Stuttering 3 year old

[LSB]

My daughter will be 3 next month and in last couple of weeks has started stuttering - not all the time, but reasonably frequently - she doesn't seem particularly bothered by it and we aren't making a big deal of it in front of her, but just wondering if anyone else has had any experience of this? Just wondering whether we should be doing anything specific, or whether it is just a phase that she'll grow out of. Thanks!

[chantelle]

hi, i'm curious about this because my son (also 3 next month) has started repeating phrases at the starts of his sentences. (e.g., "i want i want i want you i want you to open the door.")

is this what your daughter does, or is it the more classic stuttering on each word?

sorry no help, but will watch any comments with interest!

[tiddles]

a bit of a while ago, but my youngest did stutter quite alot between 3 - 5 - I think it was just his mouth couldn't keep up with his brain!! sounds daft but quite a few people found the same thing. No sign of a stutter now (aged 11)

[cuppa tea]

My son developed quite a severe stutter at same age. I think it was partially developmental and partially having a new sibling to cope with and all of those issue. i would go to a drop in Speech and Language therapist. They give you really good advice on what to do with stuttering. Off the top of my head (and there is probably more) she told me things like: don't correct them, don't tell them to slow down, don't say take a breath, DO give lots of eye contact, wait for them to finish what they are saying, don't put pressure on them to say certain words ie,'please', 'thank you', 'sorry' etc. Don't imitate the stutter (hard to believe adults do this when they hear children stumble over their words, but they do without thinking). I had mentioned it to the nursery he was at and they said "yes we usually tell them to slow down and take a breath"..typical! So it may be worth checking a nursery's policy if your daughter goes to one. We basically carried on as normal and tried not to show any worry in our faces, so he would think that nothing was wrong...which it wasn't really. Despite all this he still picked up on it and went through a phase of covering his mouth and getting embarrassed about the words not coming out. Suddenly we noticed that he wasn't stuttering anymore and it disappeared as quickly as it came on.

Edited to say that another thing we did was to slow the pace of life right down. Not so much rushing to get places and to get everyone out of the house. I think we also tried to speak clearly ourselves...can't remember if this was suggested to us or not though.

[LSB]

that's really helpful - thank you - do you know where one finds a drop in speech therapist? It feels like it's a case of her mouth not being able to keep up with her brain, but she has had a lot going on recently (new sibling, starting at nursery etc). I also find that I rush her more than I used to now that we have a baby as well, as I'm conscious that I only have a small window to get the eldest fed or dressed or whatever before the youngest needs a sleep, feed etc. So maybe she's picked up on that and I need to slow things down. Will also speak to nursery and my husband (who's been telling her to slow down and take a deep breath!) Chantelle - my daughter does a mixture of repeating words at the beginning of a sentence and stumbling on the first few letters of a word.

[cuppa tea]

I found the S&L therapist via the southwark website. They did have a drop in schedule, but the link doesn't seem to be working. I went to the 4th floor in Peckham library. They are there every week I think. You can probably contact the library and find out.

http://www.southwarkpct.nhs.uk/our_services/children_and_families/child_development/speech_and_language_therapy

Sounds as though your daughter has had big things happen in her little life lately and it could be as simple as that. I certainly thought my son had so much to say and couldn't get it all out quick enough. Interestingly the therapist said that can be typical of children who have perfectionist traits...which does seem to fit his personality, even though I've never put pressure on him like that.

Having a new baby is really stressful. I found myself rushing all over the place. i didn't realise that I was rushing him, rushing my communication with him. It's easily done. And nice to notice and slow down a bit.

[bluesuperted]

Some really good advice here and I would second getting her to a speech therapist, I know that there are waiting list problems due to cuts but a suspected stammer should be prioritised as it's much easier to treat at a younger age. There may be nothing to worry about but parental concern is usually enough to merit an assessment so it would definitely be worth looking into the different routes to see an SLT (GP, drop ins at Children's Centres, calling Southwark directly, private therapist assessment).

Hope this helps, agree that keeping calm and having time to listen without prompting is really helpful - sounds like things have been hectic and new arrivals/moving house are often cited as coinciding with the onset of stammering - fingers crossed it's transitory but if not, rest assured she's really young and there's loads that can be done at this age to treat a stammer.

[wave]

i felt for a while i might have a problem with something like this, one of my twin girls was repeating the first word or the first few words. but i felt that there were a number of things going on.... gaining the attention over her sister as she was the one talking, combined with, maintaining that attention, combined with, thinking of the next things to say (once she had gained the attention).

it all went away - from their point of view (externally) i didn't react to it - whilst internally i was taking mental notes to see how long it went on for etc i.e. to keep an eye on whether it was more than this and could be a problem

it comes back periodically but sometimes it can just be a matter of gaining time whilst they are trying to think of the right word for the thing they want to say - their speech develops really fast and they can take a bit of time to remember the right word. i just try to be very patient and sometimes it can be quite humorous to see how many times they say the same word. i am not worried about my girls, they have both had spells doing it but if you are more concerned - absolutely - follow it up - better to get things checked out.

think one of my daughters first did it when nearly 3.

[cuppa tea]

Oh another thing is that you can make a referral to a speech therapist yourself. (again via website) It may be worth doing this now just in case, as after we had seen the drop-in therapist and she referred my son it took over 6 months to get an appointment.

[Stalkey]

Each of my 3 sons did this around this age. I spoke to a speech therapist friend of mine and she said it was often 'a stage'. It was and it stopped. I think the trick is NOT to mention it and not to finish their sentences or hurry them. Of course, it could be more serious, but only time will tell I guess! Good luck.

[Croucher]

If you cant get to the drop in clinic in Southwark for advice, there is a Speech and language drop in clinic at Honor Oak Health Centre just the other side of Peckham Rye that runs every Tuesday afternoon between 1.30 and 3.45pm.