HELP! ASAP Child sudden onset of stuttering

shaqued_almond

Sun, Apr 09 2023, 9:31 am

amother Lemon wrote:

Please put off toilet training and give him back his paci- comfort items should never be taken away by a parent- you can make rules about leaving it in his bed and only using it during nap and sleep or rest times. I never understood this need to stop a child from using a paci. DD stopped when she was ready and with incentives (at 7 years old- paci stayed in her bed) and is a well adjusted 18 year old now. And 2.5 is very early to train. Please think of thr lasting emotional consequences here, even if the stutter goes away.

The reason to stop the paci is because it can mess up their teeth so they won't grow properly.
Most kids can probably get toilet trained at 2.5, it's not that early.
I wouldn't have done both at the same time but also some preschools expect the kids to be out of diapers by the time they're 3.
These things are only as traumatic as the parent makes them.

amother

Lemon

Sun, Apr 09 2023, 10:09 am

shaqued_almond wrote:

No- they are as traumatic as the child is feeling it. Clearly this one is. And the paci because of teeth growing- you are putting $ over emotional health, my DD 18 has not needed braces and he has her paci as a comfort item at night until she was 7. Bh her emotional health wasn’t impacted because of my need to save $ in the future. When it comes to emotional health practicality should never trump. Same for preschools needing a child to train- find a different preschool if it comes at the expense of emotional health. Suddenly onset of stuttering should put everything on the back burner for thre sake of the child’s long term emotional health

shaqued_almond

Sun, Apr 09 2023, 10:38 am

amother Lemon wrote:

Emotional health is a pretty broad term. I don't think it solely depends on the pacifier and or toilet training. I have one kid with really sensitive skin who was happy to be out of diapers by three because that meant no more diaper rashes.
Children are, by large, more resilient than you give them credit for. At least from the impression I get from your post.
And temporary stuttering isn't the end of the world

amother

Lemon

Sun, Apr 09 2023, 10:44 am

shaqued_almond wrote:

Of course it depends on the child- stuttering is this child’s sign of distress. Forcibly taking away a comfort item is not something ok- we don’t know the long term effects. Toilet training needs to happen at the right age for the specific child 2.5-3.5 is normal range, and every kid is different. When we push them all into the same box and put our need for something (no braces, preschool etc) first at the possible expense of their mental health, we are making a very big mistake imo. We all try to figure out why a child has add, a hard time falling asleep at night, anxiety issues etc- emotional health is so precarious, just make sure that you are moving through the stages when your child is ready for them and not for the practical need that the parent has for the stage to just happen already.

amother

Marigold

Sun, Apr 09 2023, 11:08 am

shaqued_almond wrote:

I disagree. My DD spent hours of crying and was shaking on the toilet, afraid to go. Even though she initially wanted to get rid of her diapers already. She went to sleep in diaper after drinking tons, and woke up dry, and continued to hold it in the next day. My husband was so worried and ready to go to a dr.

She was not herself. Wanted me to hold her all day, didnt go to anyone else, and stuck to her fuzzy and paci. Every child takes it different...
(She is my 7th)

Usually I dont allow the paci by day (only for sleeping) In this case, I didnt want to torture her further.

honey36

Sun, Apr 09 2023, 11:20 am

SLP here. The reason your pediatrician didn't give you a straight answer about the stuttering is because there is no answer. Stuttering is still a very mysterious disorder. There are some hypothesis about causation, but nothing definitive. Definitely not any proven treatments. Believe me, if I had a pill that could cure stuttering, I would be very rich, lol.

Here's how I explain stuttering to parents: no, it will not go away with speech therapy. There is no magical cure. Stuttering is more similar asthma- some kids are just more prone to it, but we have no idea why. It can get a lot better but then flare up at times. A lot of kids will grow out of it but some wont. We can help to manage it, but we can't cure it.

So, I would probably recommend to try help manage stuttering, I would put the diaper back on, similar to how you may give a kid with asthma a humidifier. It may help, but no guarantees. Try again when he turn 3. Boys especially usually train when they are a bit older.

Please don't give back the paci. Yes some kids are lucky and don't have issues even though they had a paci until 5 years or whatever, but for most kids it messes up their teeth, speech as well as breathing and it's not always so easy to fix later on.

amother

Lemon

Sun, Apr 09 2023, 11:37 am

honey36 wrote:

Medical professionals should not give advice on psychological and emotional issues. As an SLP you are qualified to answer clinical questions- same for a pediatrician. Parents please do not take these opinions as reasons to mess with your child’s emotional health and well-being. The SLP and the ped will not be there to help with anxiety, adhd etc. they will refer you to developmental peds, psychologists etc. at that point because it’s beyond their knowledge. Parents should realize that this applies to emotionally heavy changed in your child’s like (toilet training,paci stopping etc) as well

honey36

Sun, Apr 09 2023, 11:45 am

amother Lemon wrote:

You know psychologists who can treat stuttering? Please give me their number!

amother

Marigold

Sun, Apr 09 2023, 11:54 am

honey36 wrote:

Btw I have had sudden stuttering with two other kids at a younger age. Both times it came after running a virus, and as my pediatrician predicted, it will go away after 2 weeks. It did.

Stuttering does not mean that it will last forever. Especially at this young age. It is coming from stress, and I think that making two big changes in a child is contributing to it.

I personally would not give up the toilet training if the child picked up on it. It may confuse him more, and be harder to train at age 3.

shaqued_almond

Sun, Apr 09 2023, 1:53 pm

amother Lemon wrote:

Can you explain please why the OP shouldn't trust someone who works with stuttering kids but they should trust you *anonymous* ima?
There are many factors that can contribute to stuttering, anxiety and ADHD. And as stated many times, for most kids stuttering is a phase. We don't need to freak out the mom. I don't think she should've removed both the paci and diaper at the same time, and at the same time of a busy holiday.

amother

Lemon

Sun, Apr 09 2023, 2:08 pm

shaqued_almond wrote:

Op is asking if emotional trauma is contributing. And in my anonymous opinion, it is. And SLP is not qualified to comment on what contributes to emotional health or the origin of stuttering- she treats the ramifications of that. OPs son just started- so she’s asking if it’s reversible by giving him back his comfort items and not putting stress on his emotional system by toilet training. That is not an SLPs realm to advise on. She should speak with a real developmental psychologist Irl to get this answer- not me, or a real or anonymous slp or even pediatrician

amother

Sun, Apr 09 2023, 5:38 pm

shaqued_almond wrote:

Thanks, I appreciate what you said!

amother

Sun, Apr 09 2023, 5:42 pm

To clarify, I started toilet training a few weeks ago. Then right before pesach I didnt want to start with new pacifiers and thought this would be a good time to start new; fresh. Like I did with many of my other children.
My pediatrician thinks the stutter has nothing to do with the transitions.
I spoke to two SLPs who both thought that if the child is doing well then don't revert and stop wither the training or give back the paci and just support my child with lots of love and touch in the next few week and he will slowly, hopefully revert back to what he was before.

Thanks for all your advice everyone!

amother

Sun, Apr 09 2023, 5:43 pm

amother Marigold wrote:

Thanks for your help!

amother

Sun, Apr 09 2023, 5:45 pm

honey36 wrote:

I heard this from other SLPs as well, thank you!