Pear, Prune + Clove Baby Food (aka.. the Constipation Cure Puree)
Medically reviewed and cowritten by Jamie Johnson, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), and Lauren Braaten, Pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT).
This Pears, Prunes + Cloves Baby Food recipe is a tasty puree that will help cure baby constipation right up! An easy puree made with fresh pears, prunes and cloves. Great for 6+ months.
Constipation Puree for Baby
Got a little one that is backed up 😳?
For most parents, a baby’s constipation can be a troubling concern, especially because symptoms usually appear at 3 am.
While baby’s little bellies might be going MORE MORE MORE for all of the new delicious foods you are serving them, their delicate intestines might be saying WHOA THERE COWBABY, EASY DOES IT ✋!
It takes a while for a baby’s digestive system to catch up with its stomach, so while a backed-up baby is unnerving, it is nothing to completely freak out about.
Because both pears and prunes are packed with fiber and contain the sugar alcohol sorbitol, which acts as a natural laxative, they help get things going down there in a completely safe and gentle way.
And while I am calling this the Constipation Cure Puree 💩, you can really make and serve this puree anytime because it is soooooo good.
Sweet pears are steamed until just tender and then pureed with re-hydrated prunes and a dash of cloves to make a delicious puree that will help baby become more regular.
Constipation Cure Puree Video
Watch this video to see how easy it is to make this easy constipation cure puree!
Ingredients
- Pears: are a great fruit to add into a constipation puree as they are full of two types of fiber that will gently get things moving for baby down there. You can use any pear variety you have on hand: Bartlett, Concorde, Bosc or Comice will all work.
- Prunes: are used in this constipation remedy as they have a high sorbitol content which acts as a gentle laxative for baby.
- Cloves: is a great addition in this puree as it may help with the production of gastric mucus and fiber that is good for digestive health.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Chop: Core and chop pears.
- Steam: 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 10 minutes or until tender. Let cool slightly. Reserve steamer water.
- Soak: Meanwhile, in a small bowl, place the prunes in hot water, and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain.
- Blend: Add the pears, prunes and cloves into a blender or food processor.
- Puree: Start on low speed and work the blender up to high speed for 1-2 minutes or until completely smooth, adding water from the steamer in 1/4 cup increments, if needed.
- Eat: Serve to baby, or freeze for later.
How much to serve to baby
If baby is backed up, I would start small with serving 1-2 ounces of this puree during the day, and continue to serve this to baby until they are regular. If needed, you can work your way up to 3-6 ounces a serving. I recommend always serving this to baby during the day, as it will give baby the rest of the day to get things going down there… aka… no big blowout during the middle of the night.
HOW TO STORE BABY PUREE
REFRIGERATOR
You can store this puree in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Let the puree cool.
- Transfer puree to an airtight container and place in the fridge. I like using these smaller 4-oz containers so you can have a single serving at your ready.
- If using larger containers, make sure you use a clean spoon to scoop out the amount of puree needed for a feeding, do not warm up the entire container if you don’t plan on feeding it all to baby at once.
FREEZER
This puree can be frozen for up to 4 months.
- Spoon puree into a freezer storage container (this is my favorite freezer storage container) – do not overfill.
- Place the lid on the storage container or cover with a piece of saran wrap and label with date and recipe name.
- Place the tray into the freezer and let freeze completely – preferably overnight.
- Pop out the baby food cubes and place in a zip-lock baggie or stasher bag – don’t forget to re-label the baggie or stasher bag for future reference.
Need more information on how to store your baby foods – head over to my Best Baby Food Storage Containers – Plus 6 Tips on Freezing and Thawing post!
Label Tip: Don’t forget to label your purees before you place them in the fridge or freezer with the name and date you made it. Take it from me, you will completely forget when and what is in your freezer by the end of the week;).
ADDING CLOVES AND ADDITIONAL SPICES
In this recipe, we are adding in a pinch of cloves to help aid in digestion, but feel free to use the following spices instead – nutmeg, cinnamon or freshly minced ginger (see quantity recommendations in the recipe card).
Tip on Spices: I have always added in spices to my baby food purees, but you can add or leave out spices in all of your baby food. You do you! Either way, this puree will taste amazing.
Tips
- Do Not Peel: a good amount of the fiber in pears is contained in the peel, so it is best to leave and steam the pear with the peel on. Once you puree the pears, the texture will be smooth.
