2.5 Year Old Just Started Stuttering

Stuttering at 2.5 is totally normal. Their little mouths have trouble keeping up with what their brains are learning :) she'll probably outgrow it in a couple months. If she hasn't outgrown it by the age of three, then I'd look into having her speech evaluated.

I would not be over concerned, unless it goes on for a month or so. My grandson ( 3 in Dec) started this a few months ago..it was always the the first of a sentence....and it was almost like his brain was just whirring so quickly and he had SO much to spit out that he just couldnt say it quickly enough!! My daughter and her husband chose not ot make a big deal of it will him...if they said anything at all they would remind him to "slow down" and within a month or so it was basically a thing of the past!!

Good luck at the evaluation! That is the very best place to start, and it's great that you're getting this and the lazy eye taken care of at such an early age. Teach her that her differences aren't a bad thing, in fact, they make her unique! Help her embrace it rather than be embarrassed by it. I had a huge gap in my 2 front teeth as a kid, and I LOVED IT!! I thought it was the cutest thing ever and I laughed when people tried to tease me, like 'you're just jealous!' I still think tooth gaps are nerdy and adorable ;)

Her problem could be something as simple as her brain is still learning to think of the word, send the message to her mouth and vocal cords, and produce the proper sound. That can be frustrating for a toddler, especially one who really tries to be independant. Lots of practice, and she'll get the hang of it :) Let her chat on the phone to grandma, grandpa, dad, neighbors, whoever... practice makes perfect!! And again, embrace it. Once she overcomes this she will be SO proud of herself (if she's even noticed it all all) and don't waste your time worrying too much about this. No matter what, she's still your little sweet thing :) Best wishes!

I am glad that you have an evaluation coming up. It is what I would have suggested. My own son sometimes has 'stuttering like' speech. The speech therapist thinks its not true stuttering and that he will outgrow it. She describes it as his words catching up with his thoughts.

I, of course, don't know if this is what is happening to your daughter but I wanted you to know that there are other reasons why this could be happening.

By the way, I had a lazy eye and glasses (still have glasses/contacts) and I went to speech therapy as a child. Did I suffer a little because of my own self insecurites when growing, yes. But my parents' attitude and support made me have an overall good self image. I have also graduated from college (joined a sorority), been married for 17 years (to a man I met in college) and have three beautiful children.

You daughter will be able to do anything. Surround her with people that are positive, in the future enroll her in a school that has a strict policy on bullying, and watch her bloom. Good luck!

Go forth with the evaluation, and yes, therapy can help. It comes with the territory. It is very common for multiple issues to cluster, and getting this early evaluation and therapy is the best thing you can do, epecially since your oldest has issues to, it is the very best thing you can do. Early is better.

Good luck,
M.

It's pretty normal, one of my sons did it at about that age for about a month if I remember correctly. It has everything to do with brain working faster than mouth. Don't make a big deal out of it and it will probably disappear overnight just like it appeared.

Some types of "stuttering" are what we call typical and others are atypical. At the evaluation, the SLP will be able to determine if the dysfluency is typical or not. As a therapist, I always find it helpful if before the eval parents tell me about possible concerns so I can be sure to fully assess that area. You might want to type up a brief list and drop it off ahead of time if you don't fill out paperwork in advance. You might also want to start noting some of the errors and when they occur. The Stuttering Foundation website has some useful information. http://www.stuttersfa.org/ The American Speech Language Hearing Association also has information http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/stuttering/

As far as it being genetic, I do remember that there seems to be familial incidence. It is good that you are aware of it and are seeking assistance. That is the best thing you can do. If it turns out to be something, it is good you caught it early. If it is just developmental, then that is even better!!! You asked why now...it usually occurs with rapid development of language which is happening during this time.

Best of luck and when you go to the eval, remember you are your daughters advocate. In a nice way, feel free to ask about level of experience and credentials.

My daughter did the same thing at about the same age. It seemed like her brain was just working faster than her mouth could get the words out. She did outgrow it though... I guess it went on for a couple of months or so, maybe a little longer. I also was growing concerned, but everything I read said it was very normal at this age and sure enough, she eventually stopped and speaks just fine now. So you could always have her evaluated to put your mind at ease, but I wouldn't worry too much!

I would guess that she will outgrow this in no time. Many times children stutter because their brains are working faster than their mouths can at this age and it causes a stutter. Be patient with her and let her get the words out without correcting her or rushing her. I've heard parents tease and or say things like " Come on, spit it out!" This only causes anxiety about their speech and will actually cause stuttering! Since you're worried about it, a speech eval. will ease your concerns and give you ways to help her.

Can I also suggest that you view her lazy eye and wearing glasses in a more positive way? Self esteem starts at home, and if you're already viewing her as a "poor thing" who stutters and wears glasses, that will impact her much more than some kid commenting about her glasses. Yes kids can be mean and target other kids, but we have to be supportive so they have the resources to deal with the criticism of others. We all want the best for our kids and to protect them from the "bullies", but often times our approval and acceptance (at least at this age) means the most and makes all the difference.

