My daughter is 2 yrs, 3 months old and most everyone has referred to her as a "speaking prodigy". No one can ever believe how much she can talk, her vocabulary, and her way with words for her age. She speaks as well as her 4 year old brother. Very recently she took a tumble, causing a small bruise on the center of her forehead. The following day, she was hopping along, fell down on her bottom, and had trouble standing back up. She said that "it was spinning", so we knew she felt dizzy. She has had no other bouts of dizziness and our pediatrician has checked her out. Shortly after the dizzy spell she started stuttering. She mostly stutters the word "I" and for the first few days she would just do it 2-3 times before she could finish that sentence. Now it has grown dramatically worse, as she will say "I" anywhere from 7-20 times before finishing the sentence. It has only been a week since the stuttering began and today she is occasionally stuttering on more words too, though only repeating the part 2 or 3 times. It is worse when she is tired. It has gotten to the point where she will touch her cute little lips in the midst of the "I"s as if to say, lips, why are you failing me???? That seemed to help her a little so I praised her for the idea. I am not sure what to do. I have noticed her speaking less today and particularly avoiding instances where she knows she will say I. I know that others have written in that stuttering at this age is normal, but I was wondering if it was so dramatic in your circumstance. Also. she is noticing it, and looks to me for help. I see the sites that say to just ignore it, but I wondered if anyone had advice for my particular circumstance. Thanks so much for reading my long post!
Thanks for all of the advice. I was already being referred to a pediatric neurologist when my daughter had another dizzy episode the other night. She started shaking and panicked that the room was dizzy. We took her to the ER where they ran blood and performed a CAT Scan, all of which came out normal. Her stuttering has been dramatically less today. She is not only stuttering on the word "I" I, she now does it on a variety of words, but only 3 times or so before getting the word out, and it is not nearly as frequent. I still have an appt with the neurologist next Thursday so hopefully I will get more answers then.
My son did the same stuttering around 2.5 years. He was/is an excellent speaker and that was just a phase. I just listened patiently when he talked and didn't try to correct him.
Hi T., so sorry to hear of your daughter's new struggle! I'm a speech-language pathologist and thought I could offer a little assistance. It sounds like it's possible that the fall may have triggered a problem. It is true, however, that stuttering at this age is common, even in very well spoken little ones. I think with you describing the fact that she is noticing it and touching her lips and/or avoiding saying specific words is what concerns me. I think once she realizes she can say "I" (or other words) without stuttering on them, she'll feel more confident and empowered. Here are some tips: 1. Be sure that you (and nobody else) interrupts her or finishes her sentences for her no matter HOW much she's stuttering. 2. Don't "ignore" the problem, per say - but don't call attention to it with your facial expressions (a strained or struggling face while listening to her, or an expression of impatience)... and feel free to discuss it if she wants to talk about why she's having trouble (you can reassure her that it happens in many kids when they are learning to talk if you don't want to assume it's from the bump on her head - make it like a "no biggie" situation). 3. She could practice saying specific words or sounds while rolling an object (a car, ball, etc.) and she almost "sings" it while the object is rolling so it comes out "smooth" rather than "bumpy". 4. You could bring her to a local SLP for an eval and possible treatment due to your concern over the incident...especially because it's growing worse and she's noticing it. You don't want her shutting down and not talking at all. That pointing to her lips and her feeling as though it "helped her" is what is called a secondary compensatory strategies... where a child develops a secondary "behavior or tic" to "help" with the stuttering. Eventually she could be tapping on her leg, kicking chairs, clapping, etc. while trying to speak... we don't want that either. She needs to be empowered to feel that she can get through it without doing those things. You could even try those echo microphones (often sold at Target / Walmart, really cheap in the toy section) - sometimes echoes will reverse a stutter by providing feedback in a delayed manner. I hope these suggestions help and hopefully what she's going through is just your typical developmental stuttering rather than something caused by her tumble. Good luck!
One of ours stuttered for a year or so, and then it vanished as suddenly as it had started.
I can't say for sure if the fall had anything to do with it, but as you mentioned, it's pretty normal for kids to go through a stuttering phase. My oldest (who's now six) started stuttering around the age of 3, and I got really worried about it, but his ped assured me that it was just that his brain was moving more quickly than his mouth muscles were able to. As she predicted, he outgrew it within a few months. Now my second son, who's 3 1/2, is going through the same thing. It's frustrating for him AND us, but I feel like it will pass soon.
