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My prune puree for baby recipe will quickly become one of your little one’s favorites. With a perfect creamy texture and sweet taste, it’s packed with vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber that help keep baby regular. Plus, with my simple recipe, learning how to prepare prunes for baby is easy!

Ah, prunes. Prunes get such a bad rap – but they’re actually quite delicious! They’re basically just dried plums that look like massive raisins and babies love the flavor.

You can easily make just plain prune baby food, but I found that the addition of some Fuji apples adds another dimension and makes it taste even better. It’s one of my most popular baby food recipes!

🥄 When Can Babies Eat Prunes?

Babies can start eating prunes as soon as they begin solids, typically around 4-6 months of age. I generally recommend my homemade prune puree after your baby has tried about 4 to 5 mild vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, and peas. 

This helps your baby get used to less-sweet first foods. Babies are already familiar with sweet tastes from breastmilk and formula, so it’s important to introduce vegetables early to ensure they don’t reject them later on.

When I started solid foods for my kids, around 6 months of age and after they had already had a bunch of veggie purees, I gave them small amounts of this prune baby food to help keep them regular.

👶 Does Prune Baby Food Help With Constipation? 

Yes, my apple and prune puree can help your baby when constipated. Prunes are high in fiber and they also contain sorbitol, which helps get things moving by pulling water into the digestive tract. In fact, I like using pureed prunes better than prune juice since it works just as well but won’t typically cause diarrhea the way prune juice might!

I recommend starting with 2-3 tablespoons of prune puree for baby constipation and increasing as needed. It typically takes 12 to 24 hours for the prune baby food to take effect.

Latest Recipe Video!

🥘 Ingredients

My prune recipe for baby uses simple ingredients easily found at your local grocery store. See the full recipe card at the bottom of the post for the exact amounts and nutritional information.

Organic Prunes: I recommend using dried prunes with no added sugar (you should only see one ingredient on the package – prunes!). You can also use fresh prunes, as a prune is simply a dried plum.

Organic Fuji Apples: Fuji apples, with their sweet flavor and pinkish flesh, pair perfectly with prunes. While you don’t have to include apples in my prune puree recipe, they help mellow out the flavor for babies. It’s important to choose organic apples since they’re on the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list.

Water: Used to cook the fruit and give this apple prune puree a smooth consistency that your baby can easily eat.

🔪 How To Make Prune Baby Food

Anyone can learn how to make prune puree for baby with my simple recipe. Watch my video below to see the step-by-step instructions in action!

Prep The Fruits: To begin, I wash the apples, cut them in half, and remove seeds and stems. Then I cut each half into 4-6 pieces and remove the pits from the prunes. Next, I put the apples, prunes, and water into a large pot, cover with a lid, and turn the burner on high.

Cook: I cook the fruit for 8 minutes until tender, stirring occasionally.

Puree: Once cooked, I pour everything into a blender and puree the fruit until smooth. For babies 4-8 months, a totally smooth puree is the ideal texture. Once your baby gets older (9-12 months) you can make a chunkier puree.

Store Or Serve: After it’s blended, I pour the smooth puree into ice cube trays and allow it to cool. Then I cover or wrap the trays and pop them in the freezer. You can also serve some of the puree to your baby right away. 

📖 Variations

Mash: If your little one is older, instead of pureeing, you can mash the stewed prunes for baby and leave them chunky. They can then feed themselves and chew with their gums. I would do this for my kids once they were about 10-12 months old.

Breast Milk Or Formula: Before serving, stir in some breast milk or formula for added calories and nutrition. Do not add breast milk or formula before freezing or storing in the fridge (as it will spoil) — add it right before serving. When using a formula, I recommend using one of these organic baby formulas, which are a close formulation to breastmilk.

Baby Food Combinations: You can easily make prune puree combinations for baby by mixing it together with some other baby food like pureed banana, peaches, nectarines, or even pear puree.

Add Spices: If your baby is ready for more flavor, try adding a pinch of cinnamon, cardamom, pumpkin pie spice, or nutmeg. My kids loved this puree mixed with cinnamon and nutmeg.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

While I created this recipe for little ones, my baby prune puree is really versatile and doesn’t have to just be for infants!

Baby Led Weaning: There are a lot of great options when deciding how to serve prunes to baby for self-feeding. Spread a thin layer of the puree on toast or soft bread. Another great idea is to mix the puree with mashed vegetables or fruits, creating a nutrient-packed meal that is easy for your baby to pick up and eat.

Toddlers: When my kids were toddlers, I’d mix this into simple oatmeal, yogurt, or other fruit purees. Prune puree can also be added to baked goods like my peanut butter muffins and vegan chocolate chip muffins.

Older Kids & Adults: Use it as a topping for these air fryer pancakes or vegan protein waffles. It’s also a great addition to smoothies like my apple carrot smoothie or banana smoothie bowl.

🧊 Storage Directions

Fridge: Once cool, I transfer the puree to an airtight container and place it in the fridge. It will keep for up to 5 days.

Freezer: For longer storage, I let the baby food cool completely before transferring it to an ice cube tray with a fitted lid and then pop it in the freezer. You can also wrap it in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn. Once frozen, I pop out the cubes and store them in a freezer bag. 

Defrost: When ready, I thaw the cubes in the fridge overnight in a small bowl or warm them gently in the microwave until they reach room temperature, making sure they’re not too hot for my baby.

❓Recipe FAQs

📋 Recipe Card

 

By Tony Leys

If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing “988,” or the Crisis Text Line by texting “HOME” to 741741.

GRINNELL, Iowa — The farmers’ co-op here is a center of hope every spring. It’s where farmers buy seed and fertilizer for the summer’s crops, and where they seek tips to maximize their harvest of corn and soybeans.

