stuttering in three year old

One of mine (three year old) has begun stuttering, this began a couple months ago. Anyone else have this with their kids and what were your experiences? She doesn't get any services. She is also very shy and doesn't talk in social settings but stutters sometimes at home when talking to the family.

 

Stuttering is very common between the ages of 2-6, all 3 of my boys have gone through periods of time when they stutter. We notice it most when they are going through a "language explosion" and acquiring a lot of new vocabulary or when they are very excited and anxious to tell us something. We've always found it most effective to ignore the stuttering because bringing attention to it tends to bring it to their attention and then they worry about it, focus on it, worry about it, etc. which only makes it worse.

Here are a few links:

http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/weeklyquestion/a/kids_stuttering.htm

http://www.stutteringhelp.org/Default.aspx?tabid=6

 

thank you for the info. I will check out those links.

 

My son did this. I agree with the PP about the language explosion. They have so much they want to say and it is all coming so fast, that they sometimes stutter. My son outgrew this shortly after his 4th birthday.

 

Stuttering is fairly common in three year olds, most of them will just naturally outgrow it. Alyssa had a stutter for a while, she didn't have any therapy sessions for it (although we did get some advice from a speech therapist on techniques to help her), and it took about 2 years for her to totally outgrow it.

This advice is from a leaflet on stammering my sister (she's a speech therapist and works with pre-school children) gave me:
1.Show your child that you are interested in what he says, not how he says it. Try to maintain natural eye-contact when your child is having difficulty talking. Don't finish your child’s sentences - this can be frustrating for him.
2.Be supportive. Respond to a speech difficulty in the same way that you would with any other difficulties that arise as children develop their skills, such as when they trip over or spill things. If you feel it's appropriate, acknowledge the difficulty in a matter-of-fact way, so that the child doesn't feel criticised. Avoid labelling the difficulty as stammering. You could use expressions like "bumpy speech" or "getting stuck", or ask your child for their own words or descriptions.
3.If you speak quickly, slow down your own rate of speech when you talk to your child. Telling the child to slow down, start again or to take a deep breath is unhelpful. Pausing for a second before you answer or ask a question can also help the child to feel less rushed.
4.Be encouraging if your child gets upset about his speech, just as you would if he was upset about any other difficulty. You might say something like "Don't worry, talking can be tricky sometimes when you’re still learning."
5. Observe your child's speaking patterns but try to resist seeing it as a 'problem'. Stammering is not caused by parents, but your anxiety can be passed on to your child, who may feel he is doing something wrong. In fact, your child is just struggling a bit at the moment, and the stage may well pass.
6.Set aside a few minutes at a regular time each day when you can give your full attention to your child in a calm, relaxed atmosphere. You could follow your child’s lead in playing or talking about something your child likes. Try to talk about the things you are doing together right now, not about things that happened in the past or are planned for the future.
7.Reduce the number of questions you ask. Always give your child plenty of time to answer one question before asking another. This way, your child is less likely to feel under pressure. Keep your sentences short and simple and instead of asking questions, simply comment on what your child has said, thereby letting your child know you are listening.
8.Take turns to talk so that everyone in the family can speak without being interrupted. This will reduce the amount that your child is interrupted, or that your child interrupts others.
9.Respond to your child's behaviour in the same way that you would with a child who does not stammer. As with any other child, discipline needs to be appropriate and consistent.
10.Try to avoid a hectic and rushed lifestyle. Stammering can increase when your child is tired. Children who stammer respond well to a routine and structured environment at home and at nursery or playgroup. It is also helpful to establish regular sleep patterns and a regular healthy diet.

Also here is a link to a different thread on stuttering from a couple of months ago. It has some more links to useful websites.

 

I'm going to have to print out what was posted here and look at the links! my dd stutters when she's excited and wants to say something. my parents noticed that if they tell her to talk slowly it goes away... I worry a little, but haven't delved into asking a professional about it, I think I'll take to heart what is posted here, it makes a lot of sense! thanks for asking the Q!

 

I dunno if you know, but your two tickers are different from each other by a few months.

 

Very normal, jazz still occasionally stutters every now and then

 

oh brother!!!! I thought I caught that at one point! guess I didn't! thanks!!

 

Thanks everyone. Sometimes the stuttering gets pretty bad where she can't say a specific word so switches to another word instead. I do just let her finish and try to ignore it.. but I get nervous about it. Does anyones kids get therapy for this? (She is too old for early intervention.