Best stage 1 baby food for constipation


6 Baby Foods to Help Relieve Constipation

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These 6 Baby Food Purees Will Help Relieve Baby’s Constipation with no fuss from your little one. You can serve these purees when your baby is backed up or 2-3 times a week to keep things moving on the regular. Great for babies 6-12 months.

How to Relieve Baby’s Constipation

When you first start introducing purees, or when you introduce a new food, to your baby it is completely normal for them to get a little bit backed up. Your baby’s delicate digestive tract needs a little time to process all the new nutrients, fiber, and probiotics that you are giving it.

This is completely normal, so you don’t have to do into panic mode.

While I love and completely trust the Constipation Cure Puree recipe below to do its’ job, let me warn you that this puree is not for the weak of heart. It will definitely get things going and while you will love me for that, you might also curse me when it’s time to change your baby’s diaper.

What all of the 6 purees below have in common, is that they all have produce that starts with the letter ‘P’ in them – prunes, peaches, peas, plums and pears. ‘P’ produce helps get things moving down there all while tasting delicious so your baby will eat them. If you want, you can also add in a pinch of fresh ginger to any of the recipes below. Ginger is great for helping aid in digestion, calming an upset stomach and easing discomfort associated with constipation.

Signs of Constipation in Baby
  • your baby’s stool is hard and dry
  • your baby cries when going poo
  • baby is unwilling to feed and is generally unhappy
  • your baby’s stomach is hard when you gently press down on it
  • your baby’s stool has blood in or on it

7 Easy Ways to Help Baby with Constipation
  1. Stop serving foods that can cause constipation (potatoes, cheese, bananas, rice cereal, pasta) and start serving purees loaded with fiber.
  2. Serve purees with produce starting with ‘P’ – prunes, peaches, pears, peas and plums. These P produce help relieve constipation in baby and aid in baby’s digestive tract (see recipes below).
  3. Start to re-introduce purees that are easy to digest, such as avocado and sweet potato purees.
  4. If baby is older then 9 months, you can sprinkle a small pinch of ground flaxseed into any puree or finger food.
  5. Make sure baby is getting enough water in during the day. Aim for 2-4 ounces in the morning and in the evening. This is in addition to the breast milk, formula or milk (for toddlers) you are already giving them.
  6. Give your little one a warm bath to help them relax their digestion organs.
  7. Start doing baby tummy exercises to get things moving. Place baby on their back and taking both legs in your hands, bend their legs towards their belly button and make a circle with their knees in a clockwise direction. You can also gently press on their tummies about 2 inches away from their belly button starting at the 9’oclock direction and moving to the 3’oclock direction. You will want to gently press down roughly 1 inch into their stomachs. Repeat both exercises around 10 times each.

This is the puree I would always turn to when my baby was constipated. It will definitely do the job, so don’t go too overboard when serving this, a little goes a long way. Just a warning;)

This is a great puree filled with fruits and veggies that will help relieve your baby’s constipation. If you want an even stronger constipation puree, you can substitute the fennel for two roughly chopped pears.

This puree is probably one of my all-time favorite purees because it just tastes so dang good and any baby will happily gobble it up. You can also substitute prunes for the dried dates, if you are so inclined.

This simple pear puree is great for mild cases of constipation. You can add in 1/4 – 1/2 tsp of fresh ginger to help ease digestion pain.

Pear Baby Puree (Stage One)

5 stars (19 ratings)

This smooth and creamy homemade Pear Baby Puree is a wonderful first puree for baby – easy on the taste buds and great for their growing bodies!

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You can use frozen chopped pumpkin if fresh is not an option or you can use organic canned pumpkin puree if neither is available.

Pumpkin, Yogurt + Prune Baby Food Puree

5 stars (6 ratings)

A fun seasonal baby food puree that takes only 15 minutes to make and is packed with vitamin A, beta carotene, potassium, protein and iron just from the pumpkin.

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This puree is loaded with so many nutrients that you should probably just serve this to your baby at least once a day anyway. Bonus, that it helps with constipation and digestive issues.

5-Minute Pear + Blueberry Baby Puree

4.88 stars (16 ratings)

This 5-Minute Pear + Blueberry Baby Food recipe is a simple and delicious baby food puree filled with fiber, antioxidants, folate and potassium for the win!

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More Purees to Relieve Constipation

Looking for even more purees to relieve your baby’s constipation, then check out these purees.

