My daughter who is two and a half has always been very selective in her words. She has always talked very well for her age. Her pronunciation has been wonderful. Just starting Sunday evening, she has started to stutter some of her words. It will take her seven seconds to get the first word out. I am not sure if she is stuttering or if this is just excitement. How do I deal with this? I do not want her to see frustration in me or hear it in my voice. How do I help her? Please help.
My son is 3-/12 & sometimes stutters his words. I asked his pediatrician about it at his 3 year visit & he told me that is normal for kids this age. I'm sure she will outgrow it, but you have any concerns, call you pediatrician, that's what they are there for.
S.
Hi C.,
Is she exhibiting any other unusual behavior or impairments? If so, I'd take her to the pediatrician right away.
If not, I, personally, would just ignore it until her next check up appointment. (It may go away by then. If it hasn't mention it to her doctor before your appointment so he can observe it without her knowing or hearing you discuss it. If it gets worse before that, I'd have it checked by your pediatrician. If she will be in nursery school next year, they will probably have a speech/hearing screening there. Good luck to you.
Stuttering at that age is very common. It's their brains and mouth trying to figure everything out at the same time so they concentrate (and repeat) on the first sound of the word usually until they think of the rest. I was worried about my daughter because she was stuttering when she was 3 years old. I have a few friends that are speech therapists so I gave them a call. All said this was a normal stage, not all kids go through it, but a lot do. I wouldn't worry about it at this point. If you are worried though, just mention it to the pediatrician next time you're in there.
My daughter did the same thing at around the same time. It lasted for some weeks, can't remember how long. I just ignored it, didn't make an issue one way or another. Occasionally I would ask her to slow down. But I would always look at her when she was trying to struggle with her words, so she knew I was paying attention to her and so she knew what she was saying was important. Even if it meant cupping her face in my hand and giving her eye to eye. She out grew it, but it still lurks its head rarely but once in a blue moon she'll still stutter it out, usually in excitement.
It's a normal developmental issue when their minds want to say things faster than their little facial muscles can move their mouths. Try to be calm and not call attention to it. Give her extra time to speak. If she seems frustrated, you could suggest that she slow down and let her know that you are listening to her. If it doesn't bother her, don't call attention to it at this point. Perhaps if you are in a hurry you could tell her that you need to do something right now, but that you really want to hear her story and ask if you can have special time a little later to talk about that again.
One of my triplets is in speech. He's over 3 now but started doing the "stuttering". They say it's normal. Once they're starting to put things together in their head their mouths can't seem to get it out as fast so it comes out in a stutter. They suggested not to focus on it or it can cause more problems. Give them the time they need to try to get it out and then model for them the proper way to say the word. It usually goes away. My son rarely stutters now that his speech has improved. He did get so very frustrated so be patient.
