Stuttering 28 Month Old, Help?

I had a niece who was the VERY same way at about the same age. She could "read" a page from a book. We would read one page, she'd "read" the next. We thought she had just memorized it. She'd spell words with magnetic letters on the fridge.

We found out that her cognitive development was more developed than her verbal development. I guess in most cases, they develop pretty much at the same time. THIS is what caused the stuttering. She couldn't get out (verbal not developed0 what she knew in her mind. The doc said she'd outgrow it when her verbal development caught up. It did!

What do you mean stutter? Do you mean repeats consonant sounds of words, or do you mean starts and stops and restarts telling you something and reusing the same first one or two or three words before he gets it out?

If the latter, don't do anything. Just be PATIENT and don't rush him to get it out. He is trying to figure out the best way to use the words he wants to use... and he has a lot more word choices than just a few short weeks ago. I wouldn't really even "help" him with this... Maybe let him know it's okay to slow down. Be sure he has your undivided attention and don't rush him (by supplying words) so you can move on to something else. It can be hard when he wants to tell you something on your way out the door, or buckling his seatbelt... but try to wait for him to get the words out without rushing him.

Hi A.,
I am in the same situation as you...and I also was very freaked out...out of the blue my daughter started to stutter at about 24 months with no rhyme or reason as to why....I spoke with one of my brother's friends who is a speech pathologist and she gave me some very good advice....when they stutter dont finish the words for them...as hard as it is on you to see this happening just let them stutter it out...the more you pay attention to it and acknowledge it the harder it will be on them....she also suggested that when my husband or I talk to her we need to get down to her level and talk slowly...the both of us do tend to talk fast and she said that our daughter might be trying to keep up with us....for us the other factor was that during the day while she is at the sitter's she is spoken to only in Spanish, then when we pick her up and on weekends we speak to her in English....her brain was getting confused with the different languages....so whatever your situation try not to freak out...as hard as it is you have to try....I still remember the first time I called my Mom I was hysterical crying because I thought for sure there was somethig wrong with my daughter....every once in a while now she still will have spurts of stuttering, and she will be 4 in April....so if you see it go away for a while and then suddenly come back dont be surprised....Hope this helps!!
Meg

My son did this when he was two! It was like he woke up stuttering. It was very scary. It got worse before it got better. We saw a speech therapist that specialized in stuttering. She taught us a lot. Here is what I learned:
1. Slow down your life, your pace, don't rush him, don't speak too quickly, don't finish his sentences.
2. Act as if you have all the time in the world and listen intently, pretend the stuttering isnt happening when he talks.
3. Make comments here and there such as "It's hard to talk sometimes, mommy has a hard time too sometimes"
4. Don't press your child to over-achieve. In hindisight, I put lots of pressure on my son and I was constantly teaching him things.
5. Slow down your own speech - our therapist called it Turtle Talk. It should be so slow that it almost feels odd.

My son's stuttering lasted a good year, maybe longer. He is 6 now and no longer stutters. ALso, the therapist said that the early they show the first signs of stuttering, the higher odds that they will naturally outgrow it.

Big Hugs! I know it's frustrating and hard!

I would seek a referral from your pediatrician to see a speech therapist. Find out for sure if this is something that needs early intervention, Early is always best. He will qualify for an evaluation through your school district at age 3.

Your son would still be "normal" even if he had a stutter. He would still be "normal" even if he had a developmental delay. Children are all "normal" but sometimes they may have atypcial development.

M.

It depends on what you mean by stuttering. My son is now 2 1/2 & has no issues, but about 6 months or so ago, he went through 2 different spells of "SSSSSSSing" everything. Dragging his s's out & puttting s's at the end of every word. I freaked out temporarily, b/c I thought it was a stuttering issue & almost called the doc, but decided to let it run it's course. I really think he was experimenting with his words & also knew it got our attention, b/c we were always telling him to "stop it". He shows no signs of it now whatsoever. So, I personally think it depends on the child. I think you will know if it is a stage he's going through, or if you need professional help.

