Stuttering from My 23 Mo. Old

My son did the same thing! He has a twin sister & she did not do this. I was concerned also as he was a great communicator also. If you Google, toddler & stuttering, you'll find out that at this age, a lot of kids do this. NO need for alarm, it will only last a week up to a month or so. My son did it out of the blue for about 2 weeks & then nothing since. Do as the speech pathologist said below........don't finish her sentences as she will get frustrated. Just let her talk & try to ignore what's going on as it's just a phase.

Hi A.,

I am a speech-language pathologist, and would welcome the opportunity to answer any questions you might have regarding your concerns. Although many young children do experience a period of disfluency, there are some for whom it is not just a period. Some things to consider might include a family history of someone who stutters, and how your child stutters (does she extend sounds, chop up syllables, get "stuck," or repeat full words and/or phrases?).

You could also visit the National Stuttering Association website, or ASHA site(American Speech-Language Hearing Association). My immediate advice to you would be to be conscious of your own facial expressions and actions when your child does become disfluent. You certainly would not want to create a problem, where none may exist, by allowing your child to see your concern.

Best Regards,
S.

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Dear A., my best friend's son has had the same problem for a while. He, like your daugter, has been always really vocal, getting to the point that he would try to say something and, with frustation, say that he couldnt speak. She took him to a specialist that told that his vocabulary was really good and growing quickly, and basically that his brain would work faster than his mouth making him unable to reproduce the words he wanted to say. NOTHING to worried about. It sounds it could be the same.
I hope that helps.

P.

Hi A.,

I have an in home daycare and had a child start stuttering "out of the blue" when he was almost 3 yrs old. Hi parents took him to our elementary school (since it is free) to have the speech teacher evaluate him to see if this was normal development or get him enrolled in a PALS class through the district. The speech teacher said his was completely normal because the child was so excited to tell something or nervous (depending on what it was) that he could not keep up with his self. Keep in mind, his stories were not all that excited at times but to him he felt anxious, excited for whatever reason and would get more frustrated as he spoke. We were told to slow down our speaking and be patient, do not try to help him say the words since that frustrates them even more, and tell them "it's okay", etc...He stopped doing this within a few months but it did take time. He did stutter some when you asked him a question but not nearly as much as when he was initiating the conversation. If you have not tried all of this already I would try it and if you do not see any improvement within a month or so I would ask the school to evaluate her or ask her doctor for a speech therapist. There is a great one called Monkey Business (or something like that) in Bedford. Good luck!

I know this response might be late, but I dont think your daughter has a speaking problem. My daughter who is 3 1/2 talks really well like your daughter does and she does the same stuttering as her. I think their little brain is moving so fast and they are trying really hard to say it right that they stutter at the begging of sentences until they find the right word that works with what they are trying to say. Remember that she is still learing our language,now if she was 7 or 8 i might be worried, but she is still pretty young. Hope things work out!

I am a speech pathologist and this is very normal. Children go through a normal disfluency stage when they start to develop more language. Your daughter is at the age when this is very normal. It is persists for more than 6 months and you start seeing secondary behaviors - eye blinks, etc then you may want to look into some more. She is so young and it sounds like her language skills are quite advanced. As for you give the time it takes for her to compelete her sentence and don't finish the word or sentence for her. You can also slow down your rate of speech when you respond to her. Basically you would model slow and easy speech.

No worries! Your little girl is actually thinking faster than her mouth will keep up. It is very normal!! The little boy I watch started that at the same age. They did have an evaluation done, just to be sure, but they told his parents what you would likely hear too! He was actually really advanced for his age in a lot of ways, so the stuttering was truly because he could think of a lot of great things to say, but his little two year old body just did not work in the same time. They told us just to make sure to stop what we are doing, focus on him, and let him get it out. If he seemed stuck on a particular word, it was ok to encourage him along, but not to try to correct it. He out grew it with in a year or less. Good luck, sounds like you have a bright girl on your hands!! ~A.~

I agree with the pp. I have heard that it's common and my daughter does it every once in a while as well. They either don't know the words to use or it takes them to recall those words due to the fact that their vocabulary has gotten very large. I would say if it continues for a long time then bring it up with your ped. :o)

My daughter has done this about 3 different times. She's a lot like your daughter - very verbal, etc. and it has always occurred when she has a big burst in language development. It generally resolves on its own (or at least has in the past) we are currently going through a bout of it now that has been worse than the others. I've been very concerned as well, but I've found great info from some of the stuttering sites off of google. They put me at ease as well as helped me see what I could do to help at home. Most of the sites that I've seen have said this is completely developmentally normal at this age.

my son's pediatrician said teh same thing all the mamas have said when he started stuttering around your daughter's age. I remember being worried as well. He mentioned that usually, the stuttering at that age happens when the brain thinks faster that what the mouth (or the speaking part of the brain) is able to speak and it is very common at that age. you have to keep in mind that there are certain do's and donts to make sure not to aggravate the situation and make of it a real issue to worry about. mainly maintain a normal attitude when she is stuttering, do not correct or help her finish her sentences... make sure that she is not to the point of making grimaces when stuttering. and if that's is the case you should mention it to her doctor.
My son is now 4 years old and all the stuttering is gone... I've alwasy thought in my heart that he was more advanced than his brother and I can really see it now that he turned 4 and reading the little bob's books.

I believe your daughter is on the road of being a smart cookie...

A.,
I don't think you have anything to worry about. I remember reading something once that said it's normal. She's just excited to talk. I have a 25 month old who I wish talked like that. He still just saying one to three words together, mainly one. The sentences and way she's talking, just be proud of her.
Don't make a big deal about it, and it'll go away, she's just excited to talk.

Hi A.,
My girls also did that at that age. They are very exited and have a lot to say. I would always calmly tell them to stop for a minutes and just think about what they were trying to tell me.(it also works if they use a lot of um's, ands, uhs and then's etc) That solved the problem, after a few months. It is normal. I just wanted to help them understand that when they are so excited that they cant speak clearly it was hard for me to understand and if they would slow down a bit i could be just as excited as they were. we cheered and squeald over many great stories told well.

My brother was the same way. He is very smart. We were told that his thought process was working faster than he could verbalize so he would stutter. We encouraged him to slow down and take his time, take a breathe before he started talking. Knowing we would be patient and wait for him helped him stop stuttering.

I would start by talking with her doctor. This seems to be the best advice from a professional opinion. I would make sure she is hearing correctly, as that could start some of these problems.

Good luck,

HB

Hi A.,

I am a speech therapist and I saw your post. Some stuttering is developmental but some isn't. It depends on the severity and what kind of stuttering she is doing. Without listening to her I can't tell you if it is developmental or not. IF it continues I would definitely recommend you getting her checked out. You don't want her to start getting frustrated or other kids to say something to her about it. Please let me know if you have any questions!

T. Gerd, M.S.,CCC-SLP

My son did the EXACT same thing! I talked to the doc b/c I was worried, but all it is is her brain working faster than her mouth can! I was so freaked out, but he outgrew it, just took a little while... If it were to last over a couple of months, I might question it, but don't worry! Everything is normal. They are absorbing so much new information and just can't keep up!

I would talk to her doctor. My daughter went through something similar when she was about that age. She talks very well for her age and when this was happening she was usually trying to talk to fast and getting ahead of herself and the words just wouldn't come out.
If you are concerned though, I would definitely talk to her doctor about it, they know what to look for if there is a problem, etc.