- Baby-Led Weaning: if you are doing baby-led weaning, you can make this recipe as-is but instead of pureeing you can pulse the ingredients into a chunky puree and serve to baby on a self-feeding spoon.
- Freezer-Friendly: this puree is completely freezer-friendly and is a great puree to make and then freeze, so you can defrost a small portion on the spot when needed.
Helpful Tools
DID YOU MAKE THIS CONSTIPATION BABY PUREE?
I’D LOVE TO KNOW HOW IT TURNED OUT! LEAVE A COMMENT AND A ⭐️ RATING BELOW 👇
Get the recipe: Pear, Prune + Clove Baby Food (Constipation Cure Puree)
Ingredients
- 3 medium pears
- 4 dried prunes, pitted
- 1 cup hot water
- pinch ground cloves (roughly 1/8 tsp)
Instructions
- Prep: Core and chop pears.
- Steam: 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 10 minutes or until tender. Let cool slightly. Reserve steamer water.
- Soak: Meanwhile, in a small bowl, add the prunes to the hot water, and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain.
- Add: Place the pears, prunes and cloves into blender or food processor.
- Puree: Start on low speed and work the blender up to high speed for 1-2 minutes or until completely smooth, adding water from the leftover steamer water in 1/4 cup increments, if needed.
- Eat: Serve to baby, or freeze for later.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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102 Comments on “Pear, Prune + Clove Baby Food (aka.. the Constipation Cure Puree)”
So grateful for this recipe. After 6 days finally today my 8 months baby could ralease and open his bowels. as the recipe said it felt like a gentle laxative.
Aww! So thrilled to hear that this puree gave your little one some much needed relief! xo
We love this recipe! But if I ran out and needed to make a quick batch, if I substitute the pears for apples, do you think this will still help with constipation?
I love all the recipes on this blog, but this one I need to really give a hats off to you for. It’s really tasty and it really works to help with the constipation!!
I wasn’t sure about adding clove, but it’s a very small amount, so it’s not overpowering. I was very pleasantly surprised. Love, love, love this recipe.
Thank you for your 5-star review! I am so glad you have been loving all of our recipes, especially this one! There is no false advertising on this puree – it really does do the job 😉.
New time mother here & I’ve been breastfeeding my 7month old as well as introducing solids here and there. He has always been regular. So when he was constipated for 5 days, I panicked. I tried massaging, warm baths, water, trying to give him more milk (though he wouldn’t suckle for too much). Then I came across a reddit post about prunes- I found this recipe. Gave my baby some, then more a couple hours later. I gave him a hot bath, more milk then BAM. Took only 5 hours for his diaper to EXPLODE! So stinky, so great! I will ALWAYS have this recipe at hand. Very tasty, very simple, & great!
I’m so happy to hear that this recipe worked for you! It’s crazy how ‘effective’ it is ;). I love to have a freezer stash on hand for when baby needs it the most.
Exactly! From that day on thats EXACTLY what I do! Thanks a bunch again!
I cannot thank you enough for the plethora of information, recipes and encouragement I have received from your page. THANK YOU! My 9 month old most certainly rated better than I do lol.
Also, try son loves puree! Helps him with his constipation every time!!
Thank you so much for your kind words! I am so glad you are here and your little one enjoys his purees!
My poor 6.5 month baby was crying and screaming trying to pass hard movements all day. I gave him 3 tablespoons of this and within 3 hours his movement came out soft and easy. Thank you thank you thank you!
Yay! I am so excited that this puree worked for your baby!
My almost 8 month old baby was constipated, we tried multiple things and nothing was working. So I made him Pears & Prunes! I didn’t have Cloves so that was left out. Within 24 hours he was had a movement! Without struggle, without strain! Thank you so so so much for this recipe! I’ll have a back stock in the freezer from now on! ❤️
So glad this puree worked for your little one! It really is a miracle puree!
I made this purée about 2 hours ago and my baby finished it about an hour ago and had a smooth textured poop not even 30 minutes later. He was constipated all week and this did the trick! Thank you!
