Kiddo Kitchen › Resources › Constipation relief

By Karen · Kiddo Kitchen · 6 min read

5 baby and toddler recipes to help relieve constipation (6 months to 3 years)

Real food, real results. Five recipes built around the ingredients most likely to get things moving, from first purées all the way through to toddler smoothie pouches.

If you have landed here, there is a good chance things have gone suspiciously quiet in the nappy department. You are not alone. Baby recipes to relieve constipation are one of the most searched topics by parents in those first weeks of solid food, and it makes sense. These five recipes span ages six months to three years, each built around ingredients that are genuinely good at getting things moving. They are simple, nutritious, and most of them freeze brilliantly. A quick note on storage: most recipes in this guide freeze well and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. The exception is Recipe 3 (Oat, Kiwi and Pear Porridge), which is best served fresh. If you are using formula in any recipe, do not freeze it. Use breast milk or cooled boiled water instead, as formula should not be frozen once prepared. Breast milk and cooled boiled water are both safe to freeze.

Adjusting what you are serving is almost always the most effective first step before reaching for anything else.

Before the recipes: why these foods relieve constipation

Before we get into the actual recipes, here is why these specific ingredients keep coming up rather than just any fruit or vegetable you happen to have in the fridge.

Prunes and plums contain sorbitol, a naturally occurring compound that draws water into the bowel and softens stools. The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne specifically recommends strained stewed prunes for babies on solids, up to three tablespoons three times a week. I have leaned on this recommendation more times than I can count. Pears, peaches and papaya are the classic P fruits, gentle on tiny tummies and reliably effective. Kiwi is high in fibre and contains an enzyme called actinidin that actively supports digestion, and it is important to add kiwi after the meal rather than during cooking, because heat destroys the actinidin enzyme and removes its digestive benefit. Lentils and legumes from around six to seven months are genuinely underrated, and oats do far more for gut motility than rice cereal ever did. Once I understood this, I stopped defaulting to rice cereal at all.

If you are unsure why this is happening, start with our main guide: Baby constipated after starting solids? What’s normal, what’s not and what actually helps. It covers the causes, the warning signs, and when to call the GP.

Recipe 1: prune and pear purée

Age: 6 months and up | Makes: 6 to 8 portions | Freezes: yes

This is the one to reach for first. Prunes and pears are a classic combination for very good reason. They work. The Pregnancy, Birth and Baby service confirms that prune and similar fruit purées are a practical first-line dietary approach for babies with constipation.

You will need:

• 4 pitted prunes (dried or fresh)
• 2 ripe pears, peeled and chopped
• 3 to 4 tablespoons cooled boiled water or breast milk

Steam the pears and prunes together for 8 to 10 minutes until completely soft. Blend until smooth, adding liquid gradually to reach a thin, easy consistency. Start with 1 to 2 tablespoons per feed and observe. Most babies respond within 24 to 48 hours.

Freeze leftovers in the PureePops Tray for easy single-serve portions you can pull straight from the freezer on a busy morning. Here in Brisbane I keep this one stocked at all times, not just as a remedy but as a regular part of the rotation.

Recipe 2: pea, spinach and sweet potato mash

Age: 6 months and up  |  Makes: 8 to 10 portions  |  Freezes: yes

A savoury option that packs fibre from three different vegetables at once. Peas and spinach bring fibre and iron, sweet potato adds natural sweetness and bulk that babies tend to love.

You will need:

• 1 small sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 large handful baby spinach
• Breast milk or cooled boiled water to blend

Steam the sweet potato for 15 minutes, adding peas for the final 3 minutes. Add spinach for the last 60 seconds to wilt. Blend everything together until smooth, or leave slightly textured for babies ready for more substance.

The KiddoKook Pro handles all of this in one vessel. Steam in the basket, remove the basket, blend in the same bowl. No transferring hot food between containers, which in practice means no burns and no extra washing up. Use auto blend for a completely smooth result, or pulse manually if your baby is ready for a little more texture. If you are batch cooking this alongside other recipes, the self-clean function means you are not hand-washing between batches either.

Recipe 3: oat, kiwi and pear porridge

Age: 8 months and up  |  Makes: 2 to 3 serves  |  Best served fresh

Oats swap out rice cereal entirely, which is worth doing permanently if constipation is a recurring issue. Kiwi is one of the most effective natural constipation remedies you can find. Pear keeps the whole thing mild and sweet. The Better Health Channel specifically recommends increasing fruits and wholegrain cereals for children with constipation, and this recipe ticks both boxes in a single bowl.

You will need:

• 3 tablespoons rolled oats
• 100ml breast milk or cooled boiled water
• 1 ripe kiwi fruit, peeled and diced
• Half a ripe pear, peeled and grated

Cook oats in breast milk or cooled boiled water over gentle heat, stirring until thick and creamy, about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir grated pear through while still warm. Allow to cool to a safe temperature, then top with the diced kiwi. Blend briefly if needed for younger babies.

Recipe 4: lentil, pumpkin and coriander purée

Age: 7 months and up  |  Makes: 10 to 12 portions  |  Freezes: yes

Lentils get overlooked because they do not exactly sell themselves. But blended into pumpkin with a pinch of coriander, they are unrecognisable as the worthy food they actually are.

Lentils are one of the most underrated first foods. High in fibre, protein and iron, they are genuinely excellent for gut health. The Raising Children Network highlights that a healthy diet with adequate fibre helps prevent and relieve constipation, and lentils are one of the most concentrated plant fibre sources you can offer a young baby.

You will need:

• Half a cup red lentils, well rinsed
• 1 cup pumpkin, peeled and cubed
• 1.5 cups low-sodium vegetable stock or water
• Small pinch ground coriander (optional for younger babies)

Simmer lentils and pumpkin in the stock for 15 to 18 minutes until completely soft. Add coriander if using, then blend until smooth. Freeze in portions using the PureePops Tray. A batch on Sunday means several lunches are covered without touching the stove again until Thursday.

Recipe 5: prune, banana and chia toddler smoothie pouch

Age: 12 months and up  |  Makes: 2 servings  |  Best served fresh

For toddlers who have decided they no longer eat anything green, anything with texture, or anything that was previously their favourite food, getting fibre in via a smoothie pouch is a genuinely practical workaround. This one tastes like a treat. It is not. Children’s Health Queensland recommends ensuring plenty of fruit for constipated toddlers, and this recipe delivers in a format toddlers will actively ask for.

You will need:

• 4 pitted prunes
• 1 small ripe banana
• Half a cup whole milk or dairy-free alternative
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds
• Quarter teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Blend until completely smooth. Rest for 5 minutes while the chia seeds swell. Pour into the SilliSqueeze Pouch and hand it over. With Theo, the act of squeezing it himself made the entire difference. The same mixture in a bowl got refused. In a pouch he controlled himself, it disappeared in about 90 seconds.

A note on portions and how to introduce these recipes

Start small with any new fibre-rich food. The gut needs time to adjust and too much too fast causes wind and discomfort, which makes everything worse.

Most babies respond within 24 to 48 hours, in my experience usually sooner.

I keep the prune and pear puree in our freezer all the time now. Not just as a remedy but as a regular food. It is easier to think of it that way. One less thing to scramble for when things go wrong.

For a full breakdown of which foods cause constipation and what to swap them for, see Foods that cause constipation in babies and what to swap them for. If your baby is over twelve months, also read Toddler constipation: why it gets worse around age 1 to 3.

Think of the prune and pear puree less as a remedy and more as a very sensible regular food. Hand a toddler a pouch, step back, and let them decide. It works more often than it has any right to.

Make these recipes easier

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