Stuttering in 3 yo is very common, right?

[sidmand]

I'm pretty sure I read here that it's pretty typical. DH stutters when he gets nervous though and I think he's a little worried that this is more than just a stage. But DS just started stuttering (in the past week, maybe even the past couple of days) but he's stuttering A LOT and getting stuck on words and even chewing on his sleeve when he starts stuttering and can't get the words out.

He was speech delayed and has a HUGE leap in the past few months and I think he's just having trouble with his mouth keeping up with his thoughts! But it is starting to drive me a little nuts (I'm trying very very hard not to show that though). We're telling him to calm down and slow down a bit, but I just want to be sure that that is the right thing and that this is probably just a stage. Don't want to traumatize him now that he's really starting to take off with vocabulary. But I don't want him chewing on his shirt when he gets frustrated either.

We've been saying "Calm down. It's okay. Just slow down and tell me what you're trying to say." And he seems okay with that.

He also just moved into a bed (and we were away for the weekend for the first time in years) so there has been a lot going on lately. And potty training started. Phew, more than I realized for a little guy!

[kedss]

hiya-
my DS was stuttering this summer, pretty badly, I stuttered badly as a child too, my mom, who used to be a pediatrician, said its normal. DS's cousin, a year younger was also stuttering this summer. She said its a case of his thoughts coming faster than his mouth will say them.

It does sound like he's going through a lot of transitions-

DS doesn't stutter much these days. :) He turned 5 in Dec, now he's having problems with speech because he's lost 2 top and 2 bottom teeth. :)

Kate

[Karenn]

My DD is stuttering a lot right now. My ds stuttered A LOT when he was 3 but has since outgrown it. My DH sometimes stutters.

The thing I was shocked to find out from DS speech therapist was that you're actually *not* supposed to say, "Take your time" "Slow Down" etc. It's funny because it's such a natural respone. What I've changed to is, "It's OK. Lots of people get stuck on their words sometimes."

Here are some of my favorite links:


http://www.nsastutter.org/subcat/index.php?subid=177

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

http://www.stutteringhelp.org/Default.aspx?tabid=111

http://www.stutteringhelp.org/Default.aspx?tabid=38

ETA: To answer your first question- it is really common for preschoolers to stutter. I don't remember the numbers exactly, but something like 80-85% of the kids who stutter as preschoolers will out grow in on their own, and another 5% or so will outgrow it with the help of speech therapy. So, the odds are good that you DS will out outgrow it.

[hillview]

My DS stuttered for a couple of months in his early 3 year old days. We ignored it and it went away.
/hillary

[scoop22]

ds did stutter. he was 2.5 and then it went away and then over the summer it was back. of course i was alarmed about it. i related it to putting more words together. who knows if that was true but it went away.

[firstbaby]

DS started to stutter for a few weeks around 3. It totally freaked DH out because it really came out of nowhere. But, we had a lot going on and our house was busier than usual.

As a PP mentioned, you should not call any attention to the stuttering or tell them to slow down, etc. We changed our behavior / actions when DS started to stutter. I would stop what I was doing, or stop trying to rush out of the house, or sit down on the floor with him - almost to slow everything else down around him. That made a huge difference. A couple of times that he stuttered really badly, he hit himself on the head or he would tell us "nevermind" because he felt he couldn't get the words out right. So sad!

After a few weeks, the stuttering worked itself out. The other day, DS's preschool teacher told me in a conference that he is able to "clearly and effectively communicate his point of view to peers and adults" (I think that means bossy - LOL).

[Globetrotter]

My kids did it during the preschool years whenever they were heading for a huge jump in vocabulary/language skills! They are thinking faster than they can talk ;)

[maestramommy]

Still reading "Your 3 year old" and this was covered again and again. The book basically compares the big difference between 3 and 3.5. At 3.5 a lot of things that seemed to be solid at 3 suddenly seem like they're regressing. So a kid might stutter a lot, have trouble walking, have trouble with fine motor control (to the point of hand tremors). In addition they could become insecure in many ways, and things like thumbsucking, lovey rubbing, tics, etc. can reach a peak. The book was saying these things are not usually a sign that there is a problem. Just keep an eye on whatever it is, and mention to the ped if it's still a problem in 6 months. I have to say that Dora's lovey sucking/chewing has reached an all time high recently. Yuck!

The book rec. not drawing attention to it. As pp said, just slow down and listen as patiently as possible. So hard, I know!

[mom2binsd]

You were given excellent info, I'm an SLP and so many of my friends call me in a panic after their DC's stutter for even 2 days....yes totally normal but still really tough to not worry (but that's what we do as mom's!

[sidmand]

Thank you for all the replies. It never even occurred to me that I shouldn't tell him to slow down/calm down, so I'll be more careful to not say that. I just thought he was trying so hard to get it out that slowing down would be helpful, not hurtful, but it makes sense that it might be me who needs to slow down!

We've just waited so long to hear him talk well and he's only been doing it for a few months, so hearing him get so frustrated is hard. But I guess in a way this is good, because it sounds like it's pretty normal. DS has never been "normal" before!

[DrSally]

DS had 2 weeks of stuttering this summer (2.5 yo) when we were away camping for a weekend, no naps, being woken up by DD at night, starting his mother's day out program that next week, and me cutting back on nursing. It was the perfect storm of stress. He did it every sentence for that first day and then 1x a day for 2 weeks after that, then nothing. I think it's common for this age, esp. in boys. He had a longer bout of eyeblinking recently that also went away after about 4 weeks. I think they're both manifestations of anxiety, and also what you were saying about trying to get words out faster than they're able to. I think focusing on him and not trying to complete his sentence or get him to hurry up would help a lot. Even telling him to slow down might be interpreted as "pressure". Just act natural and wait for him to complete his thought wo/turning away or interrupting, that's what I would do.