Stuttering

Miss Ducati has developed a stutter.  

It's been happening off and on for months now and for the most part it was a once and a while thing. And while at her well-child check up her doctor told me that kids her age sometimes start to stutter so to not to worry about. I guess it's pretty common for kids from the ages of 2-5 years old. But just because it's common doesn't mean I should just sit back and wait it out. Plus I'm the type of parent that wants to educate myself on matters like this so I can help my child. And this is definitely a matter I'm foreign too. None of our other 3 kids had stutters so this really lead me to learning about it.

After doing some research I've learned that the most common factors to childhood stuttering are family history ( like if we stuttered she'd pick up on it), some physically going on with her brain ( which isn't the case since she's had her check up last month) or psychological. <--- which fits the bill perfectly. 

Paraphrasing: If a child lives a fast paces lifestyle with parents that have high exceptions this can cause perfectism in a child. So with a fear of saying a word wrong can lead to stuttering. Or parents  being so busy they the child has to hurry and rush out their words before the parents go one to the next thing. 

Sad reality check for Mike and I. We're guilty of this. 

Some things we can do to help with Ducati's stuttering:

-give direct eye contact every single time she talks to us

- slow down our lives EXTREMELY

-read more and less TV (which we already do this)

- don't tell her, "Slow down your words" ," Think about what you're saying before you say it", etc. Because honestly she's already thought about what she wants to say but just can't get it out

- be patient when she speaks

-don't correct her 

So to help accommodate this new lifestyle I've been waking up at 2am everyday. Early- I know. But it gives me those 3-4 hours to do my grocery shopping (gotta love those 24 hours stores), clean up our house, fold laundry, finish off any projects, etc before she wakes up. And for the past week it's been really helpful. 

Mike and I can tell what sort of day Ducati is having based on her speech. Most days she's completely fine. She might stutter once or twice. But on Friday, which is my usual busy day, she couldn't get 2 words out without stuttering. I know it's my fault. I pushed the envelope too much. Between car pool, dropping off Mason and Hailey at their grandma's, going to 2 stores, and 

missing her nap she was a talking mess. 

I know living in this small bubble can be difficult and at times frustrating.  But if it helps Ducati then we'll find a way to make it comfortable.