Daughter Starting Stuttering All of the Sudden

My oldest son started stuttering when my second child was born. He eventually grew out of it, but it did take quite a long time, maybe nine months to a year. I tried to be patient and understanding. I would tell him to slow down and think about what he was saying. He also had an imaginary friend up until his second year of Pre-school or Kindergarten. It is just a phase, at least it was for us. I wouldn't worry about it.

Its hard to know whether th stuttering for sure i s response to her Daddy being away, but my daughter went through a stuttering phase around age 3 that lasted about 6 months. In the end it just went away on its own, and like previous posts have stated, it is very common and normal. Our pediatrician gave us a handout that discussed it, so maybe you would want to call your ped. and see what advice they have, but I remember one of the suggestions was to not finish your childs sentences or urge them to hurry up. It said to listen patiently and attentively because that will help them feel less hurried. Sometimes I would say "it's ok, I am listening, slow down" and it seemed to help.

Stuttering can actually be a very normal developmental stage in kids this age. My daughter suddenly started stuttering around 2 or so, but it was more about just trying to get too much out before she was able to do it. It lasted for several months and then went away. I read up on it at the time and the advice the experts give is to not bring attention to it in any way - and don't try to rush her or get impatient with her to just get it out - it just makes it more stressful & prolongs the problem. Just act like it's normal & it will likely go away on its own. If you become concerned about it being a permanent issue, talk to your pediatrician for advice.

my husband is in the military so he is gone a lot, for months at a time and it does put a lot of stress and anxiety on my little girl. she is 3 now. his last deployment she was 2. I so get what you are saying, my daughter lashes out with the changes, gets more clingy, regresses in a lot of ways--she won't potty train I think in part because it is something she CAN control in her life right now. One thing that really has helped us out is to give her things that are just hers, like preschool, it's consistent and she gets to go away and come back. she also takes little weekends away to grandma's or to an aunts house which she really looks forward to because she gets to go and come back and I've found it helps her to process that even though daddy is gone he will be home. and when she goes she comes home. perhaps there is a preschool or dance class or something you could get her in for herself that gives her some time away from home.
there is so much in the environment that is confusing to a little kid, they love consistency and sometimes we are in situations where we can't give that to our kids, like with work schedules or my husband deploying. So I look for ways to create other structure for her. our bedtime routine is very structured, it gives her comfort. when daddy is here or gone it's the same. we made a little book up so that daddy and I were always on the same page and it also gives her some control because she can tell us what she will be doing next, but it is still exactly what we want her to do. I wouldn't worry about the stuttering, as others stated it could just be developmental. with my daughter she starts this whining voice where things are kind of high pitched, so I always tell her slow down, use your words--in your case when she is frustrated because her words aren't coming out the way she wants just gently remind her to slow down that it's okay. don't make the stuttering and issue so that she focuses on it. and if you are worried still talk to her pediatrician about it.
hang in there. its hard for me to watch my daughter missing her daddy and wanting to know the best things to help her. we just want the best for them--

It is the stress. I would suggest extra attention from her dad when he is home and even when he is away in the form of cards and phone calls and stuff.

When my sister was little (2-4 years old), my dad was out of work and was home all day. They did everything together - she was his shadow. When he got a full-time job, she started stuttering really bad. We tried everything to help, but nothing worked. We finally took her to a healer and she said "her father has left her" and we were like "no, he's right here, he hasn't left." But, actually, he HAD left....he wasn't with her 24/7 all the time anymore and she felt like he had left her. She felt abandoned. So after a bunch of attention at home and some exercises, the stuttering went away.

Good luck! :)

Wow! Can I relate to this. In the month of May I saw my husband 3 partial days for the whole month. It gets crazy at times. Both of my boys miss him terribly when he leaves. One of the things I have noticed a lot is my middle boy stuttering - A LOT! It began at 2 1/2 (about when his sister was born) and was so bad I took him to the doctor. Turns out this is very normal for this age. A couple of months later it stopped only to start up again a few months later. Needless to say, the doc said it was that kids this age are looking for new words they are learning. So much goes in, it takes a bit to get it back out. Some kids do it worse then others. My son is 3 1/2 now and has not stuttered in about 3 months or so and seems fine. I really don't think it is related to your husband being gone.

One bitty word of advice though, don't go too overboard with the being available on demand to your daughter. If there is anything I learned from my oldest boy is by being his personal blanket, he now has a hard time adjusting to things and entertaining himself. He is constantly looking for others to do things for him. I feel he would be much better adjusted and have better confidence if I had just let him make some moves on his own, i.e., play by himself a bit, take care of things himself, etc.

Good luck!

I don't know very much about stuttering, but I did ask my doctor about it at my last visit. I have an almost 2 1/2 year old who kind of stutters, we are not sure if it's on purpose yet, or if it's not controllable. BUT, my doctor said that stuttering is very normal when they are 2,3,4 years old. She said as long as we don't make a big deal about it, they grow out of it. It doesn't sound like you are, but if she notices it to much and it makes her mad, it wouldn't hurt to ask a doctor or speech therapist what they think. I don't know if it's a result of stress. It might just be a developmental thing...that she might grow out of. Anyway, I'm not sure, but I thought I would share what my doctor told us.

Hi, my daughter started stuttering around the same age. It may or may not be related to your husband being gone. When my daughter started, I asked a speech therapist friend and was told that it's fairly common as preschoolers are in an accelerated verbal learning phase to begin to stutter...you may have noticed an increase in vocabulary too. One thing that helped with my daughter when she would start to stutter, when I'd respond to her, I'd just slow my speech down a bit...not to an obnoxious degree or anything, but just slow it down...she'll take her cues from you and will slow her own speech down too without even noticing, and it may help alleviate the stuttering.

Wow, there are some great responses here! I definitely agree with the first one at the bottom, you may be coddling her a bit, and while she may ask for it, I had the thought cross my mind that that could stress her as well. Even good change is stressful, so be yourself, and see if she can call dad or use webcams so they can see each other. Give her plenty of hugs, rub her back instead of everything she wants. ;o)