I have a 3 yr old who recently started stuttering, any advice....???

Elaine - posted on 12/18/2009

My son did that around the age of three and we just asked him to slow down and take his time. He is now 8 and has not stuttered in years. Hang in there Valerie.

Rene - posted on 12/15/2009

My pediatrician said stuttering is a normal part of their development, they will stop.

Jessica - posted on 12/15/2009

Hi Valerie, you say she chatters alot. Do you think the stuttering is because she has so much to say her mouth just can't get it out quickly enough? Is she aware/frustrated by the stuttering? Is she stuttering on every T or W in the sentence or just at the beggining?
My daughter did the same at about the same age. (She is a chatterbox too!)
She wasn't frustrated by it, and in most instances she didn't even seem aware of it.
We went to a stutter clinic who evaluated her and said she was on the severe side, but that we should wait for 6 months and see what happened. It went away by itself!
They said that girls that have a stutter at 3 will usually grow out of it with in a few months.
They suggested the following...
Don't mention the stutter or draw the childs attention to it if they are not aware of it themselves.
When they are stuttering, stop them, and encourage them to slow down and think about what they want to say.
Try not to worry...LOTS of kids stutter as a normal part of their speech development.
If she continues to stutter, is frustrated or stutters on every word (not mainly on the first word and then every so often through the sentence) it might be worth seeing someone....it is best to catch things early....

Shelagh - posted on 12/15/2009

I think you need to do two things at once here -
a) don't worry, because mostly children grow out of it, and you certainly don't want to pass on any worries you might have to your child
b) worry - sometimes children don't grow out of it. Make enquiries about getting speech therapy, ask how long you should wait before you use this service, ask what you can do to help in the meantime.

Brenda - posted on 12/15/2009

I guess this is pretty common around this age. My 3 year just started stuttering a few months ago and prior to this she has been talking perfect since before she was two. Its so weird that i just saw your post because I was really worried. Good news is that I had researced online and found out that this is not only fairly commom but they usually grow out of it in as little as a couple months and my daughter is already starting to stop stuttering. In the past week I've only heard her a couple times. Its like it peaked after a few months and now its going away.

Kendra - posted on 12/15/2009

My oldest son started stuttering pretty badly around the age of 3. An aquaintance of mine (who is a speech therapist) told me that (without getting 'technical') his thoughts are running faster than his mouth can keep up. She told me that the worst thing I could do was to be impatient, stop him, interrupt him, etc. His brain and mouth needed to 'practice' keeping up together... correct any mispronunciations when he was finished speaking, but to just let him try to catch up with himself. By the time he turned 4, it had all but stopped. good luck!

Jackie - posted on 12/15/2009

Don't worry about it. I have a 4 yr old, and she did that for awhile also. I think it's just a phase and they grow out of it pretty quickly.

Jessika - posted on 12/14/2009

My 4 year old is doing the same thing I have him in head start like a day care and they are doing speech therpy on him I can deff see a diffrence he still does it just not as much . But, It is so hard on the child becasue my son get so mad and upset with himself becasue he want to get the words out but, he can't so we always tell him turtle talk and we always tell him slow down I would look into speech therpy for him

Chauntel - posted on 12/14/2009

Both of my children did that at approximately the same age, they both grew out of it after a few months.

Sandy - posted on 12/14/2009

Valerie,
I do not have any words of advice but I wanted to let you know that my grandson is 4 and just started to stutter. I am curious about words of advice on this subject also.

Michelle - posted on 12/14/2009

Always tell her to slow down, if she stutters when she says something make her repeat herself. when kids stutter it is because there brain is working faster then they can spit it out. always always make her repeat what she says until she says it clearly, remeber just like anything practice makes perfect ..

Valerie - posted on 12/14/2009

Quoting Alicia:

hold their hand and try to get them to speak really slow and not to get aggravated with themselves or at them. they stutter because their brain is functioning faster than their mouths.

thanks, that what my aunt told me too! she cares for her and 3 other toddlers while im at work!

Kristy - posted on 12/14/2009

My oldest child stutters and I find that it helps best when they try and talk slow.....most of the time my daughter only stutters really bad when she gets excited or tries to talk too fast....

Jennifer - posted on 12/14/2009

My oldest will be 4 in march and he stuttering too. I notice it more when he gets excited and starts talking fast. I always repeat the word to him properly and the he will say it back to me with out stuttering. he is getting much better but time to time he still does it. I think that he is to eager to get his words out and i constantly have to tell him to slow down. Maybe that will help for you too? Good luck and hopefully by the time she turns 4 she will have stoped.

Alicia - posted on 12/14/2009

hold their hand and try to get them to speak really slow and not to get aggravated with themselves or at them. they stutter because their brain is functioning faster than their mouths.

Toni - posted on 12/14/2009

my best friends kid stutters. im not sure why children stutter but now that he is in kindergarden the school has been working with him to try to correct his stuttering. They tell him that he likes to rabbit talk ( talk too fast ) and that when he rabbit talks he gets bumps ( stutters ) and so he needs to turtle talk ( talk slower ). basically they are just teaching him to recognize his "bumps" and to slow it down to "rabbit talk". Im watching him progress and its working. I dont know how well your 3 year old listens and will comprehend this concept but maybe try and just remind her to turtle talk. i hope it improves. id also look into a preschool that works with their speech. i know my best friends kid was approved into a certain preschool that works with kids who need extra help. id look for something like that and see if ur daughter is approved. good luck !

Krystal - posted on 12/14/2009

I work at a daycare in the 3 year old room and have seen it happen more than once! Usually by the time they go up to the 4 year old room they are speaking fine again!!

Emmylou - posted on 12/14/2009

just repeat the words properly back to her, read lots and get some flash cards they are good, praise the good efforts she should get better she's probably just trying to say things differently