So glad this puree worked for your little one so fast! What a relief (for both of you). 🙂
My baby girl has been struggling for months with constipation and I don’t like using over the counter laxatives. So i tried giving her water, prune and apple juice, it all didn’t work until i tried this constipation cure purée. I only fed her twice (in two consecutive days) and i can’t believe it worked. She’s now popping nicely. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
So glad this recipe worked for your little one! It really is a miracle puree 🙂
We also swear by prune puree whenever baby has constipation. Your blog is amazing.
Prunes definitely get the job done;). Thanks for being here.
I’ve fed my baby breakfast, lunch and dinner but he still hasn’t pooped yet and it’s been more than 24 hrs.
Hi, how many time should I feed it to my baby? Do I feed it to him at every meal till he poops?
I would feed it to your baby 1-2 times a day until regular. Hope that helps.
Hi, What kind of prunes do you use?
I used dried prunes, any brand will work.
Literally can’t believe how affective this recipe is. I made it and fed about 3 oz to my 7 month old who had been struggling to have a bowel movement. Within 15 minutes she released everything that had been backed up. I don’t know if it was a coincidence or this is the best recipe ever, but either way I’ll be using it in the future (for the whole family)! Thank you!
I am so glad that baby isn’t backed up anymore!
I just made this and it is absolutely perfect! Thank you for your recipe.
You are my inspiration, I own few blogs and often run out from
post :).
This recipe worked wonders! I could tell my baby was uncomfortable haven’t pooed for 2 days. I gave him 1 cup of this recipe and he started straining within minutes and had a great large poop! Thank you thank you!
So happy to hear this!
Hi
How many spoonfuls shall I give my 6 and half month baby of this mix at a go ?
Thank you
I would start with 1-2 ounces, and go from there.
I just wanted to write to say thanks so very much for this recipe. My toddler has a neuromuscular disease, and that means that everything is weaker, including the muscles that are supposed to move things along and keep him regular!
It’s no joke: he was starting to lose weight and his growth was slowing because the constipation made him too sick to eat well, and was impairing digestion of what he did eat. This is the ONLY THING that 1. He thinks is tasty enough to eat (he’s older so isn’t into purée texture in general), and 2. Works almost every time!
He had lost a pound when we started this, and now he has gained three pounds back, and has grown several inches! Between this and the techniques from his GI, he goes every single day instead of 5-6 days! What a relief 😅 Thanks so so much!!!
I am so sorry to hear about your toddler’s struggles, but am so happy that this has brought him (and you) some relief!
Do I remove the skin on pears
You can peel the pears if your baby is just starting purees, otherwise you can leave then on as they will blend into a smooth puree.
I made this today for my grandson who was very constipated. I could eat that myself as it was good. Bought 2 Bosch pears…hard but sweet. Didn’t notice prunes too much, and the cloves gave it as great flavor. We’ll see how it works. I think you said you could free it. I have a silicone mold for baby food. Didn’t know Ziploc makes pint size freezer bags. Perfect for those molded baby foods.
So glad you both liked it:)
Can’t wait to try this, my little one has been struggling. How much should I give my 7mo old?? Recommended time, for lunch or would giving her this for breakfast be better?
Thanks!!
I would start with 1-3 ounces depending on how much he usually eats, and then add more from there. I would give it to him in the morning or lunch so you don’t have a blowout during the nighttime 😉
Would canned pears work for this or is there something helpful in fresh pears that breaks down when canned? Pears I find at the grocery store tend to take a long time to ripen, if they ripen at all, which is not convenient if I want to make this in a hurry. Unripe pears are not nearly as tasty and I bet don’t have as many sugars developed to help this recipe “work”. Thanks!
I haven’t tried canned pears for this recipe, as most canned pears have added sugar in their juices. If you try canned pears, I would drain and rise the pears before cooking. Also, maybe try frozen pears.
I use Kroger’s simple truth canned pears with *ahem* excellent results! No sugar added; just pears in pear juice. I use 2 cans with the juice, 15 prunes, spices, and some ground flax (mine’s for a toddler though- flax might be a bit much for a baby). I just dump it in, wuzz it up, pour in my pouches, and we’re in business (pun intended)!
Love this! And so glad your toddler is back in business!
I every time used to study post in news papers but now as I am a user of
internet so from now I am using net for articles, thanks to web.
I just made this for my 7 month old baby last night and subbed cinnamon for the cloves. She loved it!! It smelled amazing while I was cooking it too!