I asked my mom about this because my daughter does this occasionally and is about the same age. I heard that as their vocabulary is developing, they may stutter but until they are like 4 or 5 years old, they do not consider is 'stuttering' because they are still developing their speech skills. I would not worry and would not call attention to it. If it continues or gets worse, ask your pediatrican about it.

my son went through some of this at this age, and we didn't move or anything. i think part of it is all these newfound verbal skills just tripping all over themselves trying to come out. and in your son's case, the stress of the last couple months has not helped. my advice is to get down on his level (when he's doing it), look into his eyes, tell him, "honey, take a breath, think about it, and then try again. what were you saying?" most of the time if i could just get my son to take a breath that was all the time he needed for his brain to catch up with his mouth. or vice versa. lol. just be patient with him, take an extra moment to show you care, don't make him feel bad about it. he'll get through this. good luck! (ps, i started the "take a breath," thing with the studdering, but it works AWESOME with hysterical crying too - the kind where he can't even remember what he was mad about anymore - and also when he doesn't want to settle down for bed. we take a deep breath together and it seems to help him calm down. try it, it's amazing!)

A friend of mine recently experienced this with her 3 year old son. He started doing it when his dad's job required him to be gone throughout the week. She took him to her local school district for testing and everything was okay, just stress related. It's possible that it could be stress with moving and all of the big changes in his life. However, if you are concerned you could contact your local school district's speech pathologist for further advice or testing. Good luck!

Hi A.,

I had one of my boys in speech therapy and we had noticed that he was stuttering too (while achieving all of his milestones like your son....very intelligent). The therapist said that kids will stutter when they are stressed. For our son, we noticed it was really bad around the holidays (with all the hustle/bustle of Christmas). She had said that it is a normal thing and NOT to stress out about it. They will stop! She gave us some suggestions about giving him some one on one time each week, turning the T.V. off at night and just playing/reading a book to him, and NOT taking him with when I had to do the Christmas shopping. So my husband and I started to have one on one time with him switching weeks (i.e. took him for dinner to his favorite place, and then did an activity he wanted to do and then the next week, daddy had time with him). I made it a point to do holiday shopping when he was napping or I would shop at night when my husband was home with him. We also made it a point to turn the T.V. off at night. That was (and is now) our rule....T.V. is off after 4:00 p.m.
What a difference we noticed in the stuttering!! Now I take my cues from him....when I start to hear some stuttering, I know that we need to relax and take a break!
So...to your questions...I would say with all the BIG changes in his little world, he is stressed out and thus the stuttering. It will get better...Just find something "relaxing" to him and you will notice a HUGE difference!! Good Luck!!

I have a 2.5 year old son, and we just went to the Dr this morning because he woke up stuttering two weeks ago. She said if the stuttering is a the beginning of the sentence, like "I I I I want to play" then it is normal, and you can just ignore it, and it should go away on it's own. If it's in the middle or end of the sentence then it can be a problem. My son has it happen all 3 places, so she recommended we see a speech therapist. The earliest I can get in for an evaluation is March 1, I can't wait to see what she says! He was also very advanced for his age, especially in speech, always spoke very clearly and has a large vocabulary. I hope he can just grow out of it.

I will just say that my oldest daughter did this at a young age too (around 3). It is a result of them thinking faster than they can speak. So, what I did was encourage her to slow down and think before she spoke, and gradually her speech caught up with her thoughts and she was, and is, fine.

Hi A.:

Stuttering is a response to stress that can be gently and safely addressed with the appropriate methods. Your son is normal and is not intentionally trying to freak you out. Do your best to be calm and know that there are resources to help. You choosing to "freak out" will make it worse. My suggestion to address the issue on three levels: 1. Emotions - with Flower Essences (for him, you and anyone else in the home) 2. Physical - with dietary suggestions that will help to strengthen the body and 3. Mental - with positive affirmations for him, you and anyone else in the home. These methods will work.

My office can assist you with a telephone consultation. Please feel free to visit the ____@____.com/wombfull.html and call me for more information or to set up an appointment.

All the best,
N.
Natural Healthcare Practitioner
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