Stuttering toddler

[geisha]

DD2 aged 2.5 has been stuttering with increasing frequency for the past 3 months. No particular words or circumstances. Thankfully her stuttering is not with every sentance or even conversation. She probably stutters between 10 and 15 times per day. Have researched on internet and I can see that it is fairly common in this age group and it is often grown out of. My question is, at what point would you seek speech therapy?

my little brother developed a stutter at around that age... he spent a fair bit of time with another little boy who stuttered and i guess he just empathised really well .
it got quite bad for a bit... esp when he was tense or under pressure... but he grew out of it in the end. the whole phase prob lasted about 2 years (am sketchy on this a i was only a kid myself so time perception might be skewed)

I went to speech therapy with ds who had exactly the same thing. They told me what you have already researched, that it is really common and most children grown out of it.

What they also said is that they wouldn't be able to work with the child until they were five, so up till that age, it was just a case of keeping an eye on things.

Of course when we were there, ds didn't stutter at all, and has hardly done it since - don't know why (just to make me out to be a liar I think!)

I would give it till she is 3 and then maybe make some tentative enquiries, but don't expect them to be particularly concerned until she is five or so.

hth

lol sqonk, mine do that
me: doc, hes really ill, is wheezing and having trouble breathing at times and temp is spiking really high
child: lalalala

yep. me: she seems to have broken her arm or something, she can't move it and is howling in pain... look at dd1 doing cartwheels (cartwheels?!!!!) me: oh, she seems ok now, thanks doctor

doctor: not at all Ms A, its no bother at all, you were right to check it out. Do come back if he shows any symptoms. at all.
me: i dont have Münchhausen's by proxy, honest doc

Squonk, thanks - will take your advice. Difficult to be objective with your own child sometimes me thinks!

Hi I am a speech therapist. Its is fairly normal for a child to have a period of stammering around the age of 2. This age is like the puberty for language development there are lots of changes.

However it would not harm to refer to a speech therapist for your child to be monitored.

As for working with children after the age of 5years thats a bit questionable as depending on the child and are number of other factors stammering therapy is far more effective the younger the child and the more earlier its caught. Besides they could just give you some general adice. You can also find general advice on the British Stammering Association website.

Good luck