These nutritious baby food purees will relieve your baby's constipation no time.
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Baby Food Purees And Constipation
Starting solids is a huge point in your baby's life. And yours. And just when you've gotten the hang of mixing and matching the foods for those delicious baby food purees you find your child struggling with pooping.
That's called constipation. And surprisingly or not it's very common in babies that have just started eating purees. Or finger food. Or any solid food for that matter.
The real reason for this is that your baby's little tummy and gut have only been used to breastmilk and/or formula so far so any amount of solid food is a huge change for them.
Although baby constipation is not something you need to stress about, it can cause your baby discomfort so it's obviously better prevented or soothed whenever possible.
And how else than with food. With the focus here being on baby purees.
But first, let's see how to recognized that your baby needs some help.
Signs Of Baby Constipation
To be sure that the issue your baby is having is a long-term response to new foods, watch for the below signs of possible baby constipation:
- Your baby's poops are hard, dry or lumpy and may resemble stones or marbles
- Your baby is experiencing pain and discomfort during bowel movements
- Your baby's belly is slightly swollen
- Your baby has infrequent bowel movements
- Noticing blood in your baby’s poop is a sign to call your doctor!
Common Causes of Baby Constipation
Even though constipation can be caused by various reasons, research has shown that there are certain foods or lack of them that are the main culprits for baby constipation. And often in adults too for that matter.
Here's a list of the most common:
- Baby food low in fiber
- Excessive dairy in baby food
- Baby food that has too much white grains (bread, pasta, white potatoes)
- Lack of water in baby's diet
Easy Baby Constipation Relief
If you're reading this at the time your baby is struggling with constipation, it might seem that there is little you can do to help them. But don't stress. In reality, there are little things you can do to actually help them a lot. And fairly quickly.
Beginning with food. And the easiest adjustments to baby food is in baby food purees.
The main reason for this is that you can get more of those foods and nutrients you want to sooth your baby's symptoms in a baby food puree than you would get out of finger foods.
So it's just a matter of removing the foods (or lowering their amount) that can cause constipation and replacing them with the ones that can relieve it.
Use Fewer Low-Fiber Foods in Baby Food Purees:
- Use fewer dairy products: yogurt, cheese, cow’s milk. (Kefir is ok because it has probiotics that are good for baby's gut)
- Remove starchy fruit: bananas
- Reduce starchy vegetables: carrots, white potatoes
- Avoid “BRAT” foods: bananas, rice, store-bought applesauce, toast
- Offer red meat in moderation only
Include More High-Fiber Foods in Baby Food Purees:
- Increase the frequency “P-fruits”: pears, prunes, plums, peaches
- Try 100% pasteurized fruit juices: grape, pear, apple, plum, prune (but no more than 3-5 oz/day). You can also dilute them with water
- Include legumes in baby food purees: kidney beans, and peas
- Frequently use grains: buckwheat, barley, oat, whole wheat products
- Increase your baby's water intake
5 Baby Food Purees To Relieve Constipation
To help you get started with constipation relieving baby food purees as well as to give you some good examples on how to mix and match foods and what types to help your baby, we've compiled a list of our favorite baby food purees to relieve constipation.
These were developed by me for my baby according to the recommendations and guidelines on baby constipation relief and each one of them worked wonders.
But if I had to tell you what my favorite was and go-to when things got rough – it's mixing sweet potato with anything.
Even today when my son is 14 months old, when he has trouble pooping my husband just says "make him some sweet potato". And it works.
Each of these recipes can be made into a smooth puree, or if your child is older and you prefer more textured food you can adjust the recipes as needed.
To puree, just put the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add water teaspoon by teaspoon if needed to get to your desired consistency.
Any constipation relieving personal favorites? Leave a comment below.
More Constipation Relieving Posts
- Dealing With Baby Constipation The Natural Way
- Digestive Problems - Dealing With Them In The First Year
- 5 Recipes To Relieve Constipation
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