stutter in 2.5 year old

[walkinthewoods]

My ds has developed a stutter in the last 3-4 months. It is really quite bad and not just the beginning of the sentence but most of his words.
He was an early developer and now can talk in whole sentences. He has a good vocab. He didn't start with this stutter. It seemed to start really suddenly. I am trying to wrack my brains to think of anything that might have triggered it.
I sometimes tell him to slow down but normally just wait patiently for him to finish. My dd started to take the mick but I put her straight immediately.
How do I deal with this and when should I seek help? I'm thinking that it could be a phase as my dd had a slight stutter but it cleared up.

DS did this, my friend is a speech ther and said tis quite common (there's a 2 yo stutter and a 3yo stutter apparently). Common in 1st born and onlies as have lots of convo with adults, their brains work quick so they know what they want to say but language skills are stilldeveloping so they cant get words out. She said totally ignore it, don't try to finish sentences, give plenty of time to speak and he will grow out of it. I did and he did. (lasted about 6 mnths though and came back briefly when about 3.5).

Yes my dd had this too, was called disfluency.

Scattyspice's advice is spot on

Not sure about the advice about ignoring it. We had two boys who struggled with their speech. One kept repeating the same word and the other one we just couldnt understand what he was saying.

We live near London and the availability of speech therapists is dire. You wait 4 months for a check up and then another 12-18 months for 6 sessions of therapy. I spoke to the Head of Speech Therapy in Bucks at one point and she admitted they had a problem. She suggested that if we were really keen to sort it out (why wouldnt we?) we should find a private speech therapist. We found a recently retired lady who had spent 40 years in the NHS. She was run off her feet as everyone was using her. Fortunately we could her fees of £70 per session but I would suggest you get yourself on the waiting list for assesment. You can always cancel the appointment if it is not needed but I definitely wouldnt leave it too long

normal development stage

ignore it and carry on as you're doing

it's because their brains work quicker than their mouths can

if you focus on it you can cause a problem

give it a good few months

a developmental stutter is markedly different from indistinct speech and language development

How about discussing with Gp and requesting a referral to a speach therapist.

If the waiting list is that long it may be that things improve by the time the appt comes thru - so cancel it. Or if persistant you have the appt without having to wait ????

Agree with Twiglett thought there is a fine line in 'helping ' and over focus and causing a problem.

Ds1 had this and it soon passed, I would wait for a while.

My dd1 did this. Its called normal dysfluency. It is very very common in children between the ages of 2 and 6 according to my dd's SALT, and is usually seen in children who spoke very clearly, very early.

It can be very hard - my dd would get very cross, sit down on the floor and cry "i can't talk anymore - you talk for me" it used to break my heart

The good thing is that it is very very common and nearly always resolves itself as the child gets older.

My dd was referred to SALT and a few tips we were given included: -

1. Slow your own speech right down. Our children try to copy us and if we speak quickly, so will they. Tell family/friends to do the same.

1. Ignore any episodes of stuttering. Do not comment on it at all.

1. Don't be tempted to finish off their sentences for them ...just be patient.

1. Don't allow anyone to mimick or tease the child. Any incidences of this should be stamped out the same way that any other bullying would be.

My dd had reduced her stuttering greatly by the time she started school, and now she is 8 and i can't remember the last time she did it

my ds2 had this at 2.6yrs too. we got referred to a speech therapist, who he went to for a quick assessment every 3 months, but at the 3rd review (i.e. within 9mo) it had pretty much disappeared. She told us that it is usually bright children whose brains are thinking faster than their speech can keep up with, as it were... take this if it applies!!

DS had quite a marked stutter from 21-26 months. He talked early, in sentences of 10-12 words and would stutter most of the time. We ignored as I had read it was normal, always giving him time and attention to finish his sentence. Now at 28 months it's mostly gone, apart from when he's very excited. Interestingly the other little boy I know, slightly older but also good speech etc, also stutters. I really think it is their brains are working too fast for them to get the words out.