If you’ve ever introduced a breastfed baby to rice cereal, you already know what I’m about to tell you: solid food is constipating for babies. Oh boy! Perhaps if you’ve taken detours down the path of formula and overripe bananas before getting to table food, it might not be as ummm — how to put this delicately? — obvious. But I have a go-to remedy for a baby with blocked bowels: PRUNES!
Prunes have a ton of fiber and are fantastic to prevent and alleviate baby constipation. Even prune juice is effective (so I mix that with powdered cereals). I always kept squeeze pouches of prunes stocked in my cabinet when my babies were small and toothless, and I often made homemade prune baby food.
Recipe for organic prune baby food in about 15 minutes
Ingredients
- One bag of organic dried plums from the bulk or dried fruit section
- 2 cups of water (enough to cover prunes in the pot by about an inch)
Steps
- Rinse the prunes and put in a saucepan
- Add the water
- Bring to a boil
- Simmer for about 10 minutes
- Cool before putting in blender (or use an immersion hand blender to puree right there in the pot)
The result will be a thick paste. Serve cool or a little bit warm.
Optional Mix-ins for Prune Baby Puree
I add the finished product to applesauce to make it last longer and taste more familiar. You can also add your prune sludge to other foods such as yogurt or rice cereal. Whatever your baby likes is fair game, and I’m in favor of creative combinations.
If prunes aren’t enough…One of my sons was consistently constipated after he began solids. He required more than what good ol’ prunes could help with, so we supplemented all the high-fiber food choices with a spoonful of Miralax daily for a YEAR (ask your doctor about dosages) to keep thing moving along.
Let me know if you ever want to hear more of my high-fiber baby food stories; I’d love to hear yours!
You can use this prune puree in lots of other things too, like in smoothies, added to muffins/banana bread/baked goods (it can replace part of the sugar and/or part of the oil). Kids don’t even need to like prunes to reap the benefits 🙂
Thanks Amelia, I never even tried that sneaky trick!
My son started rice cereal along with being exclusively breastfed. It was a horrible start to solids. I’ve made prune purĂ©e and am adding it to other cereal and fruits he’s having. How much can I add to each tablespoon of food. I didn’t know I could give prune purĂ©e on its own too!I really want his bowel movement sorted out!
I want to know what are the high fiber baby food? Thanks
thanks!!!!
thanks for sharing……
thanks!!!!
I hope you are kidding about the Miralax for a year part. Using laxative for a year could lead to the intestine losing its ability to move food along. If a doctor recommend using Miralax daily for a year, you should find a new doctor.
I’m not kidding about the Miralax for a year. However, despite the name LAX, I was assured that it was a gentle-not-really-laxitive solution.
When you say “a bag” of dried plums… How many oz or what is the size of the bag? Thanks in advance!
Andrea, LOL, I’m thinking of a bag like the size of a bag of chocolate chips. I make the recipe to have extra on-hand.
Can this prune puree be made ahead and frozen? Or does that change the consistency? I make most of my own baby food and some of it gets gritty when frozen.
Andrea, I would definitely make it ahead and freeze it, but as long as it is healthy/food-safe, I don’t worry about the consistency. Babies have a pretty limited idea of what’s normal texture.
can you use canned prunes!??xx thanks in advance xx
Hi Emma, I would check the ingredients. If they have no sugar or yucky things added, I bet canned would be fine. You may need to puree based on texture.
Hii, can i use dates instead of prunes. Because in Sri Lanka, we don’t have prunes.
I don’t know Piyumi, great question. I see that dates have lots more sugar and fiber. I suggest checking with a doctor and then sharing back.
My daughter was on miralax for years for horrible constipation issues. It was the only thing that worked for her. We went to several doctors including a GI specialist. We were able to eventually wean her off and she has absolutely no constipation issues anymore. I didn’t love that she was on it for so long, but we were out of options. Anyone who hasn’t been through severe constipation of their child won’t understand how all-consuming it becomes! Good luck with your little one!
Off to try the prune recipe for my littlest one! Thank you!
How much of the pureed prunes can you give in a serving or daily for a 6 month old?
You are my mom hero of the day!!! So happy i found this post on pintrest.
Stop giving rice and oatmeal cereal to your baby if they are exclusively breastfeeding! So some research and it will tell you that it is simply and filler food and merely for practice. My doctor could not even give me a convincing reason to keep going with it. The iron they jam into it and the horrendous nights of constipation and pain that my little guy endured after not pooping for 4 to 5 days after EACH time he ate was simply not worth the benedits. In this case the risk outweighed the benefits. Into this he trash it went after only 3 weeks!
Great blog because to combat my son’s constipation, I gave him a week’s worth of First Foods that including prunes, apples and pears. After the first big cleaning out, he slept and napped like a gem again! Ever since then, everyday has been at least one of those fruits at every meal.
I started out with 1/2 container (about 1.5 oz) for breakfast and dinner. Then you can give your baby the whole container (about out 2.5 oz) as you see fit and he responds well. It took me about a week to do that. Ever since I got his bowels back on track, he’s been so much happier!
Puréed corn or corn for toddler. I had to request 1 teaspoon only at daycare because it worked so good! Also active yogurt! Experiment!
Also lower iron inriched foods! They don’t need that much iron!