My son is three and has started stuttering. There was no "horror" that triggered it. Over a couple of weeks some repetitions started. Then it continued. He has been doing it for 9 months and he is the most confident little chap that you will meet. He has no fear of speaking, he just stutters when he does it. In speech therapy they talk about the stuttering iceberg. I have noticed that he doesn't have one yet and my duty as a parent is to prevent it developing. I stutter as well. My theory at the moment is that some people are genetically at risk of stuttering. Nothing incidents can trigger it to start. Bad speaking habits follow and it can become embedded. It explains why stuttering can often run in families. I have another child who stuttered for 3 months but shook it off.