3yo has started stammering

[pollyblue]

Any advice gratefully received - my 3 yo DD has, in just the past few weeks, started stammering badly. She has brief spells when she speaks normally (her speech is pretty good, just a little behind her age's norm) but more often than not she starts of saying "a a a a a a a a" or "ee ee ee" over and over until she finally gets her first word out. Sometimes she then gets to the end of the sentance ok, or she'll lose track and start the stammer again.

She has a twin, and a 5yo sister, neither of whom have any problems with speech. She goes to playgroup 3 mornings a week - we've asked if the staff have noticed this but they said no, however they did say she is very quite at playgroup. She's happy there, though, keen to go and always says she's enjoyed her morning when she gets home.

Has anyone any experience/advice? I don't know whether to just ignore and not draw attention to it, and hope it'll just 'right' itself, or if it's something that needs investigating.

sorry, shocking typing quiet at playgroup.

Our dd does the same. I've spoken to a gp and Hv about it and both have said that as it tends to be when she is tired, that it is perfectly normal. She's 2.2 though and said it could also be related to her verbal skills being ahead of her motor skills ie her mouth needing to catch up with her brain. We try not to draw any attention to it and don't interrupt her at all. Also read that it helps if you can look at her when she talks. This seems to be the case as she is far worse in the car where obv you can't look at her.
In summary, speak to someone but try to identify if there are particular times/situations where it's worse.

When you (or other carers) talk to her, make sure you talk slowly and clearly. She will try to copy that and that may help her overcome her stammer. Don't rush her when she is trying to say something and don't interrupt her. Hopefully she will improve if you and her carers do this, however if not, then you may want to ask your GP for a referral.

My ds is 3.8 and has been going through spells of this for about eighteen months. He's fine for weeks but then he has a couple of weeks where he stammers. He always says "mum the words won't come out" bless him. I've assumed rightly or wrongly that this is all
Part of his speech developing and sometimes his brain working faster than his mouth. I'm not worried about it at all.

I think a lot children go through this at around that age - I know both my DSs did. It happened for... I don't know, under a year and then went away. A good few of their friends went through it too as did several MNer children as I know this subject pops up regularly :)

I can't remember the stats but it's something like 90 plus percent of kids stop by the time they are 6 and if it continues beyond then it could be a problem. It is very very common, and just their brains running too fast for their mouths usually. My DS had it for about a year and just grew out of it

My DD suddenly started stammering when she was about 3 - she would speak normally and then suddenly struggle with a word and stammer. It stopped overnight about 3 months after it started. It was very strange - Hv advised me it was not unusual in children of this age as their language and brains are developing at such fast rates. Try not to be too concerned and don't draw your DDs attention to it and make her self conscious. If you are worried speak to your GP and they can refer you to speech therapists if needed.

My DS started doing this at age 2 y 9 months. I was told same as a lot in here say, its noah, development etc. left it 3 months and no change. He started out of the blue too. Got referred to speech and language by Hv. They said it could be developmental but maybe not so early intervention is best. We have had periods of fluency and periods of stammering over the year. Still going to speech therapy now. Don't wait, refer yourself you don't need GP or HV to do it just phone yourself.
In the meantime google the British stammering website. Speak slowly, pause, not too many questions as this adds pressure. Repeat back. Keep questions short. In essence you are making speech simple again. Whatever you do DONT to her to slow down or take a breath or basically draw attention to the stammer.
But don't leave it hopefully she will stop by the time you get an appt but best to see professionals. Hope that helps

Normal not Noah bloody iPhone!!!

Thanks for all your replies. It's reassuring to know it's so common.

I've noticed that it can be worse when her sisters are around, like she's anxious she's going to be interupted so she rushes what she's trying to say. Other times it's like minceor says, her brain seems to be running too fast for her mouth, even when it's just and her with no distractions. I try to give her my full attention when she's speaking and haven't said anything about it to her, or her sisters. I think i'm worried because it seems to have started quite suddenly, and it happens quite frequently every day now.

mamababa I think I will ring the HV on Monday and ask for a referal.

I have 2 stammerers out of 5 children. they are adult now. one started when he was 2 and the other when he was 11! I have been through the system for a lot of years, and they still stammer as adults.
I hope your child grows out of it as other posters have said, but just want to say even if they don't my 2 have both grown up and and have gone to university and have good jobs.
Both went on the McGuire programme when they were teenagers, one found that a great help but the other did not. We think it is a genetic thing as GF had a mild stammer.
I hope that these days speech therapy has moved on and is able to help.

OP as I said you don't need the HV to refer and al lot of HV's say kids will grow out of it (which is true a lot do and hopefully your DD will) My DS's therapist explained that it's like a set of weighing scales/balances where on one side their language skills are and on the other side are demands and external pressures. The issue arises when the demands outstrip the skills which lets face it is pretty minimal on a child. So if she's desperate to tell her sisters or an adult something the demands increase and her skills don't match. Same thing with questions so if asking questions make hem short and offer an answer eg 'have you been painting at nursery' rather than 'what did you do at nursery?'

And best to see the professionals for advice than worry I reckon

Good luck!!

Also the therapist we see thinks early intervention is key and that if you ca see kids prior to age 3.5 it's better

dd2 had a stammer which started at the same age, she was very aware of it and sometimes got upset because she couldn't talk to me, we left it for a few months and then got a referral to speech and language. We did something called the Lidcombe programme. It was great, the SALT would come round every week and taught us a way of dealing with the stammer that revolves around the child being aware of when they are 'bumpy' and when they are 'smooth', they also teach the parent the best way to monitor the stammer. She saw her SALT for just over a year and always enjoyed the sessions. Her stammer has improved hugely and is non existent most of the time now. It sometimes comes back when she is anxious, but we just use the techniques taught us by the SALT. I was very glad that we saw someone before she started school, because that is obviously an anxious time,and her SALT said that starting early and before they start school is a very good idea if the stammer is not just a developmental stage (the SALT should be able to identify whether it is or not at the first meeting). Dd2 asked me about her SALT the other day (she is nearly 5 now) and she said she remembers talking in a bumpy way and sometimes she still does if she is worried, but then she stops and thinks and tries to talk smoothly.

By the way,lots of speech and language depts have advice lines that you can phone, and you can also self refer.

That's a great amount of info, thankyou all v much