Pear for babies: when to start, softening hard pears and constipation

Pear is a gentle, familiar first fruit, and it can be offered from around 6 months, once your baby has started solids. The NHS first solid foods guide suggests trying mashed or soft, cooked sticks of pear, and pear appears in the NHS fruit lists from 6 months right through to 12 months.

The catch with pear is that the same fruit can be soft enough to mash with a spoon or hard enough to be a choking risk, depending on how ripe it is. This guide shows you how to tell the difference, how to cook or grate firm pears, and where pear fits if your baby is constipated. It also covers why pear juice can wait until after the first birthday.

When can babies eat pear?

From around 6 months, once your baby shows the signs of being ready for solids described in starting solids.

The Australia's ASCIA guide to introducing solid foods, from Australia's allergy body, says iron-rich foods should be offered at around 6 months and that other solid foods can be introduced in any order. Australia's Pregnancy, Birth and Baby lists puréed fruit among first foods and fruit among foods to introduce before 12 months. The NHS guide to feeding from around 6 months lists pears among fruits to try, and the CDC's foods and drinks for 6 to 24 month olds says babies can start foods other than breast milk or formula at about 6 months.

How can I tell if a pear is soft enough for my baby?

Use the squash test. New Zealand's Ministry of Health, in its advice on reducing food-related choking, describes soft food as food that can be easily squashed between your thumb and forefinger, or on the roof of your mouth with your tongue. Press a peeled piece before you serve it.

The NHS says to mash or blend soft ripe fruit, or give it as finger food, and that harder fruits will need to be cooked to soften them. Its first foods guide suggests harder fruits like apple and pear cooked without adding sugar. In the US, the AAP's starting solids page goes further and says that apart from mashed raw banana, most fruits should be cooked until soft. If you're unsure about a pear, cooking it suits both.

How do I prepare pear at each stage?

1. Rinse it under running water, as the CDC's food-poisoning advice suggests for fresh fruit.
2. Peel it. The NHS guide to preparing food safely says removing the skin makes fruit easier to swallow, especially for very young children.
3. Cut out the core and pips. The NHS says to always remove hard pips or stones from fruit.
4. Soften it if needed, by steaming or simmering until it passes the squash test, or grate it.
5. Cool it and shape it for your baby's stage using the table below. The CDC says to put cut fruit in the fridge within 2 hours.

Around 6 months. The NHS says finger food works well in pieces about the size of your own finger, big enough for your baby to hold in their fist with a bit sticking out. A soft, cooked stick of pear fits. For very young children, the NHS also suggests grating, mashing, steaming or simmering firm fruit.

8–9 months. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby says most babies can manage finger foods such as soft fruit at 8 months, and that it's important to introduce lumpy food by 9 months. The NHS guide for 7 to 9 months suggests more mashed, lumpier foods and a variety of finger foods.

12 months and beyond. The NHS 10 to 12 months guide suggests chopping fruit up or offering it as finger food, and Australia's ASCIA says to aim for soft, cut-up or roughly mashed family meals by 12 months. For raw pear, New Zealand's Ministry of Health suggests grating it or slicing it thinly with a mandolin or vegetable peeler for children aged 1 to 6, or cooking it soft and cutting it into strips.

How do I cook pear for a baby?

Steam or simmer peeled, cored pieces in a little water until a fork slides through and they squash easily, then mash or serve as soft sticks. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby suggests fruit cooked with a small amount of water, and the NHS says to cook harder fruits without adding sugar. Let it cool right down before serving. Cooked pear freezes well in small portions, which helps when the fruit bowl only has hard ones.

What about tinned pears?

Tinned pears are usually soft, which makes them handy. The CDC lists whole pieces of canned fruit among choking hazards, so mash them or cut them into small pieces. Choose pears in juice rather than syrup, because the CDC's foods to avoid or limit says children younger than 24 months shouldn't have added sugars. Drain them well. New Zealand's Ministry of Health says tinned fruit in natural juice, drained, is an acceptable soft option.

Is raw pear a choking risk?

A firm or hard one is. The CDC's choking hazards list includes pieces of hard raw fruit, and the CDC's solids guide says to cook hard fruit so it can be easily mashed. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby lists small hard foods, including hard fruit, among foods unsuitable for babies because of choking, and says babies can choke on food of any texture.

What makes raw pear risky:

• Crunchy pieces. New Zealand's Ministry of Health says hard foods are difficult for young children to bite through and break down, and that pieces can become stuck in the airway.
• The skin. It lists pears among fruits with skin, and says fruit skins are difficult to chew and can completely seal a child's airway.
• Chunks. The AAP's choking-prevention advice lists raw fruit chunks among the high-risk foods to keep from children until 4 years of age or older.

