Did anyone's child outgrow a stuttering phase?

[Wildflower]

I phrase my topic in this way because I am SO hoping this will be the case with my son.  He has been stuttering off and on for a year or so. Luckily, he isn't self conscious or stressed about it himself, we've been really careful not to appear to notice or worry about it because I read that could make it lots worse.  Seems like he gets excited about his big ideas and his little lips can keep up. Interestingly to me, he never does it in certain moods, like when he is making his voice sound silly during pretend play, ony when describing big thoughts.  My gut says I don't want to start speech therapy, because that could make him realize this is a "problem," and make him stressed. So for now I am just speaking slowly, clearly, and gently, and making sure no one hurries anyone up or interrupts anyone, and making him feel heard and secure.  I watched The King's Speech last week, which scared me some--like, holy cow, what if this turned into a life-long struggle for him...? So I'd love to hear your comforting tales of how your child outgrew or overcame stuttering...thanks!

[Justmee]

Sorry maybe not comforting but my 4.5 year old is a terrible stutterer, and it's not getting better. He's  not in specific therapy for stuttering at the moment, but he is in speech therapy (needs it for general speech delay, also he's a bilingual child so that affected his speech in the native language).

I was told by the speech therapist to do what I am doing, talk slowly, etc., and he still may outgrow it. If it doesn't get better in the next few months, I think I will pursue treatment because I don't want it to turn into a life long problem.

[liliaceae]

OP how old is your son? Temporary stuttering is very common in toddlers.

[Mylie]

Years ago my son was in the hospital with Pnemonia and when he was released he was on all kinds of meds...Shortly after(within days)he started stuttering..He was 3..Just out of the blue..I talked with  his doctor and she went on a hunt..turned out one of the meds he was taking for his asthma/pnemonia had the side affect of stuttering..We removed it immedietly but the stuttering didn't stop unfortunatley..I never really made a big deal about it..Just when he froze with his words I would tell him to relax,think about what he wanted to say and start slowly...He was in hospital in Janurary and didn't start preschool till the following September and he did recieve Speech therapy to help because he was still stuttering at that point..It helped..By the time Spring came he was no longer stuttering on a word/daily basis..If he did try to talk to fast it would start up again...But within a year or two that was gone also....Sometimes speech can help...

[Wildflower]

Thanks everyone...He's getting close to 5 years old...Does anyone have any ideas on what sort of excercises they would do in speech therapy...?

[Peony]

Two of my kids were/are stutters, both needed speech therapy. Stuttering can be a common developmental event in toddlerhood. The onset for both my kids was age 3. Their mind was just going faster then what their mouth could keep up with. DD2 stuttered horribly for about 6 months, it was every sentence. It almost seemed to disappear over night. She did go on to have pronunciation issues and is currently in private speech therapy at almost age 6. Right now DS1 is stuttering, age 3.5, he has been in speech therapy for 2 years now (ASD). His speech therapists are watching the stuttering very closely because of his existing delays and issues. Right now, all the opinions are that it is developmental with him. One SLP (we have many speech therapists), told me that if the stuttering occurring in the first 1-2 words of a sentence only then it is more likely to be developmental, if it occurs later in the sentence or multiple times in the same sentence, then she'd be more concerned about it being a larger issue. 

[Justmee]

Originally Posted by Mylie 

Years ago my son was in the hospital with Pnemonia and when he was released he was on all kinds of meds...Shortly after(within days)he started stuttering..He was 3..Just out of the blue..I talked with  his doctor and she went on a hunt..turned out one of the meds he was taking for his asthma/pnemonia had the side affect of stuttering..We removed it immedietly but the stuttering didn't stop unfortunatley..I never really made a big deal about it..Just when he froze with his words I would tell him to relax,think about what he wanted to say and start slowly...He was in hospital in Janurary and didn't start preschool till the following September and he did recieve Speech therapy to help because he was still stuttering at that point..It helped..By the time Spring came he was no longer stuttering on a word/daily basis..If he did try to talk to fast it would start up again...But within a year or two that was gone also....Sometimes speech can help...

Wow I never even thought to look into this. My ds who stutters (he's 4.5) is asthmatic. He hasn't been on meds since last winter (before the stuttering started, but not right before, it started last spring). I wonder if it could have had anything to do with it.

[pek64]

My brother stuttered when he was young. He's older than me, so I don't remember it, but I heard my mother talking about it. She said she was told to speak slowly and carefully, and get down on his level when talking and listening. And make sure she looked at him when he was talking, so he wouldn't feel he had to rush. It took about 3 months, but he then started talking without stuttering.

[Wildflower]

Yes, I am famous for my fast talking, so I am working HARD on it.  The whole famiy is...hope it helps!

Another issue for us is that we live very rurally, there is one speech therapist a good hour away, but there's no way we can afford her right now, especially with the price of gas. That's why I'm searching around for DIY tricks, excercises, ideas...Iknow you can get help through schooldistricts, but we homeschool, and he's too young for kindy, anyway...

I am interested in the alternative health type remedies.  He did have some big antibiotics as a 2 year old after a dog bite, and again this year for an ear infection.  He's had a few vaxes (we didn't wowant to vax but they pushed the dtap after the dog bite).  I know there are homeopathic remedies that talk about stuttering, we tried one a few months ago (stramonium?) but I didn't notice any improvement.  If only there was a certain vitamin, or...?  He does still breastfeed, so, I don't think I can blame anything like poor jaw alignment or dis-attachment, ha ha. ;)

Thanks all....

