2.5yo stutter

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DS 2.5 was relatively late to start talking properly, didn't really get going until after 2 (though understanding has always been good). Even though his spoken language is pretty good now he always seems like he has to think hard about his words and work to get them out. Recently I've started to notice him stuttering, especially when tired and on certain sounds like t. He's also even more recently started to put his hand in front of his mouth when he's doing it, which makes me think it might be more than a normal developmental dysfluency. Obviously I'll seek advice from the HV but does anyone have experience of a stutter developing this early?

My niece developed a stutter around this age. DB was told to talk slowly, pause to give her time to reply and not draw attention to it. Apparently it's quite common, sort of like the brains going faster than the mouth can keep up with. Obviously always get your DC checked but DNs was just a developmental phase which she grew out of.

Yes, do get him checked.

DS was my fourth child and being an awful/distracted mum, I didn't notice he wasn't actually saying anything more than Mummy and Daddy at that age, but did hold his hand over his mouth and sort of grunt.

Luckily HV picked it up at 2.5 year check and they actually thought he could be hearing impaired, but he had some speech therapy (which he LOVED!!!) And that helped.

Do you have older children? The speech therapist felt that he didn't talk much because sibs were doing it for him.

Incidentally he does occasionally still stutter if anxious, but nowhere near as much.

My son developed a stutter around this age, didn’t last long. Their brains are in overdrive with new vocabulary- just be patient, don’t rush them. DS outgrew it within a few months.

Yep, and like other posters, it was his brain working faster than his mouth. It wasn’t classical stuttering, more repeated first syllables/words stalling for time because he knew he wanted to talk but hadn’t quite worked out what he wanted to say (“Mummy-I, Mummy-I, Mummy-I, look at this Mummy”)

I can’t remember when he grew out of it but definitely before school.

Yes. Late talker, boy.

Stutter came and went for short periods. Coincided with developmental leaps.

I wouldn't worry if comprehension good.

Sign of intelligence

And yes as a PP said, the advice from SALT was to focus on them fully when they are speaking (so if they are trying to talk while you are walking somewhere, stop walking and get down to their level). Speak slowly, if they can’t get their words out then ask them to slow down too, but don’t focus on the stutter or finish their sentences for them.

Is he left handed by any chance? It’s pretty common for left handed kids to stutter for a while when they try to copy the right handed people they see.

That's really interesting about the links being left handed, he does definitely show signs of left hand dominance. He does also have an older sibling who talks a lot and often talks for him.

It's the putting his hand in front of his mouth which makes it seem more like a "thing" - I'd hope they at 2.5 he's not self conscious about it but I guess it suggests he's aware of it and wants to stop it. It looks kind of like he's trying to shove the stutter back in when he does it and that makes me feel sad for him.

Thanks to all who've shared their experiences. I think we're probably already doing everything SaLT would recommend at this point but we'll still seek advice.