How can I help my 4- year old son from stuttering?

Question

My 4 year old son stutters every time he talk. I read that its 60% hereditery but my husband and I do not stutter or know anyone in our family who does. I also read that it could be stress or something tramatic. This too doesn't make sence because we are a very loving and close family. Should I be worried? Can I help him in anyway? Has this happenned to anyones son/daughter?

Answer 1

I come from a family of stutterers, but I never stuttered. It can be hereditary, but if you know of nobody on either side of the family who stutters, it may be a development stage that he is going through. We found that our best source of help for our family was The Stuttering Foundation of America. Their web site is full of great information including a risk chart and tips of things you can do at home to help. Visit www.stutteringhelp.org. The more worried you seem to him about the way he is talking, the more he will try not to stutter. The more a stutterer tries not to stutter, the more he does. That is what my uncle told me. He said that as soon as he gave up caring what other people thought of the way he talked, he stuttered less. All of us slowed our speech and our pace in life down, and that helped, too. You'll find that as a tip that the Stuttering Foundation gives to parents.
You probably have a very intelligent young man who will grow up to be an engineer!

Answer 2

It depends on the type of stuttering he's doing. Normal stuttering for a four year old will include stuttering that is not accompanied by a facial tick or tense expression. Occurs at the beginning of a word and with repetitions,or uh sounds that only last for a few seconds. Happens less then once every ten seconds.
This kind of stuttering is normal for a child because they have so much to say they are having trouble expressing it. If you show anxiety over his stuttering then he may do it more often because it will make him nervous.
If he is blinking or tense when he is stuttering, making long, up to a whole second, stutters and doing it more then one time in ten seconds, stuttering most of the time not just when he is excited, and had the problem for longer then 8 weeks then it is time to speak to your pediatrician for an analysis.

Answer 3

It really depends on what you mean by stuttering. I say this because my husband felt that my son stuttered, and he doesn't. Ask your pediatrician and get a professional opinion. Your pediatrician can recommend a speech therapist if he feels there is a problem. Good luck!

Answer 4

yes my son is in speech therapy now, he just started. It can be hereditary but I was told its usually not. The stress is sometimes stress they put on themselves, If they cant think of the words they are trying to say they pause, then stutter and once they become aware of the stuttering they are scared and guess what? that makes them stutter even more
there are things they told us to do at home.
Talk slow. short Pauses in between phrases. ie: "We are going ... to the store"
If he realizes what he is doing and is self conscious of it and probably is at age 4, talk to him and explain you will help him. A few times throughout the day When he talks and stutters, ask him to repeat but show him how first. We call it turtle talk (slow) ask him to slow down.
Try to pause for a few seconds before answering his questions so he will see that's it OK to slow down and gather your thoughts before speaking.
Read books to him, slow but not "robotic, drawn out slow" kind of like a nursery rhyme and read those to! the rhythm of them are great for him
Ask him to repeat pages in the book with the short pauses between phrases
Try not to ask too many direct questions. Try saying "I like this soup" Rather than "do you like this soup" He wont feel as much like he has to respond right away.
Hope this helps but I would suggest seeing a speech therapist.

Answer 5

His thought process is on overdrive. Try sitting down at his level and looking at him when he is talking to you. Ask him to slow down, think about what he is going to say. A lot of time, children's minds go so fast they are trying to get everything out in one shot while they have our attention and the mouth doesn't keep up with the mind. Make sure he understands that you will wait.

If this doesn't help, I would speak with his pediatrician about a speech evaluation.

Answer 6

a little boy i used to babysit used to stutter and it wasn't hereditary for him either. the only thing that i noticed that didn't help his problem is that because he was the baby of three he never really had time to voice his thoughts and or opinions someone was always cutting him off whether it was one of his older siblings or his parents didn't have time to listen to him at that moment. so it almost seemed to me that he was trying to say what he had to say so fast before he got cut off but his mouth couldn't move fast enough for the words. i always made sure that if he had something to say i got down to his eye level and listened to what he had to say, when he would stutter i would get him to stop and think about what he wanted to say and start again. it took a bit of time but i think that helped him.
good luck

Answer 7

It can also be from his little mind rushing to try and get every thought out...just tell him to take deep breaths and to slow down when he speaks. To think about each word seperately rather than trying to think about all that he wants to say at one time.

Answer 8

so much babies have extra to mention than their brains permit. train him to sluggish down while he speaks, do not draw awareness to the stuttering, get him external extra commonly to burn off his vigor, and browse to him every day. comply with up with a speech therapist if wanted.

Answer 9

maybe he could find a therapest...both for emotions & one foe his speech

Answer 10

try speech therapy