My 26 Month Old Just Started Stuttering All of a Sudden.

I asked a similar question about my son a few weeks ago and lots of moms responded that it is totally normal. I did a little research on it and it seems like if it persists for more than 6 months or so you might want to talk her doctor or something. It's just part of development and many moms told me it happens more with "bright" kids because their brain is working faster than their mouths can get things out. I'm also hoping it just goes away in the next month or so.

It probably is a phase. But go ahead and get an eval from an early childhood intervention program. It is free until a child turns 3. No need to keep worrying.

It's called "developmental stuttering". When stuttering begins before age 4 or 5, it usually passes with time as their brains catch up to their mouths in development. My son did the same thing. He would go through periods of bad stuttering where he could barely get out a sentence and would cry with frustration. It would get better and then he would hit a rapid growth phase and do it again. It stopped around age 4. It's hard to listen to, and of course we worried and my mom was sure he was going to stutter FOREVER! But, many kids do this and it's totally normal. (I'm a pediatric PT and work with speech therapists who helped me realize this.)

My daughter started stuttering around the same age...I believe I may have even asked some questions regarding it on here....she was on and off for a while; when it was good it was good and when it was bad it was very bad....right before she entered pre-k, at her physical we talked to her pedi about our concerns...he gave us some places we could call to have her evaluated...we made an appointment with a speech pathologist who evaluated her...said that she didnt have a true stutter but that she was having difficulty....she strongly believed that because she was spoken to in Spanish at her sitters, and English at home she was getting confused....she had her repeat a sentence....when she stuttered she told her that that sentence was very bumpy and that she needed to smooth it out....amazingly she was able to repeat the sentence with no problems...she said that we should give her about 3 months into pre-k and interacting with other kids and she believed she would be fine...sure enough she was...she does go through her phases, and she is 5 now that when she gets really upset over something she will stutter a bit....we just tell her to smooth out her sentences...the speech pathologist told us to never tell her to think about what she wants to say before she says it, not to tell her to slow down and definately not to finish her sentences for her....as hard as it is we try to use the speech pathologist's recommendations because they really do help....you can call birth to three to have your daughter evaluated...its totally free and they even come out to the house...it is a great program to take advantage of....hope things get better!!

Is she actually stuttering, or is she just having trouble putting her thoughts together? It is very common around age 2-3 for kids to have trouble getting their thoughts out. A typical conversation with my daughter would be:

Her: Mommy?"
Me: "Yes?"
Her: " I, I , I...uh"
Me: "What do you want to say?"
Her "I,uh, I want, uh....want to,.."
<time passes>
Her:"Mommy, I uh, want to, hmmmm... I , Mommy, want to...."
Me: "Try again."
Her: "Mommy, I, uh, need you to, uh, open this for me."

It's not really stuttering so much as a disconnect between being able to compose a "grown-up" sentence to match the speed of their thinking. They are too distracted to complete a thought. Suddenly, they are preschoolers having pretty complex thoughts but their language hasn't really caught up.

Try to think about the situations she does this - can she play and talk to herself with no problem, but when she is trying to express somthing to you, then she has trouble?

If it is genuinly a stutter, where she is getting stuck on the pronounciation or completion of a word, then I woudl not wait a second to get intervention. Those kind fo things don't get better on their own.

My first son, a very bright kid and very early talker did the same thing around that age. Chances are it isn't a true stutter, it is just that her language skills are growing so fast there is a disconnect between brain and mouth. For my son is lasted a month or two and disappeared as quickly as it came.Don't mention it, just wait patiently until she gets the words out. If she is still doing it at the beginning of the year, check with her pediatrician.

Totally normal. My son did this at about the same age for a bit and it went away pretty quickly. I had googled it and it was pretty normal.

I wish I knew the answers , waiting to hear you repleys

If it returns, get help through The Stuttering Foundation at www.stutteringhelp.org.