But on a recent morning, a dozen mental health professionals gathered at the Key Cooperative Agronomy Center to discuss why so many farmers quietly struggle with untreated anxiety and depression.

Studies have concluded that suicide is unusually common among farmers. Researchers believe it’s not just because many farmers have other risk factors, such as rural addresses and access to guns.

The tragic trend has caught the attention of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which sponsors training sessions like the one in Grinnell to help health care professionals learn how to talk to farmers about the pressures they face in wringing a living out of the land.

“A lot of them are born to it. They don’t have any choice,” family therapist David Brown explained to the session’s participants. He noted many farms have been passed down for generations. Current owners feel that if they fail, they would be letting down their grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren.

Brown, who works for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, led the training in Grinnell. He said farmers’ fate hinges on factors out of their control. Will the weather be favorable? Will world events cause prices to soar or crash? Will political conflicts spark changes in federal agricultural support programs? Will a farmer suffer an injury or illness that makes them unable to perform critical chores?

Brown said surveys show many farmers are reluctant to seek mental health care, partly because they think therapists or doctors couldn’t understand their lives.

Tina Recker, a mental health therapist in northeastern Iowa, attended the training session. She has lived on farms, and she has seen how the profession can become a person’s entire identity. “It’s just farm, farm, farm, farm,” she told the group. “If something goes wrong with it, that’s your whole world.”

It’s difficult to estimate how much of farmers’ increased risk of suicide is due to their profession.

Part of the reason for the elevated rate could be that many farmers are middle-aged or older men, who tend to be more at risk in general. “But it’s broader than that for sure,” said Edwin Lewis, a USDA administrator who helps oversee efforts to address the situation.

The Grinnell training session was part of a federal program called the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network. Lewis said the program, which also funds counseling hotlines and support groups, spends $10 million a year.

Jason Haglund sees the issue from multiple angles. He’s a mental health advocate who farms part-time near the central Iowa town of Boone. He and his brother-in-law raise corn and soybeans on the 500-acre farm where Haglund grew up. His family has farmed in the area since the 1880s. His parents hung on despite going into bankruptcy during the 1980s farm crisis, and he embraces his role as caretaker of their legacy.

Haglund is trained as an alcohol and drug addiction counselor, and he co-hosts an Iowa podcast about the need to improve mental health care.

He said it can be stressful to run any kind of family business. But farmers have a particularly strong emotional tie to their heritage, which keeps many in the profession.

“Let’s be honest: Farming at all these days isn’t necessarily a good financial decision,” he said.

Farmers traditionally have valued self-sufficiency, he said. They try to solve their own problems, whether it’s a busted tractor or a debilitating bout of anxiety.

“With the older generation, it’s still, ‘Suck it up and get over it,’” Haglund said. Many younger people seem more willing to talk about mental health, he said. But in rural areas, many lack access to mental health care.

Farmers’ suicide risk is also heightened by many of them owning guns, which provide an immediate means to act on deadly impulses, Haglund said.

Guns are an accepted part of rural life, in which they are seen as a useful tool to control pests, he said. “You can’t go into a rural community and say, ‘We’re going to take your guns away,’” he said. But a trusted therapist or friend might suggest that a depressed person temporarily hand over their guns to someone else who can safely store them.

Haglund said health care professionals shouldn’t be the only ones learning how to address mental stresses. He encourages the public to look into “mental health first aid,” a national effort to spread knowledge about symptoms of struggle and how they can be countered.

A 2023 review of studies on farmer suicides in multiple countries, including the U.S., cited cultural and economic stresses.

“Farmers who died by suicide, particularly men, were described as hard-working, strong, private people who took great pride in being the stoic breadwinners of their families. They were often remembered as members of a unique and fading culture who were poorly understood by outsiders,” wrote the authors, from the University of Alberta in Canada.

Rebecca Purc-Stephenson, a psychology professor who helped write the paper, said health professionals face two challenges: persuading farmers to seek help for mental stress, then encouraging them to keep coming back for therapy.

Back at the training in Iowa, instructors urged mental health professionals to have flexible schedules, and to be understanding when farmers postpone appointments at the last minute.

Maybe one of their animals is sick and needs attention. Maybe a machine broke and needs to be fixed immediately. Maybe the weather is perfect for planting or harvesting.

“Time is money,” said Brown, the therapist leading the training.

The session’s lessons included what to ask and not ask when meeting farmers. A big no-no is inquiring right away about how much land they are working. “If you ask them how many acres they’re farming, that’s like asking to see their bank account,” warned Rich Gassman, director of Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health, who assisted with the lesson.

It would be better to start by asking what they enjoy about farming, the instructors said.

Many farmers also need to talk through emotional issues surrounding when, how, or even if the next generation will take over the family operation.

Tim Christensen, a farm management specialist for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, said some standard advice on how to deal with stress could backfire with farmers.

For example, he said, a health care professional should never advise a farmer to relax by taking a couple of weeks off. Most of them can’t get away from their responsibilities for that long, he said.

“There’s a common saying on the farm: No good vacation goes unpunished.”

Warning Signs of Mental Struggle

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention lists these signs that a person might be considering suicide:

• The person talks about killing themselves, feeling hopeless, having no reason to live, being a burden to others, feeling trapped, or having unbearable pain.
• The person increases their use of alcohol or drugs, sleeps too much or too little, displays fatigue or aggression, withdraws from activities and family and friends, visits or calls people to say goodbye, gives away possessions, or searches online for a way to end their life.
• People considering suicide often seem depressed, anxious, irritable, angry, ashamed, or uninterested in activities. In some cases, they may appear to feel sudden relief or improvement in their mood.
• People in crisis can reach the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting “988.”

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

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Previously Published on kffhealthnews.org

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