2 1/2 Yr stuttering...common or Not?

My daughter started stuttering off and on when she was around 2. It didn't get really bad until first grade when she was asked to start speech therapy. She is an overachiever and having to think that much about how she talked made it where she couldn't get a word out! I would suggest waiting to see if it goes away on it's own. A lot of children this age stutter because their brain is working faster than their mouth has leared to go and once they develop their language skills a little more, it will go away on it's own. My daughter is now 11 and still stutters, but it is off and on and usually stress related. If she is not reminded about it, you usually can't tell she has a problem.

My only son is now 5 yrs. old and around the same age as your daughter he started stuttering a lot too. I wouldn't worry to much about. My son just grew out of it, sometimes when kids get really excited they tend to stutter also.

It is common for children to stutter or stammer until they are 4 or so. If she is still stuttering when she is 4 then I would be concerned. It has to do with their little mind working faster then their mouths. Talk to your pediatrician about it at her three year old visit.

K.,

My daughter had intermittent bouts of stuttering for a few years. We always said that it happened when ever her brain grew faster than her tongue!

She's eight now and hasn't stuttered since first grade, but for the years between about three and six she probably had about four or five episodes lasting a about a month or two.

I would talk to your pediatrician, she what he or she says.

Best wishes,
K.

K., I know you are probably adviced out, but maybe one more won't hurt. I totally agree with the last comment. My god-son talked very well for his age, I do mean very well. Then all of the sudden around 2 years he started stuttering. I mean stuttering a lot. We were like "oh no, did he hit his head, or is something really wrong." So his mom took him to the doctor and sent him to a speach therapist. They evaluated him and said that he had the vocabulary of a 36 month old (at 24months) and he was not able to process what he was trying to say fast enough, thus the stuttering. When he would stutter, we would always repeat it back to him the right way and eventually it just went away. So don't worry, be happy you just have a brilliant kid!

Hi: I have a 6 yr old and I asked the same question to my pediatrician.. It is very commomn for kids to "stutter".. since your daughter is only 2 yrs old she is probably just trying to speak her mind too fast. I wouldn't worry about it, but if it starts to be a constant issue then definitely discuss it with your pediatrician. SHe is learning many things and her brain is like a sponge. She is absorbing a lot of information and that's why it seems like she stutters. If it makes you feel better, the next time you take her for her physical, which it should be when she turns 3 yrs old, remember to ask your pediatrican to see what they suggest. There are different types of test they can do to evaluate and see if she truly needs speech therapy which it doesn't sound like it. Good luck!!!!

The key is not if she is stuttering, it is how she is stuttering (what part of the word, what sounds ect.). She is a little youing to go to a Speech therapist for stuttering but as a parent, I would probably want to take her at first worry too.

My son went through that for a while too. You have to tell her to slow down and think about what she is saying and have lots of patientence for it. It was difficult for me to understand what he was tryig to tell me. but eventually they get over it. My son is gonna be 4 and i wanna say that sometimes he stills does but since puttinghim in preschool he has since stopped. So just have patientence and try to get her to slow down. her brain is working faster than her mouth so to speak. good luck!

Since you mentioned that you work, it made me think of my son. At 2 1/2 he started stuttering as well. It turned out that a child in his daycare class did and my son was just copying the other child. He got tired of it and stopped doing it after a couple months. So it might be that simple, maybe ask her teacher.

we were recently experiencing the same thing with my son. at one point i asked myself the same thing...speech therapy?

what we found [our opinion] was that his brain was thinking too quickly...he couldn't get the words out fast enough. he would begin to stutter or get caught up on one word because he was trying to figure out what word or words to say next.

every time my son would begin to stutter my husband would say, "start over buddy and just take your time. slow down."

it calmed him down and helped him to focus.

we were patient and didn't make it a big deal.

I think if it continues to get call a therapist my cousin's father stutters and he has been doing it since three. They just got him in therapy and it's helping alot. It is hereditary but if no one in the family dosen't I wouldn't be too worried and she will get over this!

I thought my son may have had a stuttering problem at 2, so I took him to his pediatrician. He explained that what AJ did was "stammering" not true stuttering, which he said was also VERY common in you kids. I tracked the patterns of when it was happening and it turned out that when he was trying to tell a story or talk about something exciting to him, he often stammered. When he was excited or frustrated, the stammering was pronounced. When he was just talking or answering questions, he was fine. He's 4 now and still stammers... when he's excited or frustrated.
I read a lot about it and some sites use stuttering and stammering to describe the same thing. What I was told was that stuttering was a speech therapy issue and that stammering was more about lack of control over words because of embarrassment, excitement, frustration, rapid thoughts, etc. and that stammering was fairly normal for kids and not a huge concern. I'd talk to my pediatrician if I were you before rushing right to a speech therapist. They may be able to identify the scope of the problem and guide you in the right direction. Good luck!