[APToddlerMama]

My son has been in speech therapy for years and just recently started stuttering. He's seen by one of the leading speech clinicians in the country and even though she sees several risk factors with him, she's not terribly concerned as so many children outgrow this. Things that might make you more concerned are...family history of stuttering, onset after 3.5 years, being aware of/concerned he's doing it, tension in his face, blinking etc.

What has been suggested to us is that we get down at his level to speak with him, make good eye contact, speak quite slowly, and give him the impression we have all day to wait for him to say something. In therapy, they play games that naturally slow his speech down and improve his fluency.

Please consider speech therapy. He will probably grow out of it, but if he started later, that is a big risk factor. A therapist who is trained well in fluency will know how to make him feel comfortable. Interview people until you find someone you're comfortable with. Earlier help is definitely better and can help this from becoming a pattern that follows him into adulthood.

[APToddlerMama]

Just wanted to add...universities often have programs where you pay very little (or nothing!) for a grad student to work with your child. My son sees a school therapist, private therapist, and we do this, and honestly, I am most comfortable with the grad student because she is being supervised (entire therapy session) and mentored by this woman who is so highly regarded and has published a ton on speech/fluency. I also then get to work with her too and hear her feedback.

[Wildflower]

He does have the one risk factor I'd say, because I think it started between 3.5 and 4. I will make some calls about cheaper speech therapy options, I'm sure they would understand very well my concern of not making him aware that its "a problem."  I'm going to start kneeling down at his level too, hadn't heard that one yet, and slooooowing myself and life down even more (a good mediation for me in any case, even is this disappears tomorrow, I still need to practice slowing down...).  Thanks again.  I'd love to hear any more excercises/games for slow speaking anyone might know about?  Thanks....

[APToddlerMama]

One way to slow things down is to play any sort of game where you're taking turns and slowly say something like "now it's my turn.". And then your child says the same for his turn and you do this back and forth while finishing the game. The slower pace can carry over (hopefully) once you finish the game. Hubby and I are naturally very fast talkers so I know how hard this is. We constantly remind each other, have a SLOW DOWN note on our fridge, etc.

[LitMom]

My son did it off and on around age 3. It stopped within a year, even with a big sibling who would tease about it.

[Justmee]

My friend who is a speech therapist gave me tips, and the best was speak slowly, unnaturally slowly. It really does help him slow down his thought processes.

She also said not to tell him to speak slowly or think, not to draw attention to it all, just that I should speak slowly and clearly and that will help him slow down his speech. It really does work. I spoke to his teacher today and she told me he does it very little, last year it was a much bigger problem so here's hoping he will outgrow it...

[Red Pajama]

Both of my boys went through phases with stuttering. One was bad enough that my dad asked me if it should be evaluated. I think he was about 4 or 5 at the time. He outgrew it completely. I think it's fairly common to happen.  I don't know at what point it is something that needs speech therapy.  I'd probably consider the child's ability to communicate his thoughts. If it's just an annoyance to the listener, and not a barrier to communication, and the child is not frustrated, I'd probably leave it alone.

[Jessica1501]

Originally Posted by Wildflower 

Thanks everyone...He's getting close to 5 years old...Does anyone have any ideas on what sort of excercises they would do in speech therapy...?

I just read an article from baby center about 5 year old's talking milestone and see this, hope this helps.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_developmental-milestone-talking_66695.bc

My DD used to be like this for 1.5 years but she outgrew naturally. Being patient listening to her and letting her finish sentences was the only thing I did.

[Abbeytm]

My son, now five, had a terrible stutter for about a year when he was three. I know my husband and mother in law also had a stutter as children, so it could be hereditary. We brought him to an amazing doctor who recommended Nourish Life Speak and protocol b12 liquid vials, along with a quality multivitamin and probiotic. Within a month we noticed a huge difference! I can't even begin to tell you the improvement we saw every week with the supplements. After about six months the stutter was almost gone. Our doctor says a lot of times speech issues can be caused/exacerbated by an imbalance of fatty acids in the brain. I would HIGHLY recommend trying this. A friend of ours whose son has a speech delay, not a stutter has also been helped by the Speak supplement ( by nourishlifespeak) Good luck and God bless!

[lillymonster]

My daughter stuttered so badly I videotapped her for the school to see if I could get services. I spoke with a therapist who said her child had the same issues along with feeding delays and food intolerances. My daughter also had feeding delays and was intolerant to soy but I was allow it back in her diet because she was no longer having stomach issues from it. Any way turns out the soy was making it worse. She was bad and was aware she had a problem because she would stop and reworded her sentences. She was only 3 or so. And she had even if she playing or calm...it was not out of talking fast or excitement. Is your child in school and have they noticed anything? If he is not aware of it then he will probably outgrow but you could look into food intolerance. Even if your child is not in school some areas have free services through the state. Childfind or something? Anyway she outgrew it and her food intolerances.

[1HockeyMom]

Ive gone through stages with both of my children with stuttering.  I researched it and there is a National Stuttering Foundation that I got lots of helpful info from.  I was told that it is common to go through this throughout development as one part of the brain is growing faster than other other side - at that moment. Sure enough, given a month or two, the stuttering stopped. Both of my kids noticed it themselves. My oldest one, daughter, actually asked me why do I talk funny like this all the time Mom? And so it did get to the point of frustrating her- especially at school. However I was told that unless it continues well into middle school, it is considered just a common thing and not to treat it. We chose not to "treat" it in any way. We chose to make NO notice of it and ignore it for both of the kids. We only addressed it when they directly asked us to. Oldest is no longer stuttering at all, and she is 9.5 yrs old now.

Good luck!