Trying Not to Be Concerned......

Hi N.,
I would not be too concerned at this point- just watch her closely and work with her speech when you can. At 2 1/2 most toddlers cannot articulate well and sometimes have a hard time getting out what they want you to hear....if it continues then i would have her looked at and possibly get her some speech therapy. Most stuttering is a nervous reaction so you might look at the times she is stuttering and see what has been going on with her
good luck and blessings

I think she is still young enough to be evaluated by ECI. I would call them and have them do an evaluation. They will let you know if they think it warrants speech therapy or not. I think if it's a problem, you would want to address it sooner rather than later, but I would also ask how long she has been doing it. My daughter was speaking in sentences by 18 months old and has always been EXTREMELY verbal. She also went through a period where she stuttered some. I think her mouth just couldn't keep up with all that she wanted to say! If this is a relatively recent thing (a few weeks), then I would wait it out for a little bit. If it's been going on for a couple of months, then it couldn't hurt to have ECI take a look at her. Good luck. I hope everything works out okay!

I second the ECI evaluation. Here is their website (phone number at the bottom):

http://www.dars.state.tx.us/ecis/index.shtml

What does her pediatrician think?

My daughter went through the same thing at the same age. My husband stutters and I was very concerned. She stopped about a year later and has only recently started some again (she's now almost 9). You can have the speech therapist at your local elementary school assess her for free. There is also an early childhood program that can assess her as long as she's under 3 years old. I forgot the name of the program, but the school should be able to tell you. I had the speech therapist evaluate my daughter and it was free. If you go through the school, they will create a file on her so you will have to have her records available to copy (as if she were starting school).

I'm also a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist. Red flag warning signs would include:

--family history of stuttering that lasted into adulthood
--noticeable muscular tension in her face/neck when she is stuttering
--any secondary characteristics (eye blinking, facial grimacing, etc) with the stuttering
--stuttering of a single sound (mm-mm-mm-monkey) or syllable (may- may- maybe) is generally more concerning than repetition of a whole word (the...the...the dog)
--signs that she is very aware and/or embarrassed when she stutters

Things you can do to help:
--slow down your own rate of speech
--add extra pauses in your own speaking
--avoid peppering her with constant questions...comments are more friendly!
--do not interrupt her, and do your best to ensure that others (siblings) don't interrupt either (I know this is challenging!)
--ignore the stuttering and focus on the content of her message--and let her know that you're hearing what she's saying, not HOW she's saying it

If you're not seeing any red flags that I mentioned above, I would try to relax and see what happens in the next couple of months. Good luck to you all, and try not to worry. As you said yourself, this is quite normal in this age group--it's a crazy time of language growth and sometimes their little mouths need a chance to catch up! :)

N.: My twins just turned 3 and started stuttering a little more than 6 months ago. It comes and goes, and varies in severity. Actually, just yesterday I noticed that it was much worse again. I believe, and my doctor confirmed, that it is developmental. When they potty trained, it was really bad. Their brains can only process so much at one time. I bet your little one is working on attaining some new milestone. Don't worry. Even if your child is one of those 5%, they would do nothing at this point. My doctor said to give it another year before we even consider thinking about intervening. Please feel free to email any other concerns.
S.

I would talk to your doctor about a speech therapy referral, a pediatric speech pathologist might be able to help determine if it is a typical stutter or not.

This happened to my oldest at the exact same age. I was very worried b/c my father stuttered very badly his whole life, and I know there can be a genetic component. I had her evaluated by the pediatrician, who ultimately said he would like to keep an eye on it, but listening to her and what I said about her stuttering, he thought it was most likely the kind she would grow out of. Sure enough, she did...I would say that a year later she was no longer stuttering at all. I would have the pediatrician evaluate her and then make the call on whether you need to go further with a speech pathologist or neurologist. Good luck!

2.5 is not too young to start working with a speech therapist or occupational therapist.

A wonderful group that could possibly help assess your situation is ECI - Early Childhood Intervention. I would place a call to them today.

My son was 2 1/2 and started stuttering and I was panicking. But it lasted about 3 weeks. I also noticed that with him his thoughts were happening faster than his speech and that was causing the stuttering... Every now and then he will stutter a sentence but again only when his brain is thinking faster than he can speak.. If this has been going on for over a month I would definately look into having someone look at her.. If it just started give it some time and see if she is able to work it out.

Hi I hoep I can helo by puttin gyour mind at ease. So you don't htink I'm just some opininated Mom I want to let you know that I have a degree in Speech Language Pathology am currently working as a Developmental Specialist and have previously worked as a Speech Therapist in both the public school and a private practice...I'm also a former stutterer.
At your daighters age there really isn't much cause for concern. She too young for traditional fluency therapy and if her stuttering isn't constant then she'll probably out grow it. If she has less than 20 or so disfluencies per hr then I would just ignore it. DON'T tell her to slow down or make fun of her or shake her or clapp in her face and or pay any attention to it. Just pretend it's not happening. If you make a big deal about its more likely to stick around!
Hope that helps