Page 2 | Toddler stuttering

Motherofatruck · 2016-07-01T16:43:05+00:00

My DS was 2 in March. He was an early talker and has been speaking in sentences since a year old. Recently he has begun to stutter. I wasn't overly concerned at first as he was just occasionally repeating the first word of a sentence a few times or the first sound of the word. The stutter seemed to go, but the last couple of weeks it has returned and is so much worse. He has started shouting when he stutters as if he's trying to shout the word out. Last night was one of the worst stutters so far. He got stuck saying "I, I, I, I, I.... " for ages then just sighed and shook his head. I told him it was OK and he could try again of he wanted and he said "Mummy do it", which is his go to phrase for anything he's struggling to do. It broke my heart... Is this just a normal phase that toddlers go through, or should I be concerned?

Original poster

Motherofatruck · 01/07/2016 22:08

No older siblings, and no nursery yet Natalie Sometimes it's words that he repeats over and over, and other times it's a sound (w-w-w-w-w-window)

That's great to hear that your son did so well with speech therapy bugsy

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puglife15 · 02/07/2016 21:43

My son did exactly the same for quite a few months, and we started to get really worried and wondering if we had somehow traumatised him. He too was a good/early talker. He grew out of it and by 2.75 was an excellent talker again with an apparently impressive vocab. He is 3 now and never shuts up!

Original poster

Motherofatruck · 03/07/2016 11:06

Yes pug! I'd had the same thoughts, trying to figure out what had changed and whether I'd traumatized him somehow.
Although I'm now finding out that it's more common than expected, it's still quite worrying to see your once articulate toddler struggling to get even one word out.
Did your DS have any speech therapy or did he just grow out of it naturally?

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umizoomi · 03/07/2016 17:22

Hi sorry for delay. Yes it did help. He is 8 now, he was still doing it when he started school, but it's gone now.

umizoomi · 03/07/2016 17:27

I should also say it didn't bother my DS, he wasn't aware but as yours IS noticing himself I would go for therapy so that they can give you some guidance

puglife15 · 03/07/2016 19:01

No, no therapy here. We just made sure we gave time for him to finish his words. He sometimes got Frustrated with himself, we just empathised with him.

Tbh until this thread I'd forgotten about it so while it was stressful at the time there were no lasting effects and he's a very confident, loud speaker.

Original poster

Motherofatruck · 03/07/2016 20:23

Good to hear that therapy was helpful for your son umi
I've already looked up a few local drop in sessions for SALT incase the HV doesn't want to refer. His stutter seems to be worse the more he is noticing it. We try and reassure him but he's still getting so frustrated with himself.
pug it's good to hear that your son has his confidence back. Bet it was a huge relief when he was no longer struggling.

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flossy28 · 12/06/2025 21:09

Motherofatruck · 03/07/2016 20:23

Good to hear that therapy was helpful for your son umi
I've already looked up a few local drop in sessions for SALT incase the HV doesn't want to refer. His stutter seems to be worse the more he is noticing it. We try and reassure him but he's still getting so frustrated with himself.
pug it's good to hear that your son has his confidence back. Bet it was a huge relief when he was no longer struggling.

Hi there - I know this is a super old post but @Motherofatrucki wondered how your son was now? We’re going through this with my daughter now (3) and she often does the whisper thing which does help fluency.

Original poster

Motherofatruck · 12/06/2025 21:34

flossy28 · 12/06/2025 21:09

Hi there - I know this is a super old post but @Motherofatrucki wondered how your son was now? We’re going through this with my daughter now (3) and she often does the whisper thing which does help fluency.

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Wow! I had completely forgotten about this post. My son is now 11 and his stutter is completely gone. It actually resolved within a couple of months of this post, without any speech therapy almost as quickly as it had started. Interestingly though, he does still like to whisper but now it is if he has said something and he is waiting for a response from someone he will whisper what he has just said like a little echo.

He does now have a diagnosis of ASD, so I’ve always put that down as just being one of his quirks although now I can see that it probably started around this time. He whispers to himself so quietly now that I only notice because I know he does it and I can see his lips moving. None of his friends have noticed or commented on it.

With the stuttering I found it helped to give him time to get his words out unless he was really stuck. I never made a big thing of it or jumped in to speak for him. I slowed my speech pattern right down and this rubbed off on him and he would start to speak in a more slow and relaxed way. Being ‘busy’ during conversations seemed to help too so that we weren’t sat face to face. I’m not sure if that’s due to being on the spectrum though as he does find eye contact/ direct conversation uncomfortable.

I hope your daughter isn’t too upset by it as I remember how frustrating it could be for my son at times. Don’t hesitate to look for support in your area if it’s a persistent problem. Good luck!

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flossy28 · 12/06/2025 21:41

Motherofatruck · 12/06/2025 21:34

Wow! I had completely forgotten about this post. My son is now 11 and his stutter is completely gone. It actually resolved within a couple of months of this post, without any speech therapy almost as quickly as it had started. Interestingly though, he does still like to whisper but now it is if he has said something and he is waiting for a response from someone he will whisper what he has just said like a little echo.

He does now have a diagnosis of ASD, so I’ve always put that down as just being one of his quirks although now I can see that it probably started around this time. He whispers to himself so quietly now that I only notice because I know he does it and I can see his lips moving. None of his friends have noticed or commented on it.

With the stuttering I found it helped to give him time to get his words out unless he was really stuck. I never made a big thing of it or jumped in to speak for him. I slowed my speech pattern right down and this rubbed off on him and he would start to speak in a more slow and relaxed way. Being ‘busy’ during conversations seemed to help too so that we weren’t sat face to face. I’m not sure if that’s due to being on the spectrum though as he does find eye contact/ direct conversation uncomfortable.

I hope your daughter isn’t too upset by it as I remember how frustrating it could be for my son at times. Don’t hesitate to look for support in your area if it’s a persistent problem. Good luck!

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Thank you sooo much for your reply and I’m so pleased your son no longer stutters. Hers has been very on and off over the last 6 months (almost non existent for a month or so) and does seem to co-incide with illness or tiredness so I’m hopeful it’s developmental. We’ve been referred and are awaiting assessment (HV thought no harm in getting in early!) but I’ll certainly try your tips in the meantime. Hope your son is doing well and thanks again for your speedy reply!! Xx

Original poster

Motherofatruck · 12/06/2025 21:49

flossy28 · 12/06/2025 21:41

Thank you sooo much for your reply and I’m so pleased your son no longer stutters. Hers has been very on and off over the last 6 months (almost non existent for a month or so) and does seem to co-incide with illness or tiredness so I’m hopeful it’s developmental. We’ve been referred and are awaiting assessment (HV thought no harm in getting in early!) but I’ll certainly try your tips in the meantime. Hope your son is doing well and thanks again for your speedy reply!! Xx

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I think the fact that it’s not constant and not consistently getting worse is probably a positive thing 😊Reflecting on my son’s experience I think he was just at an age where he wanted to get all his words out at once.

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