stammering in 2.4 year old - is it normal part of development or more serious?

[MabelMay]

Hi - hope some of you might be able to advise or share expertise/experience.

My 2.4 yr old ds1 has always been a very confident, sociable, lively little boy and has good vocab, was an early talker etc etc. However, in the last 5 or 6 weeks he has started noticeably stammering at the beginning of sentences. Not every sentence, obviously, but frequently enough to be noticeable to other friends and family. It seems to be only three or four letters that he gets stuck on - i, m, and y. e.g. "I-I-I-I-I-I-I want a snack, mummy." or "yo-yo-yo-yo-yo-yo-yo you come to the park too, daddy" etc etc. Up until now I haven't been too concerned as I though it was probably a normal stage of speech development - all part of a process of him thinking through what he's about to say. But over the last couple of days I've been worrying a bit more. Today it seemed pretty severe, he was doing it more than usual - seemed to be every time he started a sentence with "I" - and for longer. He was especially tired today so maybe that had something to do with it...?

What do you think about this? Have any of you had similar with your 2ish year olds? Do you think I should be concerned? Or is this perfectly normal (ish) ?
Would love to hear opinions or similar experiences.

IME its normal. I think its their mouths catching up with their minds IYSWIM.

But, if you are worried, talk to your HV who will be able to advise you further.

Personally, I wouldn't worry.

I agree with Foxy that it's fairly usual when they can think up longer sentences but their mouth can't match it. I was told once that "real" stammering tended to be when they have a problem with the "important" words in the sentence, but it was less of a problem if they repeated on the "joining words" and/but/the/etc as that was something they tended to get over as they got more fluent.

Hi, We noticed our ds started to stammer and just thought it was not being able to get his words out fast enough, and thought that it would pass, however, his pre school picked it up and suggested that he should be checked out by a speach therapist.

He's been to see her, and he has a slight stammer, and is now doing a course of speach therapy, the Lidcome course. My dd who is 17 months younger is also presenting with a slight stammer as well, and we all go along the the therapy.

I hope that it will make a difference to them both, and we have up and down weeks, however, I don;t think it is serevre. DS is 4.5 and about to start school in September, so I am concerned that it gets ironed out asap.

I would suggested that you don;t ignore it, but get it checked out. Talk to your health visitor or GP, and they should refer you. If not you could go private.

I should imagine that it is just a passing phase, as alot of my friends kids have had this, but check it out and catch it early if it is a problem. Our ST is really supportive, as is the British Stammering Association. Apparently it;s more common in boys.

Sorry, I am whaffling on. Good luck.

Hi, We noticed our ds started to stammer and just thought it was not being able to get his words out fast enough, and thought that it would pass, however, his pre school picked it up and suggested that he should be checked out by a speach therapist.

He's been to see her, and he has a slight stammer, and is now doing a course of speach therapy, the Lidcome course. My dd who is 17 months younger is also presenting with a slight stammer as well, and we all go along the the therapy.

I hope that it will make a difference to them both, and we have up and down weeks, however, I don;t think it is serevre. DS is 4.5 and about to start school in September, so I am concerned that it gets ironed out asap.

I would suggested that you don;t ignore it, but get it checked out. Talk to your health visitor or GP, and they should refer you. If not you could go private.

I should imagine that it is just a passing phase, as alot of my friends kids have had this, but check it out and catch it early if it is a problem. Our ST is really supportive, as is the British Stammering Association. Apparently it;s more common in boys.

Sorry, I am whaffling on. Good luck.

often can be part of 'normal' language development. However you need to keep an eye on a few things i.e. is it likely to continue over time (you cant answer this one yet) is it getting worse? does he show awareness of his difficulty (unlikely at his young age)? is there a positive family history of stammering/ Sp & lang diffs.

It sounds like his lang skills are good but I would keep a watchful eye without letting him feel that you are worried about it.

somethings you can do that will help him are to:
keep eye contact if stammering as normal

allow him to finish his words, try not to finish them for him

keep up with the praise- for self esteem, keep it specific and genuine e.g.'what good playing'

have a look at The Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children may give you some ideas.

If you are still worried in a few weeks then as others have said go and ask your HV for SLT referral (best to as waiting lists are often long and early intervention has better outcomes).

He may well and probably will 'grow out of it' soon.
good luck

thanks all - that's pretty reassuring, but I will mention it to gp even so.
I have thought that the fact that he only does it at the start of sentences means that it's less likely to be a "proper" stammer...? But is it right to think that?

is a stammer a purely emotional thing? genetic? physical?
anyone know?

crossed posts with you, mamabea. thanks. v good advice. Will check out the Michael Palin Centre.
So far, I've not shown any indication towards him (I think/hope) that I've noticed the stammering. And he doesn't seem aware yet either.

multi factorial in origin. If he is assessed by a specialist SLT they will look into everything i.e. sp & lang dev, emotional dev, family history e.t.c. No one reason.

Many theories. It won't be anything you have done/ haven't done though.

2;04- 2 1/2 is a classic time for a developmental stammer to emerge though so try not to be too anxious at this stage. I know that's easier said than done as when little ones stammer is does/can provoke an emotional tug from us parents.

My DD started stammering at the same age, when we had just moved to a new area. It wasn't confined to the beginning of sentences, though (eg "I want to go to the swimming p-p-p-p-p.... mummy I can't say POOL!"

Our GP referred her for speech therapy but by the time of her first appointment (about 4 months later) it had all but gone.

In her case I would guess the triggers were a mixture of developmental and emotional factors.

as regards 'noticing' the stammer, you may be able to talk about it with him at some point,and don't be afraid of acknowledging it if it looks like he is struggling e.g. 'was that hard to say?' he may look at you blankly but he may appreciate you have noticed.

It's more not letting him feel that you are anxious about it. which I'm sure you're not as you said that it's only on reflection that you are wondering whether to be concerned or not.