Good luck~

this is extremely common and isn't really considered stuttering. My 3.5 year old has been doing it for about a year. It doesn't happen every day. Their brains work faster than their tongues and they just can't get the word out. . . no worries momma!

I think this is pretty normal. My daughter also did that starting around 2.5 (and I was a little concerned because her grandmother shutters). Then I noticed my neighbor's son started doing it at the same age. They have, for the most part, grown out of it, though my daughter (now 3 3/4) will still do it when she's trying to say something and having a hard time getting it out as fast as she wants.

The same thing happened when my daughter was 2 1/2. My pediatrician told me that it is really common at that age because their brains develop , faster than their speech ability. She told us that at that age, it's not a sign of a speech issue, but that her brain needs an extra second to process.

The doctor told us that when it happens to get down on her level, make eye contact, and slow her down. She told us to be careful not to point out the stuttering to her, and it should disappear on its own. For us, it worked itself out, and went away after 4-5 weeks.

I still stutter badly at age 33, despite a lifetime of speech therapy. But, I began at age 7 and it runs in my family.

I think stuttering at age 2.5 is perfectly normal and she'll most likely grow out of it. You're doing the right thing by having her evaluated. From my own personal experience, stuttering becomes a problem if it begins later and it continues despite therapy.

She'll be just fine and I wouldn't even worry about it. Just give her plenty of time to finish her words.

I wouldn't worry too much. All three of my kids stuttered something awful around 2 to 3 and spoke perfectly clear sentences before that. Of course I asked the doc with every one of them if they were ok and he said it is perfectly normal in development, they are just trying to find the words. Evidently they are learning at such a fast rate they start to get ahead of themselves. His advice was to keep an eye on it and if by 3.5 or 4 they are still having problems he would recommend someone to do an eval. but he had no concerns. He was in fact correct, all three of them grew right out of it and we never had a permanent stuttering problem.

Good luck and don't worry about the bullies, just focus on your daughter being strong and clever she will hold her own. We as parents make big deals out of things that transfer to our kids. Just focus on what a great person she is and do your best to NOT put any emphasis with her special qualities (like a lazy eye or glasses). She will be able to deal with it better as she gets older if you deal with it in a positive way.

Speech challenges are different for all kids. It would be a great idea to have her evaluated by a professional. My little guy (now 4) went to speech therapy at Vianne Bjornberg's office in Westminster. She is fabulous and especially with little ones. Her number is: ###-###-#### and her website is: http://www.viannebjornberg.com/index.html. I highly recommend her and the results my son got were amazing!

For what it's worth, here's our experience - my son had a stutter for about half a year when he was three, and he did outgrow it naturally. To help him along, we taught him to stop, take a deep breath, and start again when he got stuck in a stutter. Based on what I've heard through the family, I did it, too, and I also outgrew it with no intervention. I did have him evaluated just to make sure, since he was also struggling with some speech sounds, and his evaluation was "age appropriate speech errors." The speech therapist who evaluated him told me that his kind of stutter is fairly common among kids who are at an age when they want to say a lot at once. They're trying to speak paragraphs with speech mechanism that are still struggling with getting out one word at a time.

All that being said, stutters can happen for different reasons. Since you have a full eval coming anyway, go ahead and voice your concerns and see what they say.

I also heard about the "milestone" from a pediatric speech therapist. She said that especially verbal kids will do this as they search for the right word to use. She said not to make a big deal out of it. Just wait and listen (so hard!) So, when my 2.5 year old just started this, I was ready for it. But then I noticed that when he finally got the word out, he would whisper it and the next word, so all you would hear is part of the sentence. He almost seemed to have a tic too.

I asked his ped about it during his sister's well visit, and she said that no bells went off saying that it is totally normal, or that it is something to be worried about. Mainly since he only stutters the first word, it is more in the normal range. She said that if he starts stuttering on all the words in the sentence, or the whispering or tics increase, then to bring him in. She thinks that since it usually happens in the car on the way home from daycare (occasionally at home too), that there is just so much going on in his brain he can't process it all. And that the whisper or tic may be his way of getting over that hump. Otherwise, it doesn't seem to bother him much.

I just had this happen! My son who has had amazing communication skills began stuttering right before he turned three. I did a lot of research and came to the conclusion that if they are repeating a word over and over rather than a sound (like repeating "Shoes...Shoes...Shoes rather than "sssss) than it is most likely a developmental phase rather than a stutter. My son did this for a good five or six months and then completely stopped. I had also read that a lot of times if you don't point it out, but rather make eye contact with them and listen it can help. I hope this helps and good luck!

My daughter started doing the same thing and it had me really worried as well. I talked to my pediatrician and she said that her mouth isn't able to keep up with her brain and its actually a sign of intelligence! :-) She also said she would grow out of it.