Or daughter went through this phase and I was worried. She would say things like..."I I I I I want to play outside." The more excited she was the more she stuttered. My sister has a degree in childhood development and said it's a normal part of processing information and excitement. It stopped when she turned 4. I would check the injury out for sure though.
I think I would consult a geologist.
M.
if she did not fall at all and that was not a factor (bc I have no idea if it is, I am not qualified to suggest that it is so I will just reply like that is not an issue at all)
some children may all of a sudden just start stuttering for many diff. reasons. you say that she was way above ave. before this so we might be able to assume that the reason is that sometimes their brain moves faster than their mouth and that it just it. you know as an adult you will be talking and all of a sudden forget a word? it is kinda like that. this is just one idea and not taking the fall into account as I said I cant be sure, but I know that sometimes that is why children stutter and yes it is best to ignore or you can just help her find the words she is looking to say by simply and w/o to much fuss just say them for her.
This is a normal developmental pattern for kids at this age who are going through language explosion. They have so much to say and their mouths can't keep up with their brains. Both my daughters stuttered for a short time when they were two and at first I was concerned, but after asking for advice everyone told me to ignore it (very difficult to do) and just wait patiently for them to say what they want. Don't draw attention to it in any way or else she will get self-conscious about it and it can get worse. They both stopped after a couple of weeks.
I have a friend who freaked out about her daughter's stuttering and had her in to see a specialist right away. They used to drive an hour 3 times a week to see a speech therapist who specialized on just stuttering. She told me that it made her angry when people told her to ignore it because her grandfather had stuttered his whole life and so she was sure it was a genetic thing and she wanted to get help for her right away. Her daughter still struggles with stuttering and this started 7 years ago.
So my advice, be patient for a few weeks. If it still persists, contact your pediatrician and find the best course.
My son all of a sudden did this. My Dr. said that this is normal for this age. If they stuttered more often with other words (not just in the begining of a sentence) you should watch it. But for the most part it is just a " toddler" thing and they should out grow it.
I was recently told that this is not stuttering. It is actually a very verbal child trying to search their brain for the perfect word. I was told to wait patiently for them to finish. Don't prod or hurry them. It is just a phase, and perfectly normal.
I'm going to agree with Andra's post. Since the stuttering was preceded by a hit to the head, I would first rule out any injury before deciding it was a normal phase. Stuttering can be developmental but also a result of head trauma. Have a neurologist check her out and then you can put any concerns to bed without question. Good luck and I hope she's doing well.
I too was the mom of an exceptionally verbal toddler. She too went through a very sudden and progressively worsening case of stuttering. We were a bit worried and grandparents freaked out- the onset was so sudden and the results so worrying. We discovered that this is within the range of normal- particularly for verbally gifted young ones- as some point their brain and facial muscles/tongue become disconnected. After a few months the stuttering got better and after a year it was completely resolved. she is now 5 and still excelling verbally but there are NO signs of stuttering and there hasn't been for a couple of years.
Good luck!
K.
It could be totally coinciental w/ the fall...my now 9 year old has been in speech therapy since he was 2 because he didn't speak (no known cause) until he was almost 3 and at about 3 1/2 he too would stutter he'd get stuck on a word...it was like his mouth couldn't keep up with thoughts now that he had words. The speech pathologists helped him work with his "disfluency"(the actual medical term for stutter) and somewhere around age 4 or 4 1/2 it had virtually dissappeared and at age 9 (OK, 9 as of next week). you'd never know he stuttered. He still sees a speech therapist at school of a few articulatory quirks but he talks up a blue streak w/o a stutter. If you're concerned, talk to your pedi about it and it may not hurt to possibly see a speech therapist (EI, maybe)... Good luck
I am not any type of medical professional, but if this were my child, the fall combined with the bout of dizziness, would prompt me to see a neurologist. As many have said, apparently some stuttering is normal, but why the dizziness? I see you took her to the pedi, and that's awesome, but pedi's are not brain specialists, and IMO better safe than sorry. I would much rather come across as a bit paranoid to have the peace of mind.
