3 Year Old "Suddenly" Stuttering!?

Really, really common. Happened with both my kids. I just had patience and let them complete their thoughts, and eventually they grew out of it. It was months rather than weeks.

My oldest son did the same thing at about that same age, I think it lasted about a week. It's the brain working faster than the tongue, he'll be fine.

Hi S.,

My daughter had the same thing happen a week after she turned 2! It completely surprised my husband and I. I started to panic thinking something was pushing on a part of her brain since it was so sudden. I pulled out my baby books. The books said it was very normal and should be ignored and would likely go away in about 2 months. It also indicated that stuttering only a couple times verses repeating a word for many many times with facial tension was more of a concern. We also had an appointment with her doctor the following week. Her doctor confirmed that we should just ignore it, but she did indicate there would be more of a concern if she was still stuttering at 3yrs.

Our daughter did stutter much longer than 2 months and tended to stutter many times with facial expression, but it finally subsided. We do notice that it tends to come back a little when she is going through a growth spurt. She doesn't turn 3 for several months so I'll discuss it again with her doctor at her three year visit.

Since your son has just started to stutter, I would recommend ignoring it for now, don't try to complete his sentences, just be patient and try not to ask him to repeat himself. I would also just check in with your doctor to see if there is anything you should be doing since he just turned three. Our doctor also indicated that Calif. public schools have speech therapy available once a child turns three (hopefully it's still available with all the cut backs).

Best wishes!
M.

S.,

My now 5 year old son went through this when he was 3, he went from barely talking to talking all the time and then stuttering so bad we went and saw the Dr. about it, our Dr. told us that it was a normal milestone for 3 year olds, that they brains are running faster than their mouths can, so sometimes things get jumbled on the way out and that in normal children it goes away within 6 months, so if it wasn't gone by 4 years then we would have to look into speech theraphy, but until then just live with it... Sure enough almost exactly 6 months after it started it just went away, no more stuttering... I know its frustrating, but hang in there it will go away almost as quickly as it showed up!

X.

My now 5 year old did the same thing at 3. I was totally caught off guard too. I found out it was a normal. His thoughts were coming faster than he could put them into words. I did last a while though. I feel like almost a year (off and on) he would do it. Even now, at 5, he gets ahead of himself and stutters when he is telling a story he is excited about. I don't know what you should look for to know if it is a 'real' problem, sorry about that. I'm sure he is fine though and I feel for you cause I've seen it too. Talk to his Ped if you want to get another opinion. I think I already said it, but my son too just started doing out of the blue... so I know the shock factor. Take care.

Wow. Happy Birthday!
Celebrate by taking a chill pill.
Your son is 3 years old and he started stuttering yesterday. Was he flopping around on the floor having a seizure, or was he just experimenting? I don't mean to make light of the subject and I'd never forgive myself if there was something really wrong with him, but kids do really weird things. It's part of being a kid.
I hate to admit this, but it's the God's honest truth....
I used to walk around in public with my eyes half shut because I thought people would think I was Chinese. There wasn't a dang thing wrong with me except I grew up in San Francisco and loved going to China Town. We never missed a Chinese New Year celebration. Blonde headed as the day is long, I honestly thought people would think I was Chinese if I squinted.
God knows if my mom had access to a site like this she would have been convinced I had seizures or partial paralyzation or needed an occupational therapist to deal with my issue.
I didn't have an issue. I was being a kid. My sister and I spoke in a language no one else could understand but we are both perfectly normal, healthy and happy adults. We've raised normal happy and healthy kids. We don't freak out every time they do something weird, because it kind of comes with the territory.
You asked what people think and I'm telling you.
My daughter insisted on all her clothes being backwards because she truly thought they put the tags in the front so she could see them. My son insisted on having a hair bow because if his sister got to have one, why shouldn't he? They are seriously two of the most amazing and healthy people you could ever meet.
Don't be so worried about your kid being a perfect angel. There is no such thing so let that go right now.
I suggest you have more silly time with your son, play, be creative....and when you're dead serious about him speaking and listening to you, he'll know the difference.
I'm guessing he's likely incredibly intelligent. The weird and nutty ones usually are.

Best wishes.

I didn't read through all of your responses, but I am sure what I have to say is along the same lines. My daughter started stuttering at the same age. My first instict was to ask her to stop, think and speak slowly, to take her time and to complete her sentences. It took some self control on my end. I didn't want to make her feel bad in any way. After a few days, I realized it was not going away, so I promptly called my relatives and close friends and told them about what was happening and asked them to simply ignore it. My dad encouraged that as well, as he was a stutterer and was made fun of for it. I didn't want anyone finishing her sentences or calling attention to it in any way. I also checked in with her pediatrician who explained that sometimes kids do process thoughts faster than they can get them out. My daughter was always very articulate, spoke early and could sustain full conversations by 15 months, so it did make some sense to me.

