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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Help!! 3 year old beginning to stammer

9 replies

MumT2 · 03/12/2016 17:16

I'm really not sure if this is actual stammering or just part of his development. DH has a strong family history of stammering but my 2 older ones don't. I really don't know what to do..speech therapy?

OP posts:

Chaosisawayoflife · 05/12/2016 17:38

It's very common at this age, I wouldn't worry too much (easier said than done I know!). In most children its just a short phase as their speech catches up with their brain.

DearMrDilkington · 05/12/2016 17:39

Very common. Dd(4.5) still occasionally does it but very rarely so I'm not concerned.

Original poster

MumT2 · 05/12/2016 19:19

Thank you so much..at least I feel a lot better hearing this. TBH I looked out for signs such as closing his eyes or straining but he doesn't show those signs

OP posts:

tygr · 05/12/2016 19:27

My nephew went through a stage of this. We were advised to stop asking him questions (what colour is that, can you see the red car etc) as it was putting too much cognitive demand on him. It worked and the stammer went away.

IWillOnlyEatBeans · 05/12/2016 20:09

DS1 was a very early talker and developed a bit of a stammer at around 3.

We saw an SLT and she said it was caused by his motor skills being behind his verbal/comprehension skills (this made sense as his motor skills had all been a bit delayed - his comprehension skills were off her charts apparently!) We were also advised to ease up on the questions and use more factual statements so he wasn't feeling pressured into a response.

It all resolved itself fairly quickly. He wasn't stammering when he started pre-school at 3.4.

Original poster

MumT2 · 05/12/2016 22:18

Thanks all. I will start with reducing the number of questions asked...it can be very tempting to ask questions but will give it a go.

OP posts:

YippeeTeenager · 05/12/2016 22:23

My DD started stammering at around 3. It lasted about 6 months if that and then stopped as suddenly as it started. I think it was exactly what others have said, just couldn't get the words out as quickly as her brain was forming them and then tripped up her sounds. If you're concerned I would check it out with the GP or health visitor though, just for a bit of reassurance.

umizoomi · 05/12/2016 22:38

I would take him to see a speech therapist. It's more common in boys and you have a family history. They can assess and offer you advice as to how to make things easier. My DS did this and HV advised me to wait and see. Glad I didn't, we self referred.

kaffkooks · 05/12/2016 22:55

All the men in my family stammer so I wasn't at all surprised that DS1 stammered as soon as he started to try and talk in sentences. We saw the HV who referred him to SLT. He had an assessment and they gave me a whole load of useful advice but he hasn't had any treatment sessions. One of the best pieces of advice was for me to slow down when I'm talking. I also found the British Stammering Association website helpful:
www.stammering.org/help-information/parents/under-5s

His stammer improved so we've been discharged but can self refer at any time. It's actually got worse again recently but I put that down to the fact I've gone back to work after DS2. I think I'll just wait and see what happens as I don't want to make a big deal of it. I'll contact SLT when it starts to upset him or if he's having to change/stop what he's staying because of his stammer.

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