This post comes from a place of watching my own 2 year old [26 months] developing language. His language has followed a very typical trajectory and his “word count” has never caused me concern. Recently I started to hear interjections, pauses, and hesitations within his speech. My husband too has noticed these and we’ve both been mindful to wait and listen to allow our son to continue his thought. And with a little wait time what does he do? He finds the word he was searching for, he continues his thought or his story (oh, the stories! when 2 year olds start telling little stories, my heart) and those filler words and phrases disappear.
To a parent that didn’t go to school for 6 years (or isn’t married to someone who did) these dysfluencies in connected speech can sound worrisome.
Is he starting to stutter?
Should I help him find the word and get on with his story?
Where did this come from?
I’m here to answer these questions!
Probably not. Stuttering at this age is pretty typical and generally won’t continue into a true fluency disorder.
I say “no” to this. Allow your child the opportunity to dig through his vocabulary and craft his story in the way he wants to.
During the toddler stage our kids go through many language bursts. These are periods of time in which a child’s expressive language, receptive language, or both accelerate. During this time it is normal to hear things that sound like dysfluencies.
If ever you are concerned for your child’s speech and language abilities. Please, reach out to an SLP. But rest assured that dysfluencies during a language burst generally resolve on their own and are a part of typical language development.
See my post on the 18 Month Language Burst if you want to know more about these exciting times!