For starters, you must learn to distinguish between normal non-fluency and the onset of stuttering. When a child is going through the normal stage of non-fluency (see earlier), the best thing you can do is to do nothing.Most toddlers use ums and ahs and repeat words or syllables until they learn to speak. Repeating whole words is not necessarily a sign of stuttering. So it’s all right if you child says, “I want to go and-and-and play in the park.”

You may be particularly worried if you or a close relative has spent a lifetime struggling to overcome stuttering. Do try to keep calm. Listen to your child without showing undue concern or irritation. If you call attention to his er or he catches any anxiety, he will feel that he is doing something wrong and the problem will persist and lead to a real stutter.

However, if this stage slips into the next one of repetitions and blocks – described earlier – it is time to seek professional help. Says Harisinghani, “Doctors advise parents of children who stutter to ignore the problem in the hope that it will go away. While this is good in many cases of primary hesitancy, some children do not outgrow the problem and become increasingly enmeshed in the habit of speaking with a stutter. It is these children who grow up to be as stutterers. It has been seen that speech therapy with these children (coupled with parental counseling) helps in minimizing or even eliminating this speech behavior in the early years before it becomes a confirmed habit.”

At home, you can help a toddler to grow out of the condition:
• If he appears unaware of the problem, do not bring it to his attention.
• Let him have a chance to play with other children.
• Send him to a playgroup where he is allowed to speak in his mother tongue.
• Give him enough toys and equipment to stimulate him.
• Stay relaxed and let him take the lead in conversation.
• When he talks, give him your full attention and plenty of time so that he can finish what he has to say.
• Don’t mock, rag or ridicule him or become impatient.
• Don’t indulgently encourage the “cute” accent.
• Don’t correct him, except by speaking normally yourself.
• Look within yourself to see if your own attitude could be making him tense.
• Look around you and see whether there are obvious sources of stress in his home or school environment that can be reduced or tackled – e.g. A school bully, constant bickering between you and your spouse.
• Play with him by doing things and then talking about them.
• Speak softly to your child.
• Encourage your child to think of himself as a worthwhile human being, capable of being a winner.