2-Yr Old Stuttering with Small Parts of Words - Fast Onset

My son was the same way. he did this all through pre-school. I spoke to a friend of mine who is a speech pathologist and she told me it is normal. Basically she said that he is thinking faster thatn he can talk and he is tripping on his words. It really used to bother and concern me. he is now almost 8 and is fine. It stopped when he was in kindergarten. He now has no problems talking, as a maatter of fact he does not stop. If I were you i would give it time and it will pass, but take him to the speach pathologist and see what they think If he does need help they will give it to him, or they will just tell you it is normal and it will pass. If it is a real problem and the earlier you get him help the better he will benefit from. good Luck!

Hi there- I am a speech pathologist and stuttering in young children is very common, as I'm sure you read when you did your research online. Get the evaluation and stay positive. Most likely your child just has so much language building up that its hard to get it all out. What you need to do is be patient with him. When he starts to stutter get down on his level, look him in the eye and say "slow down honey, mommy is listening" and then don't rush him. Let him tell you what he has to say and let him take his time. I'm sure this will pass! Good luck! And FYI: us speech pathologists DO look at the whole child and not just the problem- we would never turn a child or a family into just another "problem".

I would wait until you hear about the evaluation before worrying too much. Your son might just be trying to talk faster then he can. You know, maybe he's thinking fast and can't get the words out quick enough. I'm 35 and still have that problem sometimes. My husband says I talk too much anyway, LOL. Good luck.

Just make sure, especially if you take him to any speech pathologist or other evaluation, but also at home, that you DONT let him see you anxiety. this could make a phase he is going through "stick", when it otherwise would run its course. Try to be wholistic about it, the speech pathology field is mostly on the opposite end of that spectrum, choosing to see the "problem" and not the whole child. Good luck.

Hi C.,

I am a speech-language pathologist and wanted to comment on your request. Many children between 2 and 5 years of age will experience some "normal dysfluency" which is characterized by easy repetitions of whole words like "I-I-I want some milk." It often occurs when there is a surge of language development or a child is talking a lot. These periods of dysfluency can come and go. It may be that that is what your son is experiencing.

However, I would go ahead with the evaluation that you have planned with a speech pathologist. If he is repeating parts of words, the evaluation will determine if he could benefit from some speech therapy.

In the mean time, slow down your speech when talking to him and give him the idea that you have "all the time in the world" to listen to him. Don't draw attention to his repetitions or have him repeat things. On my website www.playonwords, I have lots of suggestions for encouraging language through talking, reading and playing as well as an article on stuttering that may be helpful for you:http://www.playonwords.com/articles/2007/08/08/stuck-on-w...

Good luck! It sounds like you have a wonderfully verbal child and you're a great mom!

S. Artemenko

Hi C., I don't have any advice for you but I know there are many speech pathologists that are part of this wonderful group. Hopefully some will answer and put your mind at ease or help you get the right help. Grandma Mary

My son and my niece were both early talkers and also had the stuttering problems. My niece was more like your child with the fast onset and more severe stuttering. My son is now 7 and my niece is now 5 and both outgrew it. With my son I calmly interupted his speaking and told him to take a breath and think about what he wanted to say and say it slowly. This took about a week (maybe more I can't remember seems so long ago) and he got the hang of slowing down his speech and calmly telling me what he wanted to say or ask (most of his issues were when he was excited or nervious about something- playdates, how long I would be away from him, etc.). My niece was evaluated and the Dr told my sister if she doesn't grow out of it within 6 months they would seek other avenues. My advise is to remain calm and calm your child down when he begins to stutter or get hung up on words. Their mind at this age is working far faster than their mouth, I think this happens with children that are somewhat advanced. Good luck.....

C.,
My two year was also very advanced for her age when she started to stuttering it was very concerning because she stutter long for the beginning of the words. I was in tears.
She grew out of it in about six weeks. My doctor told me that she was thinking faster then her mouth could talk. Soon her mouth would catch up to her brain. Did it ever!!
Be patient it not easy because they get so frustrated but this too shall pass.

My oldest is not two yet so I don't have that problem with any of my kids. I was just wondering if it could just be a phase, something he's trying out. Maybe wait another two or three weeks to see if he stops. When I was young I went to a speech pathologist and when I did I stopped talking in general 'cause I thought something was wrong with the way I spoke and I didn't want anyone to hear me. It has made me very shy my whole life and I have only just begun to come out of my shell in the past 6 years or so. Of course that probably doesn't happen to everyone but it's just something to think about.

C., I know two people, men, who said they stuttered when they were younger and one of them learned from someone else and the other one taught himself to slow down and think what you want to say and then say it and that may be something that he may need. To be evaluated, he doen't have problem talking and I bet you it's just nerves and he's needs you to say, slow down and relax and now what do you want to say? He may need you to slow him down and get into that now will make it a habit to slow himself down and think beforehand what he wants to say.
I will pray for you that you'll receive God's Wisdom what is needed to be done.
If you have any more questions ask us and we will try to help you based on experiences and knowledge. God Bless and Jesus loves you and your son.

My son started stuttering like your did, at age two. He started talking early and had a lot of words by the time he turned one, so I was surprised when it happened. My doctor reassured me it was normal and to ignore it (not try to correct him or draw attention to it). It went away after a short while (a couple of months at most I believe). He just turned three last month and started preschool, and the stuttering returned. Our doctor said the same thing and I've noticed it's already started to subside. I attach it to a lot of changes and a big learning curve. He wants to say so much and it just takes a bit of time to get it all out! No problem with seeing a specialist, but my advice it so relax about it a bit, too. They go through so many stages of development and I truly believe this is just a side effect of so much learning and change. Good luck!