DD stammering

[Ginbucket]

Hi all,
My dd, 22 months, has very recently started stammering and it's bothering me a lot. She was ill on Christmas Eve and I've noticed it (read- started obsessing over it) since then. Particular examples are when she starts sentences with 'I' ( I I I I want a drink mummy) or 'Ca' (ca ca ca ca can I read a story?). Now I've noticed it I can't remember if this is something she's always done or if it is new... She does it more when she's tired but it happens quite a few times during the day.
Anyone have any experience of this?
Thanks!

My DS went through a stage of stammering at about 3yo. He was referred to SALT, and now at 6yo its barely noticeable. I was very concerned as there is a family history of stammering, and apparently that can be a relevant factor.

I'm not sure they will refer at such a young age, but it may be worth flagging with GP/HV. IME you can't refer to SALT yourself, you need a teacher or healthcare professional to assess first. My DS was referred by his nursery teacher.

Try not to worry. One of the reasons they don't always refer very young children is that until DCs start speaking fluently, its not clear if there's a real issue. It can just be a result of DCs brain working faster than their vocabulary iyswim!

It's very common in little ones for when their brains are working too fast for them with their thinking and talking. Both my children have done it during 18 months and 3 years and it's not been lasting as things have caught up with each other.

DD is 2.7 and doing the same thing, as are many of her little friends which reassured me!

She did the I I I I I for a while and now tends to go we went to we went to we went to we went to like she's a broken record. If she's still doing it in 6m I'm planning to ask the GP.

I knew what sort of age your DD was going to be before I opened the thread :)

All three of mine did this between 2 and 4 and all three stopped within, I think, a year or just over. I think that if you search the MN archives for stammering, the vast majority of threads will be about children of this age!

If there is no family history of stammering I would wait and see. If there is a history, it's probably worth flagging with your HV.

We self referred DD1 to SALT earlier this year. Seen within a week of the referral.

My son did this around age 3-4 and we were instantly referred to SaLT by his nursery. They checked and old advice was to leave it to see if it sorted itself out whereas current advice is to be seen quickly (in Scotland anyway). Ours happened overnight and resolved before son was seen. Think it is v common when their brain is working faster than their speech and most resolve easily.

Thank you all for your responses! I feel like I am over reacting a little as I've done some research online (silly I know) and I don't think there is anything to be done at this stage. A HV or GP will tell me to observe her I'm sure, which I will do anyway. We have a speech therapist in the family so I will be asking her advice. I've just been trying to ignore it and not show her that it's an issue, but it's hard- we're all over tired with Christmas and I have a newborn baby, so am prepared to accept I am over reacting- however I don't want to ignore something that would benefit from early intervention. There's no history of stammering in the family as far as I am aware.

You're not over reacting it's stressful when it happens. My dd went through 2 bouts of stammering and it was really bad. One at 2.4 and one at 2.8. Each episode lasted around a week and when it stopped she had come on massively in her speech. I spoke to a friend who is a SLT and she said it is very very common and not to panic. It often coincides with development in speech and language. She advised me never to jump in and finish words or sentences and let dd finish even if it takes forever. Also don't mention it or draw attention to it.

That's just what my SALT family member said waiting

It's been worse today, it's so upsetting :-(

Don't get upset op. I know how stressful it can be- I could quite honestly barely talk to my daughter. She could hardly spit words out at all and I would wait 5 minutes or more for her to say something. I cried about it more than once especially when it came back a few months later. She is now 3.1 and a truly excellent speaker! No hint of a stammer, speech and language assessed at 40-60 months by pre school. At your DDs age it is so likely to be a phase and will probably be over in a month or less. Just keep an eye and keep your cool

OP - my DS started doing this at 21 months, just after DC2 was born.

We also self-referred to SALT and were told it is very very common after the birth of a sibling (or similar life event, eg moving house).

It was very upsetting but we just ignored it, made sure we were speaking slowly and calmly, increased the one on one time with DS, and it resolved itself within four months.

We were also told that in most cases it is just a short phase (unless there is a family history of stammering).

It can be heartbreaking to hear when they are stuck on a word, and at a time when you are hormonal anyway I know how stressful it is. But please try not to worry, with any luck it will pass quickly.

I teach p1 and see this lots. While it usually resolves itself (sometimes to reoccur on and off ?) I'd always suggest getting a SALT referral. Its usually only noticed by the adults-the child and their peers are seldom aware but I always think "if it were my child..." And if it were my child I'd like a professional opinion??

I don't think I have ever been aware of it in other young children so wasn't sure if it was common or not. She has been heard by a speech therapist (informally as she is a relative!) who says it sounds like normal non fluency and that she will grow out of it (she also said that stammering sounds fundamentally different and that most children grow out of that too).
With the hormones flying all over the place it is difficult not to get upset about the smallest thing, let alone something like this which I knew nothing about! Thank you for sharing your experiences x