2 Year Old Starting to Stutter a Bit

My daughter did the exact same thing at the exact same age! I was so concerned I took her to the doctor. Long story short, there was nothing wrong with her and it only lasted about 6 months. They said it was completely normal at that age. Hope this helps!

When they are developing language all kinds of synapses are firing in the brain and sometimes all that "connecting" is expressed in stuttering, while their brain is searching for the next word. I wouldn't stress over it. If she was 5 that may be a different story. Try taking a deep breath when it happens. I have a very verbal 3 yr old and he did the same thing.

My son also started stuttering and he goes to speech therapy for it, though it has almost completely gone away. Here is what helped us:

When I notice the stutter, I don't tell him to slow down. Instead, I stop what I'm doing and look him in the eye. If he doesn't give me eye contact I will get his attention and tell him to look at me while he is talking. It helps him focus a little bit. Also, then he realizes that I am listening and doesn't feel so much pressure to hurry his speech along.

I slow my own speech down so that he is reminded that he doesn't need to rush. "Turtle talk" is how they put it in his speech class.

I also try not to interrupt him while he is speaking.

If you model slow speech, it will give her the time to think about her words before she stumbles all over them.

Good luck!

This is a very normal thing with children and most will grow out of it. It can happen because they are tired, stressed or excited about something. The best thing to do is ignore it. Don't try to finish what they are saying, make sure your face doesn't show an anxious emotion, don't comment on it to her, or talk about it in front of her; and be sure that other friends and family members don't either. It is very likely that she will stop within a few months. My son stuttered for several months and I just acted as though it was completely normal and he outgrew it without feeling anxious or embarrassed by it.

Hi R.,
My son did that too - especially when he was thinking of a specific word he wanted to say. Also his brain was working faster than his mouth most of the time. He stopped doing this by about 4 years old

It's probably nothing but maybe discuss with the doctor if you are really concerned.

I don't know much about her environment...so I don't know if this will help...I will tell you my story. When I was 3 I started to stutter. I was basically raised an only child, meaning that there was a large gap in between me and my older brothers. I was raised in a world where adult conversation moved very quickly. As a result my mind would try to think quickly, but my mouth couldn't move as quickly as my mind and therefore I stuttered. A speech therapist told my mom that whenever I began to say something everyone needed to stop talking and focus on me until I said what I needed to say, however long that might be. My family was extremely patient and eventually I grew out of it with their help. If your child feels rushed or anxiety of any kind then you might want to just stop and listen like my family did. Hope this might help.

This is absolutely normal! I have four kids, and I used to do daycare for the kids in my little town so I have quite a bit of experience with toddlers and pre-schoolers. I'd say about one in three kids do this. All the "kids" I have experience with are now in their teens or older, and there is not a stutterer among them.
The only person I know who is a stutterer started that behavior at the age of 6. Before that her speech was perfectly clear. Listen to your mommy instincts. They are correct. All is well. As for the wave of anxiety - that is a symptom of motherhood. :0)

My son was doing the exact same thing maybe six months ago. I was worried and thought that maybe he was developing a stutter. It was mostly when a word started with a vowel sound, but sometimes consonants, too. It has totally stopped now. He is going to be 3 in February, so he is just a little older than your daughter. I think it is that their minds are going faster than their mouths are able to go, so they stutter. I think your daughter will stop soon, too.

Hi R.,
My daughter started to do the same thing at about the same age. My research and connections with speech therapists taught me to pay attention to it, but not dwell on it. Never make fun of it. I have an older daughter also who I would catch sometimes doing that, that's why I say that. Her doctor also told me that it is totally normal for children between the ages of 2 and 5 to begin to do this when faced with the challenge of learning new things. Potty training is one example. Some days it was stronger than others and then it eventually just faded away. I was just talking to my Mom about it the other day, we had kind of forgotten that it happened at all. My daughter just turned five on the 11th of Novermber and started kindergarten this year. No stuttering and shows no signs that it ever occured. In looking back, I'd guess that she did it from about age 2 until around age 4. Don't worry, I would bet 99.9% that your daughter will grow out of it too. I wouldn't hesitate to take her to the doctor though if it conerns you. I am sure that she'll be fine. Good luck!!! Christi

Hi R.,
I can speak to this from two perspectives- as a speech/language pathologist and as a mom. First- many kids go through a normal disfluent period. The best thing to do is to pay attention to what she is trying to tell you, rather than how she says it. Try not to get all anxious about it. When kids fall down when they start to walk, or if they're wobbly when they're riding a bike, parents accept that it's normal to not be able to do those things perfectly from the get go. It's just in the speech department that people get scared.

That being said- 2 out of my 3 kids went through a normal disfluent period. My #2 child's speech got pretty disfluent- I think it got to the 6 month mark. She was about 3 and 1/2 at the time I think. One day sitting at the table her eyes went cross eyed and she had what we term "a block". That definitely was of concern, as it was more than the "bumpy speech" that we see with a normal disfluent pattern. I thought- what can I do as a mom to help her? For the next 2 weeks I gave her extra TLC. I hugged her every chance I could- and told her I thought she was a wonderful person ( which she was/is). The disfluencies subsided and then stopped. If they hadn't, I would have contacted a SLP ( I don't think it would have been a good idea to have treated my daughter.)

