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DS is 2.4 and was an early talker. He is quite advanced with his speech, but over the past few days he's started stammering fairly severely. Mostly on words like and, on, in but on others too. He'll repeat a sound up to 10-15 times before saying the word, i.e - the drink is i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-in the cup. It's not bothering him and he's kind of going about his buiness as he does it. It's just come on so suddenly.

Is it anything to worry about?

Don't know about stammering but as a mummy of a child who has needed speech therapy, I'd say get in touch with the HV and ask for an assessment asap because speech therapy takes so long to come through that it's better to get on the waiting list now!

From what the ST has told me, stammering takes a high priority so that's a positive thing.

Other than that, could it be he does it when he's holding onto a wee or something or some other behavioural reason like a new sibling to cope with etc?

i think he is still young, if he is 2.4 and eagerly talker, try to calm him down.
my ds is 2.3m and only says a few words. im not too worried, they are all different.

My ds is 3.3 and does have other issues going on, but when i question my H.V about stuttering and stammering she said it is quite normal as their brain is working faster than their mouth can get the words out, not sure if that is true though. My ds is having speech therapy but i haven't mentioned it to them yet.

wolfear ~it is common in early fluent speakers and they recommend

~ slow down when you speak to him
~ don't ask questions while stammer apparent[harder than it sounds]
~give him time and space to reply without rushing or interruption.
~ one person speak at a time

I used to put a smile on my face but not interrupt or stare at ds too much...but I did sometimes used to say a very difficult word for him if he was really stuck.."Oh you mean the car ds,clever boy" etc

In other words slow everything down to take the pressure off,let him initiate the conversations,no questions...it often settles and then reappears off and on but most settle by 5 yrs.

If it is persistent can be referred to speech therapy.

If you think about time scales though, you might perhaps want him to be not stammering as he gets into reception. If you get a private or NHS assessment of his speech, then you'll know if you need to take action.

My ST gave me a list of things/sounds/words they should be saying/pronouning at each age which gave us a good idea of where he was and where he should be.
We are not pushy parents at all but didn't want him to find starting school hard because of his speech. Even my parents were asking for translations sometimes!

He sounds like my DS2 - he was an early speaker but started stuttering at 3yrs. As predicted by some kind Mumsnetter it would mysteriously vanish within 6 months - and it did.

Try not to panic, it will probably go away. It might be worth seeing the HV as some areas have a serious shortage of SALTs so the waiting lists can be very long.

Thanks all. I guess it's just thrown me as he's been so good - people are always commenting on how fluent he is for his age - and it's literally just started in the past few days. Seems to have come from nowhere.

Anyone else had experience with this?

All 3 of mine did this at pretty much the age your DS is. It passed with no need for intervention (I can't remember how long. 6 months maybe). We just ignored it and let them get their words out.

DD2 started stammering out of the blue at about the same age. We had just moved to a new area, new nursery etc and she had 2 languages to deal with (DH is French), we assumed it was all these factors causing it, as well as the frequent thing with 2yos brains working faster than their mouths.

She got very cross with it but we followed all the advice we were given, and got a referral to a SALT but by the time we saw her a few months later it had pretty much stopped. It hasn't happened since and she is nearly 10 now. Her brain still works too fast though

This is common and it comes up regularly on mn.

dd1 began stammering at about 2.2. It bacem progresively worse until she was unable to talk at all for a couple of days. It was scary at the time but it was a case of her mouth trying to keep up with her brain.

The british stammering association are helpful (stammering.org). Children under 5 respond much better to therapy than older kids and much can be done at home with the parents, but I'm not an expert...they can help you decide whether and if your child needs a bit of help. good luck.

My ds did this and was also an early talker. It did not bother him to start with but then he would tap his mouth with frustration. He is 3 now and only does it very rarely - think it is brain working faster than mouth.
Was told to not make an issue of it and not finish his sentences.
Good luck!

DS was an early talker and stammered for a few weeks (I can't remember what age) then just stopped. I wondered if it was him 'trying it out' eg: copying it from someone as it came and went so quickly.

my eldest was an early speaker and then suddenly at the age of 4, he started to stammer, and then included all sorts of vocal tics throughout his speach and he sounded like a total nutter to be honest. I was worried that people at schoool would make fun of him as it was so over the top, but the teachers said they just accepted this was what he did. The doc reffered us to a speech therapist, but said it was just a develeopmental thing, his brain working to fast for his mouth! and 4 months later he just grew out of it. She said it is very common.

DS2 (4.4yrs) started stammering last summer, out of the blue, had always been a good talker, etc. Took him to the dr's, who said to ignore it, not finish sentences for him to 'help' and not to discuss it in front of him. She also said it would probably go away in time, which it did, almost as suddenly as it appeared, a few weeks later. It happens occasionally - he doesn't get upset about it and we don't mention it. The dr also said that the health services don't tend to get involved until a child is about 7 or so anyway.

Hello, I work at the British Stammering Association and thought I should write something.

As has been said, it is quite common for children to experience difficulties with their speech- around 5% of children under the age of 5 will do so. Around the age of 2-3 is when most children start to stammer, although it can develop at a later age.

In the majority of cases, they will naturally outgrow it. However, we do not advise that parents leave it to correct itself, as some of the posts above have said, as up to a quarter of children are at risk of developing chronic stammering which may persist into adulthood without intervention during the pre-school years.

Therefore, we advise anyone concerned about their child's stammer to get their child assessed by a Speech and Language Therapist as early as possible. It's never too early to act. By getting in touch with the British Stammering Association, we can give you direct contact details of your local NHS therapy service where you can refer yourself without having to go through your GP.

If you are concerned, phone our helpline (local rate) on 0845 603 2001 or email info@stammering.org.

Stammering can affect children in lots of different ways -some will block at the start of sentences, some midway, and others at the end. Some will repeat sounds.

The exact causes of stammering are not yet fully known, but new research is suggesting that it's genetic. There is no evidence that parents cause stammering, so don't blame yourselves.

Please see this link for parents of under 5's from our website, which gives tips on what to do in the home to support your child: http://www.stammering.org/under5.html

And here is a link for older children: http://www.stammering.org/parents_info.html

For more information about stammering in general see our website www.stammering.org.

I hope this helps
Steven
British Stammering Association