Set every meal up the same way. The CDC says to keep your child sitting up while eating, watch them the whole time, and avoid eating in the car or pram. Gagging on soft pear is common while babies learn; choking vs gagging explains how to tell it from choking.

These steps follow the NHS choking first-aid guide, which also says to get medical help afterwards even if the food came out. The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne in Australia recommends that anyone caring for children does a first aid course and learns infant and child CPR, and the AAP recommends a certified CPR and first aid course.

Can pear help a constipated baby?

It can be part of the plan once your baby is on solids. The NHS page on constipation and bottle feeding says that if your baby is on solids, apples, pears and prunes are particularly good for constipation, and that constipation can be caused by not getting enough fibre from fruit, vegetables and cereals.

Australia's Pregnancy, Birth and Baby guide to constipation gives steps by age:

• Under 6 months: speak with your health visitor or doctor first.
• Over 6 months: offer prune or pear juice, or extra water, and add extra fruit and vegetables for fibre.
• Over 9 months: add stewed prunes or apricots, up to 3 tablespoons, 3 times a week.

In the US, the AAP's constipation symptom checker lists pears and prunes among high-fibre baby foods to offer.

Whole pear is the easy first step: soft cooked or ripe mashed pear as part of meals, along with your baby's usual milk feeds and, from around 6 months, sips of water. Pear and prune mashed together is a common combination. If your baby's poos stay hard, or they seem in pain, see constipation in babies for what's normal, what else helps and when to see a doctor.

Is pear juice okay for babies?

Not as a regular drink in the first year. The AAP's statement on fruit juice says juice shouldn't be given to infants under 12 months, offers no nutritional benefit over whole fruit, and can raise the risk of tooth decay. The CDC says children younger than 12 months shouldn't drink any fruit juice. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby says babies shouldn't be given fruit juice or cordial, and the NHS guide to drinks and cups says babies under 12 months don't need fruit juice.

Constipation is the exception some sources make, and they don't agree on the age:

Because the advice differs, check with your GP or health visitor before using pear juice, especially for a baby under 6 months. If you do use it, the NHS suggests keeping fruit juice to mealtimes, which helps reduce the risk of tooth decay. Juice for babies has the full comparison.

Can babies be allergic to pear?

They can, though pear isn't on ASCIA's list of the most common allergy foods in Australia: cow's milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts, wheat, soy, sesame, fish and shellfish. The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network fact sheet on fruit and vegetable allergy, from Australia, says fruit allergy can develop at any age and that the Rosaceae family, which includes apples, pears, cherries, peaches, plums and strawberries, is more likely to cause reactions. Signs include hives or welts, vomiting, tummy pain, and tingling or swelling of the mouth, lips, face or eyes.

The same fact sheet lists pear among foods linked to birch pollen in pollen food syndrome. Australia's ASCIA's oral allergy syndrome FAQ says this causes itching or tingling in the mouth from raw fruit, is most common in people with hay fever, and that cooked or peeled fruit is often tolerated. Australia's ASCIA says pollen allergy usually develops first, so it's more likely in older children than babies; apple for babies covers it in more detail.

Australia's ASCIA says reactions usually happen within minutes to two hours, and that a mild rash only around the mouth, with no other signs, may not be an allergic reaction. The method for the common allergy foods is in introducing allergens.

These steps follow the Australia's ASCIA first aid plan for anaphylaxis from Australia, which says to hold young children flat, not upright, and to start CPR if your baby is unresponsive and not breathing normally.

When should I get help?

Call 999 now if your baby:

• can't breathe, cough or cry because food is stuck, turns blue or becomes unresponsive
• has sudden swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficult or noisy breathing, after eating
• becomes pale, floppy or drowsy, collapses, or has a hoarse or weak cry
• has green or yellow vomit, which the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network in Australia says is usually a sign of a twisted or blocked bowel
• has had no wet nappy or wee for 12 hours, as the NHS urgent-help guide lists
• has more than a streak of blood in their poo along with vomiting or a swollen tummy, or seems pale, floppy or unwell

Get medical help today if your baby:

• has hives or welts beyond the mouth, or swelling of the face or eyes, and is breathing normally
• vomits after eating pear
• needed back blows or chest thrusts, even if they now seem well
• hasn't pooed for around 3 days and has a swollen tummy, tummy pain, or is straining or bleeding from the bottom, which the NHS lists as a sign of serious illness
• has blood in their poo, even a streak

Talk to your GP or health visitor if:

• your baby's constipation isn't improving after a few days of diet changes
• you're thinking of giving pear or prune juice, especially under 6 months
• your baby still can't manage mashed or lumpy food by around 9 months