Prunes

Also called prune, dried plums, dried pitted prunes, sukha aloo bukhara

Safe from6 months

AllergenNot common

Iron-richNo

Rich inGut-friendly

How to serve, by her age

Smooth soaked purée

We start her on the prune on its own. Take the pit out, cover the fruit in hot water and leave it ten to fifteen minutes, until a prune is soft the whole way through. Then mash it, or blend it smooth, loosening it with a little breast milk, formula, or water if it sits too thick to scoop.

Offer a small amount at first and let it grow only as she takes it, watching how her tummy handles it. Prunes carry a lot of fibre, so too much at once brings gas and loose stools. It needs nothing extra stirred in for taste. Added salt stays out until her first birthday, and no added sugar before she turns two. A prune is sweet enough as it is.

She can take the purée straight from a spoon, or you can stir a spoonful through her oats porridge or plain curd if the taste is new to her.

Soft, finely chopped pieces

She is picking food up herself now, and the prune still needs its soak. Once the pitted fruit is soft, chop it very small, soft enough that a piece flattens under your finger. Nothing whole and no big pieces while she is still under one, since firm dried fruit can lodge in her throat.

Those small soft pieces are good practice for the pincer grasp, the neat thumb and finger pinch she is working on at this age. The smooth purée has not gone anywhere either, and a spoonful still stirs easily through whatever she is already eating.

Spoon, fingers, or both? ›

Finely chopped, later whole

From a year, a pitted prune can be finely chopped and given as it is, soaked or dry, though the soak still softens it and makes it easier for her. She takes the pieces on their own, or stirred through anything she is scooping up that day.

Whole prunes wait until around eighteen months, once her molars and her chewing are up to the job. Eating one yourself in front of her, biting with your front teeth and chewing slowly so she can watch, shows her how it is done.

Spoon, fingers, or both? ›

About prunes

When a baby on solids gets blocked, prunes are the fruit paediatric guidance reaches for first, the old standby the AAP names, and the fruit the NHS puts with apples and pears as particularly good for constipation. Their fibre softens a stuck stool. Pitted and soaked soft, a prune mashes to the smooth purée she can take from six months.

The doubts we clear

CHOKINGWill she choke on prunes?

A dried prune is firm and chewy, and the pit inside it is a hard stone. It does not break down in her mouth, so a whole one or a big piece can lodge in her throat. Take the pit out, soak the fruit soft in hot water, then mash it smooth. Under one, give no whole prune and no firm chunks, only soft pieces cut small enough to squash between your fingers; from twelve months the pieces can be a little firmer, soaked or dry; and offer a whole prune only around eighteen months, once her molars are in.Choking vs gagging ›

MYTHPrunes are the fruit paediatric guidance reaches for first when a baby on solids is blocked. Buying them dried in a packet does not make them a shortcut, or any less of a fruit.

You may be hearing at home that soaked kishmish or munakka water is the proper remedy, and that a packet of prunes is not really needed. The raisin water the house trusts and a small spoon of prune purée are not rivals, and both can sit on the table. Prunes are simply the fruit the guidance names first. Their fibre is what softens the stool. Whichever you start with, start small and give it a few days.

Questions moms ask

Five days into solids and she has not passed a stool in four days. I keep checking.

Four days of checking the nappy is its own kind of worry, and straining itself is not usually a warning sign. A small spoon of soaked prune purée is a good place to start, with a little water once or twice in the day. Give it a few days. If nothing shifts, call your paediatrician.

I gave prune purée three mornings running and now she is passing loose, watery motions.

That loose nappy after three good mornings feels like a step backwards. Prunes carry a lot of fibre, and too much brings gas and loose stools. Pause the purée and let her tummy settle. When you try again, offer a small amount.

He gags every time the prune purée goes in, and turns his head away from it plain.

That gag is hard to watch, and it is his reflex doing its job, not choking. He is coughing and spluttering, so air is moving. Offer the prune the way he already takes it, and put the spoon down the moment he turns his head.Choking vs gagging ›

Everyone at home says prunes are 'garam' and must be soaked overnight to draw the heat out. Do I have to?

An overnight soak is not needed, and it does no harm either. A short soak in hot water is enough before it reaches her bowl. If the longer soak keeps the peace at home, go ahead, the prune will be just as soft.

Should I try baby-led weaning with prunes?

With prunes most of us stay on the spoon a while, the soaked fruit mashed smooth from six months. The IAP puts finger foods at around nine months, though dried fruit keeps a rule of its own. Nothing whole and no chunks while she is under one, only small soft pieces she can squash. From a year she picks up the chopped fruit herself.Spoon, fingers, or both? ›

How much prune, and how often?

A small amount, built up only as she takes it. While her stools are hard, that helping can go into any of her meals. Let her tummy, her nappy, and her appetite set the pace, and know that more is not better, since too much fibre only upsets her digestion. Once she is passing comfortably again, prunes go back to being a fruit she has now and then. Her day at six months holds two or three small meals, and the prune goes into one.How much she should eat ›

Can I just give prune juice instead, and from what age?

Not before her first birthday. The AAP finds no real benefit in fruit juice for a baby under one, and asks that it be kept out of her routine feeds. The WHO asks that fruit juice stay limited through the first two years as well. What softens a stuck stool is the soaked, mashed fruit itself, so give her the fruit. Bottled juice is a shortcut some of us reach for, and it is one to leave for later.

Every packet on the shelf seems to have added sugar or a coating. How do I pick a good one?

Plain dried prunes, with nothing added, is what the label should say. Added sugar is the thing to leave on the shelf, since ICMR-NIN keeps it away from children under two, and a prune is sweet enough already. A packet of pitted prunes saves you a step and takes the hard stone out of the picture. Whichever one you bring home, the soaking and mashing in your own kitchen is what turns it into her food.

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Every page is checked against ICMR-NIN, IAP and WHO guidance.

Sources: IAP, ICMR-NIN and 3 more sources ›

Educational only, and never a replacement for your paediatrician. Read the full note ›