How do I prepare fresh prunes for my 5 month old to eat?

Question

Do you have to peel the prunes?

I know, pit them, cut them up, and boil them in a little water until tender. Then I will puree them in a blender. I have heard that you can save the water used to boil them and give that also as prune juice. My daughter is a bit consipated and I want to use foods rather than medicine to correct it.

So I am just wondering if anyone has used fresh prunes in this way, how they made baby food out of them. And how much did you give in order for it to take effect?

Answer 1

Talk to your doctor about this.  How do you know she's constipated? Sometimes just additional water can help and you won't have to go the prune juice way at all.

I have never mashed up prunes though, but would guess you would have to peel them as I don't think their skins would soften enough to feed to a baby that young.

I also wouldn't give her much.  Has she had them before? Has she had any solid food before? If not, then definitely go the juice route, and only give her a teaspoon or so.  See if it works, and if not, then try another teaspoon.

Good luck.

Answer 2

"Fresh prunes" are plums.  Prunes are dried and are, by definition, not fresh.

Rather than treatingt he constipation with prunes, I would try first to prevent it. If she's on solids, stop the solids for a while. (She doesn't need them yet, and many common early solids [rice cereal, bananas, applessauce] are very constipating.  

If that doesn't help, consider switching her formula and see if THAT helps. (If she's breastfed and on breastmilk alone, it's not possible for her to be constipated.)

EDIT:  Yes, there is a type of fresh plum that is called a prune plum.  It's just a particular plum variety.  It's no especially laxative, and no better than any other fresh fruit to getting things moving.

Pooping every 6 days is NOT a sign of constipation.  Unless the stools are hard and painful to pass, she is not constipated.  If they are hard, you need to look at your other options for formula.

Answer 3

well when i had that problem with my son i gave him the gerber prunes so i'm not sure how to prepare them but you shouldn't give juice til 6 months so i wouldn't give her juice just yet also try pears i would give my son pears and pear juice once old enough for juice of course and the prunes it sometimes took a few days for it to have an effect on him which is why i went back and fourth with prunes and pears so he wasnt eating the same thing all the timebut if she hasnt been on any solids yet start with the prunes do that for like 2 days with no other solids to make sure there is no allergy to it then add the pears after 2 days of pears and no signs of allergy you can introduce other fruits again 2 days for each but if say you giver her bananas one day you can still offer pears cause you already know she can eat them with no problem just dont introduce 2 new foods at a time. good luck

Answer 4

I love how people on the internet like to "play doctor". Ugh...know-it-alls.

Ugh.

Try this instead. You ca give your baby 2-4oz of water a day. Any more, their liver cannot handle. Water will help her system...it helps my son when his poopies are a little hard...like clay.

All this....from my doctor....not me.

Answer 5

you don't.  a 5 month old shouldn't be having solids at all and if they are having solids, they shouldn't be having prunes.  prunes are pretty high up on the allergy list.  i wouldn't give a baby prunes until maybe 8 or 9 months.

http://www.allergynutrition.com/resource... has a scale of how allergenic foods are.

btw, i would try pear juice for constipation.  it's effective and much less allergenic than prunes.  if your baby is truly constipated (hard stools, not just a long time between BMs), then you should be working on the cause... you should probably stop any solids you are giving and consider switching formulas.

reply to your edit: why on earth would you make a decision that you KNOW is going to cause problems for your baby???  adding in more c**p to mess up his system isn't going to help.  if you get him on a cycle of constipating and then laxative, you could be causing him problems for years to come.

Answer 6

Constipation is not the regularity of bowel movements, but the consistancy.  A healthy baby can go up to ten days without having a bowel movement and not be considered constipated unless the movement is hard and pellet like.

My daughter would frequently go several days without having a bowel movement and my peditrican insisted this is normal and it's just that her digestive system is maturing and trying to figure things out.

After I did start her on solids, she did start getting constipated (meaning her bowel movements were very hard and difficult to pass)and I just laid back on the rice, banana's and apples, because those are natrually binding foods.  I upped the oatmeal, blueberries, grapes, prunes and made sure she had a sippy cup of water with every meal.  That didn't work.  I did have to go back to the doctor two more times, before I found something that would help her.

The first solid foods that your daughter should be having is rice cereal, oatmeal and barley.  Then you are able to move on to veggies and fruits.  Prunes are not that tasty so don't be surprised if she refuses to eat them.

Good luck!

Answer 7

Prune refers to a dried plum, there is no such thing as a fresh prune.  It is possibly a kind of plum commonly used to make prunes.

Personally I would not remove the skins unless they were very thick as that is where a lot of the nutrition is.  For a baby less than 6 months you are probably going to have to cook them and puree them.  For a baby over 6 months it would be unnecessary to cook or puree them

Answer 8

prunes are not fresh.  they are dried plums.  i think all you need to do is cut them up and let her gum them.  i would skip the boiling.  see if she will just chew up the little pices (i mean really little pieces)

Answer 9

I boil prunes in a bit of water until soft and then puree them.  My 6 month old son loves them.  You could also try figs and apricots.  Both cooked in the same way.  Prunes took a few days to work for constipation but the figs worked straight away!

Answer 10

You  just  boil  them  with  just  enough  water  to  cover  the  prunes  and  in very  low  heat  so  when  it  boils  ,it's  ready  and  you  can  puree  the  whole  thing....skin  and  all.

Answer 11

I am not exactly sure how to do that, but I do know that Gerber sells them already puree. Once you do give them to your baby, don't start any other new foods for 2-3 days to make sure she is not allergic, but I am sure that you know that