  • No-Cook Banana Peach Baby Food Puree (use spotted bananas)
  • Peach + Vanilla Baby Food
  • Banana, Pear + Ginger Baby Food Puree
  • Pea Baby Puree
Pears + Prums + Cloves Baby Food Puree
  • 2 pears, cored and roughly chopped
  • 4 dried prunes, pitted
  • 1 cup hot water
  • pinch cloves
Fennel, Peach + Pea Baby Food Puree
  • 1 fennel bulb
  • 2 cups peaches, fresh or frozen, pitted and sliced
  • 1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
Roasted Pear + Date Baby Food Puree
  • 3 pears, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
  • 5 dried dates, pitted
  • 1 orange, juiced
Pear Baby Food Puree
  • 6 pears
  • 1/8 tsp cardamon or fresh ginger (optional)
Pumpkin, Yogurt + Prune Baby Food Puree
  • 1/2 small pie pumpkin (roughly 3 cups), peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup full-fat plain yogurt
  • 3 dried prunes, pitted
5-Minute Pear + Blueberry Baby Puree
    • 2 cups pear, chopped (roughly 2 pears)
    • 1 cup blueberries
    Pears + Prums + Cloves Baby Food Puree
    • Fill a medium saucepan with 2 inches of water, and bring to a boil over medium heat.

      Place the pears in a steamer basket over the boiling water, cover and cook for 8-10 minutes or until tender. Let cool slightly. Reserve steamer water.

      Meanwhile, in a small bowl, place the prunes and hot water, and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain.

      Add the pears, prunes and cloves into blender or food processor and puree until smooth, adding reserved water in 1/4 cup increments, if needed.

    Fennel, Peach + Pea Baby Food Puree
    Roasted Pear + Date Baby Food Puree
    • Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. 

      Place pears on the baking sheet, put into the oven and roast for 25-30 minutes. Let cool slightly. 

      Meanwhile, place the dates in a small bowl and cover with hot water, let sit for 10 minutes. Drain. 

      Transfer the pears and dates to a blender or food processor. Add in the orange juice. For a Stage 2 Puree – puree for 1-2 minutes or until completely smooth, adding in water in tbsp increments if needed. For a Stage 3 Puree – pulse in 10-second increments until ingredients are completely mixed together yet still chunky. Serve warm for an extra special treat.

    Pear Baby Food Puree
    • Prep: peel and roughly chop the pears.

      Combine: place the pear chunks, spices (if using) and water into a medium saucepan, cover.

      Cook: heat on medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes or until tender when pricked with a fork.

      Transfer: let cool slightly. Using a slotted spoon, scoop the pears out of the saucepan, leaving the excess water behind, and place in a blender or food processor.

      Blend: turn on the machine and blend for 1-2 minutes until you have your desired consistency. If your pear puree is too thick, add the leftover cooking water in 1/4 cup increments.

      Eat: serve to baby or freeze for another meal.

    Pumpkin, Yogurt + Prune Baby Food Puree
    • Bring 2 inches of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Place pumpkin into a steamer basket over boiling water, cover, and cook for 10-15 minutes, or when you can easily prick the pumpkin chunks with a fork. Let cool slightly. Reserve steamer water. 

      Meanwhile, place the prunes into a small bowl and cover with very hot water for 10 minutes. This will let them plump up and become tender. Drain.

      Place the pumpkin, yogurt and prunes into blender or food processor and puree for 1-2 minutes until smooth, adding reserved steamer water in 1/4 cup increments if needed.

    5-Minute Pear + Blueberry Baby Puree

    Age: 4 months and up

    Yield: roughly 12-25 ounces depending on recipe. 

    Storage: Fridge – store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Freezer – can be frozen for up to 4 months (this and this are my favorite freezer storage containers).

    Favorite Kitchen Tools: Get a list of my favorite kitchen tools to make the best baby food here!

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @babyfoode on Instagram and hashtag it #babyfoode!

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    Please note that I am not a medical professional. If your little one has been constipated for longer than 10 days or has a severe case and nothing seems to be working, then please call your pediatrician right away. 

    Are There Baby Foods that Help with Constipation?

    While parenting brings many surprises, one of them is likely how much you’ll think about poop, or lack thereof, especially during that first year. But here you are worrying about your baby’s digestive tract and convinced that they’re constipated.

    If you’ve recently introduced your baby to solid food, then your worries may be on target: solid foods can put a strain on your baby’s developing digestive tract and cause constipation. But there are things you can do to help!

    Before you begin treating constipation you should determine if there is really an issue at all. So here’s the scoop on poop and how to tell if your worries are founded and your baby is constipated.

    Breastfed babies

    During the first few weeks, you’ll find yourself changing diapers with alarming regularity. Figure in every feed or so.

    But don’t despair, because by the time your baby reaches 6 weeks old, they may have a bowel movement only once or twice a day. On the other hand, they may have one only every 7–10 days. (Yep, the frequency really can vary that much.)

    The poop is yellow, soft, runny and sometimes lumpy and the smell isn’t unpleasant.

    Formula-fed babies

    A newborn, formula-fed baby typically poops up to five times a day. At about 6 to 8 weeks, this may decrease to around once a day.

    Formula-fed babies have poop that is a camel to brown color with a thicker consistency, more like paste. Most likely, the less-than-aromatic smell means you’ll hermetically seal soiled diapers before you toss them into the garbage.

