4 Yr Old Starting to Stutter

I stutter. I started to develop a stutter when i was about 3 1/2 or 4. A stutter can be caused by different things. My advice is to relax, she can pick up on you freaking out and it can make her stutter worst, and get her evaluated by a speech therapist. In the mean time, don't finish her words, that will just her her aggravated. If she gets stuck, stop her, tell her to relax and take a deep breath and start over. She will be ok, I promise!

Hi K.,

My 4 year old started stuttering also, and I realized that it was a direct result of the difficult situation we were in at home. We were living with my sister and her husband and 2 daughters. My sister had recently been fired, and it was a very frustrating situation. My sistr was stressed, understandably, and she spent a lot of time yelling at the children. Her children were fine, but my daughter began stuttering. I did some research, and I learned that it can be a coping mechanism for children, and also that you should not speak of it to the child. It makes them self-conscious, and usually the situation gets worse. I don't know you, or your situation, but maybe you can take a look at that. By the way, the day after my daughter and I left my sister's house, my boyfriend pointed out to me that my daughter was no longer stuttering! Hope I helped!

My four-year-old does the same thing. It seems like he is just excited about what he has to say and he is searching for the right words. I think it is normal for this age and it never occured to me to be concerned about it. I assume they'll outgrow it.

mine do this too...it will pass. they will start a sentance and then half way through have to stat it again. it's frustrating for me to listen to as i dont have much patience but its also kinfa cute. i truey believe they are just very excited and trying to find the right words to use. being little girls they talk faster than they can think ya know.

Disfluency or stuttering can be developmentally appropriate when children are of preschool age. Sometimes they have so many thoughts in their head and their mouth struggles to keep up.

Children also are disfluent sometimes so that they can keep their speaking turn. Do you notice whether your daughter is competing with someone else to talk (e.g. two OLDER sisters!) when she is disfluent?

My advice would be just to relax, let her finish her thoughts and wait patiently. Generally, these disfluencies go away.

My daughter is three and her pediatrician said she is at a 4 year old intellectual level developmentally and she started the same thing about the time she had her three year well baby check up. At the time, I asked her pediatrician about it and he said not to worry about it and to "ignore it". It's just that their mind is racing with what they want to say and while they are processing it, it soetimes comes out faster than what they are actually thinking. It only happens now and then with my daughter and not always with the same words. I basically tell her to slow down when she talks and she stops, thinks about what she wants to say then starts over. So, it works. Hope this helps. Don't worry it's just a phase they go through her pediatrician (and everyone else) tells me so I am working with it. :-)

My son did the same thing, and I was nervous that he needed a speech therapist. But he stopped doing it after a few months. I read that at that age, their brain/thoughts are going faster than their body/speech can keep up with, so it sounds like stuttering, but it's their mind and mouth not being at the same "speed" you could say.

God bless you and your 4 girls! I have 3 boys -- ages 5, 4, 2.

:) V.

My 5 year old started doing that in Kindergarten all of the sudden. I tried to ignore it at the begining thinking it was a phase and then it seemed to get worse so I contacted the school for testing and by the time everything was done and we met together the problem was already begining to go away. It may just be a phase for your son too. Try not to panic and don't act impatient or draw attention to it when he is doing the stuttering or it could cause the problem to get worse. Good luck.

My four year old son just started doing the exact same thing! He would repeat the first word of a sentence such as, "Why, why, why, are you going there?" My friend advised me to monitor him. If it continued he was to see a speech pathologist. For whatever reason this was only temporary problem for him. I think he has so much to say and he is so excited to say it. We tell him to slow down his speech and think about what he is saying. Good luck with your daughter.

Hi, My son went through the same thing when he was 2 years old. His sister was a couple of months old. It started all of sudden and we weren't sure what was going on. Ended up taking him to a Pediatric speech doctor who checked him out and found everything to be normal. We were then instructed to slow things down at home. The doctor seemed to think that because of the new baby (his sister) and both my husband and I working full time, that life was a little hectic and my son sensed the anxiety in the house and so his brain was trying really hard to put his thoughts out into speech in such a rapid way that it wasn't connecting. My poor son was just trying to say what he was thinking as fast as he could because he sensed that if he wasn't quick enough...we were moving on. I know it sounds tragic, but perhaps you might have the same thing going on. 4 kids and being a student, mom, wife and teacher...lots going on!!! Try slowing things down a bit and see if that helps...good luck! My son is now 14 years old and perfect in every way.

My daughter did this too and she is now in Kindergarden, I have noticed that it has stopped. I think it is that they have too many thoughts and ideas and they can't get them out fast enough.
L.