Anyway, it only lasted a few months and it left as quickly as it came on.

Hang in there, our angels ar just that, quirks and all!

Blessings,
G.

Many famous people--and famous orators were stutterers, starting with Demosthenes who put pebbles in his mouth to slow down his speech and practice diction. And Joe Biden--called "buh-buh-buhBiden" by his classmates stuttered and is now the Vice President. His story of overcoming his stuttering is a heartening part of his book "Promises to Keep".

That being said, it might just be that his mind is moving faster than his still early-speaking mouth and he may grow out of it as quickly as he grew into it.

But if not, please assure him that many, many people stutter in their youth and go on to speaking well as adults, some even becoming famous for their speeches.

Best of luck, and Happy Birthday!

In my home, we called it "having bumps in your words".....Both of my son had this trouble, however my oldest REALLY had a problem, and my youngest tried to be like his big brother, so he developed a 'habit" of stuttering.

Anyway, at around 3-4 my oldest began to stutter. I went through the same emotions as you are :O) And was told the same things....it will work itself out.....but it wasn't.

You see, I didn't want to put "pressure" on his language, so I never brought it up to him.....BIG MISTAKE. If he wasn't aware of his ocassional stutter, then how was he suppossed to correct it? It became an even bigger problem, and more constant.....kids on the playground would say things. BUT, the teachers never noticed.....come to find out, he never stuttered when he read aloud or answered a question, only when he was "just talking" freely.

Kids (especially boys) get so excited about EVERYTHING that it's difficult to say what they want to say because "it's so exciting!" If I had asked my son (gently) to "slow down his words, talk slower" when he FIRST began to stutter, I think we would've overcome it a long time ago.

This is how we came up with "bumps in our words"....we compared it to speed bumps in the road...the faster you go over it the bigger the bump, but the slower you go over it the easy it is for you to get over it.

What I did (finally)to help him in the home:
* Made sure my husband and I were not talking fast EVER
* Asking my son to "stop and slow your words down" when he was excited.
* Kept on it! It did NOT work it self out....I had to work it out!

NOW!~ At 13, he still has an ocassional stutter when he's goofing off and excited, but it's easier for him to overcome it because he's aware of it now.

The "type" of stuttering my son had.....he would say the beginning of a sentence (and say it 3 times over ), get 75% through it, and then repeated the whole thing once or twice!....My brain was tired after hearing the same sentences 5 times for EVERYTHING he wanted to say......I don't know what type of stutter that is/was, however, when I brought it to the school's attention they said that he didn't have a stutter, and he didn't need further Therapy. I left the meeting really upset with them, but that's another story.

Anyway, I would keep on your son in a gentle way, because he could begin to get frustrated with himself. Ask him to speak slower, and make CERTAIN you and your hubby do, too. Slow every bit of conversation down for awhile in your home, then your son will not feel as though he has to "keep up" .....

You should know by 3rd grade if you are NOT able to help him, and that he might need more help.....if you wanted to wait that long :O)

Good Luck! ~N. :O)

Hi S.,

This is very common and will probably resolve on it's own if you are supportive. Your little guy is probably thinking faster than he can get the words out. Don't over correct him or make too much of a big deal, as that can lead to anxiety and interestingly, problems with stuttering! Just give him time to get the words out.

If it goes on or gets worse over time you can always be referred to a speech therapist, but I doubt if it'll get to that.

Take care! J.

Hi S.,

Is it a stutter (stuck on certain sounds) or a stammer (stuck on words)? Either way, it's my understanding that it's quite normal. If it just started happenning yesterday, I honestly wouldn't worry about it AT ALL. He could be tired or just trying something up. If it persists, or frustrates HIM bring it up with his pediatrician.

Good luck.

T.

My daughter started to stutter very suddenly at about that same age. Luckily, my neighbor and friend was a speech pathologist. She told me not to worry that it would work itself out. She was right. A few months later she stopped stuttering just as suddenly. Just love him and be patient!

Good Luck!

www.thosecrazybeans.blogspot.com

My daugher also began to stutter at that age. Brought her to the doctor and a speech therapist for tests. She grew out of it by the age of five. Her speech is normal now.

Hi S.,

I don't have a child who stutters, but I was a stuttering child and I thought I might be able to help you understand your son's point of view. First, I was uncommonly not embarrassed about my stuttering, and it was because my family was very supportive and treated me no different from my fluent twin sister. It helped me that they didn't complete my sentences for me, didn't get impatient when I had trouble speaking, and never excused or explained my speech to others. Speech therepy was made to be a special treat for me, and I was encouraged and pushed in academics the same as my sister (we were both straight-A students all through school).