    Signs that your baby is constipated

    You’ve noticed that your baby’s tummy isn’t following the schedule that you got used to. Could it be constipation? Here are the signs that could confirm your suspicions:

    • You notice that they cry or fuss while they’re trying to have a hard bowel movement.
    • The poop, when it does come, is like hard pellets.
    • You notice streaks of red blood in the hard poop.

    While it’s not easy for a baby on a liquid diet to become constipated, trouble can start when you start introducing your baby to solid foods at around 6 months. Here’s why:

    New food types

    Think of it as a learning curve: Your baby’s body is learning how to cope with a new kind of food to digest as they move away from their full liquid diet and you need to soften the learning curve. (Pardon the irresistible pun.)

    Changes to fluid intake

    Decreased fluids will make your baby’s poop harder and more difficult to push out. If they’ve started solids, they may need to up their fluid intake to offset the solid food. And if your baby is teething or feeling unwell, it can also lead to them taking in less fluid than usual.

    Lack of fiber

    Even though they’re just starting out, babies’ tummies work like ours. While initially the move to solids that have fiber (from breast milk or formula, which don’t) can cause temporary constipation, their tummies will adjust.

    Make sure to monitor your baby’s fiber intake and pair it with plenty of hydration for a smooth ride the same way that you monitor yours.

    OK, so you’ve confirmed that your baby is constipated. The next step is helping to alleviate the strain on their developing digestive system.

    Remember that you can keep offering these foods as your baby develops into a toddler and beyond. In fact, there is little research or evidence to support specific foods (including high fiber ones) in treating or preventing constipation in infants. Most of these recommendations are based on evidence for older adults and children.

    Keep in mind that good practice when introducing solids is to introduce foods as single ingredients. That way, if your baby is allergic to certain foods, you’ll be able to more easily trace the source.

    If your little one hasn’t tried these foods before, don’t rush the process. Test out one at a time and then introduce combinations once you’re confident they’re well tolerated.

    • Back to basics. Give your baby’s digestive tract a break by feeding them mashed avocado or sweet potato purée. These are easy to digest and may give your baby the kick start they need.
    • B vegetables. Think broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and beans. Purée these for a meal filled with fiber.
    • P fruits. Your grandmother was right — bring on the prunes for quick work. A purée that includes a mix of prunes plus pears, plums, or peaches should work magic. Try subbing the prunes with dates for a change.
    • Bring on the fiber. If your baby is over 8 months, you can offer them whole grains like oatmeal, fiber-rich cereals, whole wheat pasta, and brown rice.
    • Water intake. Until 6 months an exclusively breastfed or formula-fed baby doesn’t need to drink water. Above this age, you can introduce small amounts of water.

    Plums and pears with cinnamon

    Cut 2 or 3 pears and plums into small pieces. Place in a saucepan with a small amount of water and simmer until soft. Add in a sprinkle of cinnamon. Blend thoroughly.

    Sweet potato with apple and peach

    Cut half a sweet potato, one apple, and half a peach into small pieces. Place in steamer basket and cook until tender. Blend until smooth.

    Spinach and apple purée

    Chop two apples into small chunks and cook in saucepan with about 1/2 cup of water. When they’re tender, add about 1 cup of spinach and cook another 2 to 3 minutes. Purée until smooth. Can be seasoned with cinnamon and ginger.

    Some sources suggest prune, pear, and apple juices help to increase the water content in poop and can ease constipation.

    However, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends steering clear of fruit juice for children younger than 1 year old. You can stick with these fruits as purées for similar effects.

    What is it about prune juice? The high levels of sorbitol and phenolic substances in prune juice and dried plums act as a laxative and diuretic properties. So if your child is over 1 year old, you can use small amounts of prune juice to encourage their system to run.

    Some studies show that constipation may affect as much as 30 percent of children. If your child is part of the unlucky statistic, here are some foods that you may want to give them smaller amounts of until it passes:

    • bananas
    • dairy products such as cheese and yogurt
    • low fiber foods like white rice, white bread, and white pasta

    If you’re like most parents, you’ll be up for whatever you can try to help your baby get comfortable fast. Here are a few tricks that you can use to ease your baby’s constipation:

    • Warm baths. These can relax those abdominal muscles and get them working.
    • Exercise. Lay your baby on their back and push their legs alternately as if they’re cycling a bike. Alternatively, hold their knees and feet together and push their feet towards their belly.
    • Massage. Use your fingertip to draw clockwise circles on your baby’s stomach.

    If you see that despite your home remedies, your baby still is having hard stools or hasn’t pooped after 2 or 3 days from their last hard stool, then contact your pediatrician. Especially if you consistently notice blood in their poop or your baby is extremely irritable and appears to be in pain.

    While dealing with your baby’s toilet issues may seem a tad unsavory, you’ll soon be so used to it, that you’ll find yourself sharing your insights over coffee with other parents. And don’t be shy about sharing the yummy food combinations you discover to keep things moving.

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    09/23/2019 Reading time: 5 min