any commotion at home, make sure no one is interrupting her or anyone else, and shorten your own sentences if they tend to be long and complicated. Our little ones will often try to model the speech of those around them, and at this stage it's just too complicated for them to keep up with.
Sure. They all go through that phase. Their brains are working so fast that their mouths can't get all the words out. Don't make a big deal out of it. You can ask her to take a breath and slow down if she's struggling a lot.
Yes I remember my youngest going through this phase. I can't tell you exactly when it started, but it did pass. I remember feeling anxious about it also, but there is nothing you need to do. It will just pass.
My daughter went through this. She did what you described your daughter doing plus said, "um, um, um" a lot. It went away on its own after a few months.
Their little brains are going so fast. So much to say. My granddaughter is going thru that now. I just tell her to slow down. I think every child goes thru it at one point.
Pretty normal as others have said.
When you speak to her, make sure you look at her and respond slowly. Not super slow, but one notch slower then normal. This will help her feel she has your full attention, help her to relax when she speaks to you, and help her to not feel as rushed.
Listen to what the pediatrician said.
Our school district does free screenings for speech therapy, occupational therapy, etc. four times a year. I would not be concerned at this point, but should things change you can always see if your school district or county does this.