It's important to know that stuttering can be managed and sometimes cured through speech therepy. I was a moderate stutterer at 3, and started speech therepy at that time. I continued therepy through the 7th grade, when I achieved normal fluency. I relapsed a couple of times in my life when I experienced high stress levels, but I was always able to get it back under control.

There are a lot of things you can do at home to help your son. A few things I remember were how patient my mom was: she would listen calmly until I got out what I was trying to say, and when I started tightening up and really struggling, she would remind me to relax and take a deep breath, which would usually loosen me up enough to speak fluently. Another thing that gave me confidence was reading or repeating rhymes. Stutterers very rarely stutter when there is rhythm and rhyme. Repeating poetry or nursery rhymes that have a cadence will help very much. Singing is great too--he won't stutter when he sings, so encourage it often.

Good luck, I know you'll give your son the support and love he needs to weather this challenge!

J.

Hello S.,

My son, now 31, also began stuttering around 3 years of age. This continued until he was 9. Neither side of the family knew of any past relative that had this difficulty, (older generations tended to sweep all "problems" under the rug); thus, like you, we did not know what to expect for the future. We used speech therapists, of course, but they had little effect on his stuttering. They did, however, give me some useful insights: 1.) Condition could be development-related, as speech is a complex physical activity, and some people's bodies take longer than others to coordinate the effort. 2.) An emotional component, such as excitement or thoughts streaming too rapidly, can exacerbate and prolong the problem. 3.) Those to whom your child is speaking should allow the child plenty of time to speak (see Janie's comments below), so that secondary conditions, such as kicking-back the head or blinking hard to "jolt" the speaking process along, won't develop. These ticks tend to remain after the stuttering stops and are extremely hard to remove. One of the nicest things a therapist said to me was, "Your son stutters so fluently;" meaning that he had not developed any secondary conditions.

As our son approached age 9, the stuttering just disappeared on its own. I don't know how common this might be, but for awhile thereafter, he would "shadow talk" by silently moving his lips repeating what he had just said. This, too, disappeared on its own.

I should add to these remarks that this child was homeschooled, in part, because he was absolutely crucified for the stuttering by other children in the public school. My husband and I were concerned about these early attacks on his self-esteem, and thus, made this choice.

These events occurred in the 1980's, so hopefully the science behind speech therapy has progressed since then.

In my experience with my first born I can remember feeling the same way. He was about that age. The phase didn't last long. Now with my daughter we are experiencing the same thing only with her it seems a bit longer and her speech is somewhat delayed as it is..she talks a lot but her words are not that clear and now the stutter at times. She gets really excited and has so much to say but not the finess to just come out with it. We handle it the same way we did with our son by encouraging those who speak to her to be patient and suggest to start the sentence with different words sometimes. We try to repeat what she says each time so that she hears the rhythm and flow of our words. We are still waiting to see how her verbal skills progress. Hope that helps, take care!

My almost 3 year old is doing the same thing. Seems as if his mind is getting ahead of his mouth. I ask him to slow down and he is fine. I think this is something that happens to kids that are very verbal at this age.

One of my boys stuttered for over a year (I think he was about 7, it was especially on "w" sounds) and his younger brother started to imitate him for a while, which was frustrating. It did go away, but I think it became a habit, making it last longer, and with his brother it was deliberate. So it was frustrating and annoying, and we would feel impatient waiting for him to get his thoughts out. Sometimes someone would finish his thought for him or interrupt, and he would get very angry about not having a chance to speak himself. We worried that his social problems would be further complicated by this stuttering problem.
At three years old...don't worry. As people have advised, just work on getting him to slow down when he talks.

Also---personally, I would advise you to STOP thinking of him as "My Perfect Little Angel". I really think that puts too much pressure on kids, creating an image of them that they have to match up to. He might really feel it when he is older, especially the "disappointment", when he veers away from your expectations).
(IF you believe that we are all perfect in the sense that we are "exactly as God intended us to be", fine, but other than that very broad view of perfection, there is no such thing as perfection. To be an angel is pretty tough too!)
I also think it puts pressure on YOU---creating an image of yourself as the parent of a perfect child, and thus a perfect parent.
Just think of him as your son, that you love and accept fully. =)

Congrats first on your Birthday!-I would take him to the Dr just to be sure... it could be common language bumps or maybe not, there are flags for things like autism-did he recently have any vacines?-breathe-be calm and just find faCts.... good luck!

NORMAL!!! It's stammering, not studdering. Developmentally he is thinkng faster than he can speak. Relax and don't react to it, have him take a pause if he can't get the words out.