I would observe what's happening with your daughter and love her to pieces. If people try to tease her- don't put up with it. If she is still having disfluencies in 9 months or so- contact a local speech pathologist and have them take a look at her.

Stuttering is fairly normal as their brains function faster than their mouth. It can also be a way of handling a stressful situation. Has anything changed over the last couple weeks? My daughter stuttered for a couple months after her brother was born and it went away on its own. don't fret too much...

My understanding from speech pathologists this can be somewhat "normal". some families have found great help contacting the website and groups for childer who stutter. Things like decreasing any pressure, giving the child time etc. Take a look out there
S.

Hi R., a lot of kids go through the stuttering stage, and most grow out of it, all 3 of my kids went through it as toddlers, then grew out of it. J. L.

My daughter just turned 3 and she has started dfoing it occasionally as well. I honestly think it is because their brains are going a mile a minute and their mouth cant keep up..LOL. Amazing I know since it seems their mouths move a mile a minute at this point...cant get my daughter to hush for 5 minutes it seems..lol. I just tell my daughter to stop and take a breath and think about what she wants to say. She will take a sec and gather her thoughts and everything comes out clear aftwards. From what I have seen with other children her age, it seems normal. If you are concerned and it seems to be happening more frequently then ask your doc..if not I wouldnt worry.

Hi R.,

Both my children (3 and 5) went through a stuttering phase around that time. It didn't last in either case. At 2 years old their little minds can go faster than their mouths can, so they may stutter a bit. Just be patient with her as she tries to communicate with you. Try not to be frustrated by it or make her self conscious. If it really freaks you out there is no harm in calling her pediatrician, but more than likely it is just a normal phase.

Hi R.,
I remember our daughter (who is now 7) stuttering also when she was the same age. She was also very talkative and bright at a young age, but my husband and I were so concerned that we asked her pediatrician about the stuttering. She told us that it was normal, and that she saw no signs for us to be concerned. Our daughter is now in the 2nd grade at Balboa Gifted/High Ability Magnet School, and doing fantastic. The stuttering did eventually decrease but even now, sometimes, when she's talking really fast, she stutters. But it's nothing that we're concerned about, because it's so infrequent.

Everything is probably OK, but since she is under 3 years old, you are eligible for early intervention services free of charge. Find out from your ped how to get in touch with them ASAP, because the paperwork takes some time and she will be 3 soon. My daughter did the same thing and it took 3 months to get the formalities out of the way. She received 2 speech therapy sessions from the early intervention service before her 3rd birthday. Then she was switched over to DOE services. She now receives speech therapy at the local elementary school and she is doing pretty well using strategies to mitigate her stuttering. She enjoys the sessions, they play with her mostly, so it is just another playtime to her. Start with an evaluation - it is free and it will ease your mind.

R.,
If it were a problem she would stutter over more words. She is trying to get your attention and it is working. She wants to make a point and at her age how can she communicate it without impressing upon you her needs? Enjoy her, she sounds like a real sweetie.

E.:)

My son did that A LOT at 2 and 3, and I was worried. He is now four and rarely does it. She will grow out of it.

My son did the same thing. He's now 3 1/2 and has grown out of it...I think it's normal.

-M

My son goes through a stuttering phase at least twice a year, so far. Every time he makes a cognitive leap it takes awhile for either his vocabulary, or the muscles in his mouth, to catch up. :)

Of course, if it's not just that your dd is running ahead of herself, speech pathologists are amazing (okay, I'm biased, I have two in my extended family). To ease your mind, look some up online and read about what they do. Education is relaxation...at least in that if it IS a problem it's not life threatening AND totally fixable. Even for free...since school districts keep speech pathologists on staff. :)

My mother gives me a hard time every time my son starts stuttering though. It's such a definite pattern with him I've learned to ignore her. But I DID talk to my god-cousin the speech pathologist...so I'm armed not only with my own observations but with the "Even Chris agrees with me that it's a totally normal process. She say that not all kids go through it, but most bright kids do." Hehehe...take that Nana. Not only an advanced degree, but the intimation that your grandson isn't a turnip. Somehow though, it has to be brought up every time. Well, that's moms for you.

Z

OMG!!!!Just about 4 or 5 days ago my two year old daughter also started stuttering, for example she will say this ( I want mmmmmmmmmmmy sippy cup, or I want to blow bbbbbbbbbbbbbbubbles, and its also not all the time but it came on so sudden. The thing that I worry about is that I have a nine year old son who also stutters, we have taken him to speech therapy and he is doing much better, but he didnt start stuttering until he was 4 or 5, and I have a 7 year old boy who doesnt stutter at all. I to am worried, I make her repeat what she is trying to say until she says it right, this is just so crazy to me cause they say stuttering is way more common in boys.