Kid-Approved Prune Juice Smoothie (to help with constipation)

The last thing any parent wants is for their child to suffer from constipation. Try this kid-approved prune juice smoothie to help move things naturally along.
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A prune juice smoothie? Why would anyone want to drink one of those? Well, for our daughter, she doesn’t have much of a choice. She has struggled with chronic constipation for at least a year, and for her it’s either a laxative or a prune juice smoothie.

Thankfully this prune juice smoothie has been just as effective, if not more effective, than Miralax.

This is music to this mamas ears. Why?

Around Christmas of last year our daughter had to once again start Miralax. Her intestines were completely backed up and she needed to get it out, fast. I prefer to use magnesium to get things going, but this was not working this time around. I felt my only option was to follow our doctor’s instructions and use the dreaded Miralax.

A month in to her treatment my husband came upstairs with deep concern. While watching the Today Show he saw that Miralax was being investigated by the FDA. I had known it was being questioned which was why I had such concern giving it to her, but this news confirmed my deepest fears.

Yikes.

The last thing any parent wants is for their child to suffer from constipation. Try this kid-approved prune juice smoothie to help move things naturally along.
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I’m not sure if you’ve seen the headlines, but yes, Miralax is under scrutiny.

It is indeed being investigated by the FDA, specifically regarding its use in children. After all, Miralax is an adult laxative and only suggested to be used for seven days….in adults. Many children, including my daughter, have had to consume Miralax for weeks or even months, and this continued use is becoming worrisome based on recent findings. Here is an article regarding Miralax and the investigation from the NY Times.

After we realized Miralx was being investigated, I talked to our doctor and he expressed disappointment in the Miralax findings as well. So, he checked her belly to see how she was doing. He could tell she had made significant progress and recommended we skip the Miralax and go in to maintenance mode. He suggested we try some alternatives to handle her chronic constipation such as doubling her fiber, eating lots of veggies and drinking prune juice.

Hmmmmm…. Sounds good in theory, but…

Two of our three kids are phenomenal eaters — she is NOT one of them. She is an insanely picky eater because she struggles with the texture of many foods, thus the constipation issue. BUT, she does love a good smoothie.

The last thing any parent wants is for their child to suffer from constipation. Try this kid-approved prune juice smoothie to help move things naturally along.
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What if I could get all of this into a smoothie?

It was my daughter’s lucky day because the first prune juice smoothie I made was a success. She LOVED it! It has prune juice, kale (yay veggies), flax seed (yay more fiber) and coconut milk which helps keep things going…if you know what I mean.

The best part is this smoothie made her “go” immediately and as long as I give her this smoothie four to five times a week, we have success.

Kid-Approved Prune Juice Smoothie
 
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Simply throw everything into a blender and blend until smooth. Easy AND effective!

The last thing any parent wants is for their child to suffer from constipation. Try this kid-approved prune juice smoothie to help move things naturally along.
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What is YOUR favorite smoothie recipe? No, it does not have to be for constipation either!

Comments 27

  1. Thanks for sharing your experience and recipe! My daughter goes every 5-7 days. Since she was a breastfed newborn!! It’s never hurt her physically to go, but by it being so long between times its building up and taking room for her urine. So she has accidents a lot after a few days. I took her to a pediatric urologist who also recommended miralax. I was not comfortable with that so we’ve been trying other things. I’ve been giving her Epsom salt baths so she could get the magnesium from it absorbed into her body. It’s been working well. Had a follow up with the urologist yesterday and he pushed miralax again. I told him I’m not comfortable with that. That it’s not approved for use in children by the FDA and he brushed me off. Said he gave it to his kids, so it’s not something he wouldn’t give for his family. Well, good for you. I also don’t give my kids soda, so because you do that makes it good for them? Nope! I’ll be finding a new urologist if I need one. This doctor lost my respect after repeating over and over to call in the office for the prescription when I’m ready. After telling him many times I won’t be giving it to her. So frustrating!

  2. Thank you for sharing your smoothie recipes. My daughter has chronic constipation. She has had to rely on laxatives most of her life. Thank you again for this alternative.
    .

  3. Love this alternative! I am getting a bit bored of drinking prune juice straight. 😉

    And yes, avoid miralax! I used to work with a surgeon and he hated the stuff! It’s just soap! If constipation is bad, he prescribes mineral oil. Worked like a charm on my daughter!

    Can’t wait to try this recipe!

  4. My son is experiencing the same problem. He goes every 3-4 days and it’s painful. I actually gave him warm prune juice last night (that was a struggle) and he had to go within 10 minutes. I will give this smoothie a try. Thanks

  5. Thank you for sharing! My daughter has had major constipation issues and has reverted to only pooping in her pull-up instead of going on the toilet. Maybe this will help…at least with the constipation! I’m gonna give it a shot!

  6. This has helped us immensely with impacted stools. My daughter is almost two and was constantly constipated. Giving her this along with other foods high in fiber has truly gotten her back on track. Thank you for sharing!

  7. Thank you for sharing. My almost 3 year old daughter has been constipated for the last two years. We’ve tried everything including daily medication – Movicol here in Ireland. She has this smoothie every day (half the portion as it’s a little much for her) and she has gone to the toilet every day since! A very happy mummy and daughter.
    If you have tried any other successful smoothie recipes please do share. Thank you again.

  8. Thanks for this recipe! My 2 year old son struggles with constipation, and poops tiny little poops throughout the day, but we can always tell that he needs to go more. We have been giving him suppositories every once in a while to clear him out, but I just wasn’t super comfortable with doing that every day. Gav me him this smoothie yesterday for the first time, and within 20 minutes, he had a great productive poop. I was so excited!!!

  9. I’m definitely going to try this out with my boy. He’s about 16 months and has had chronic constipation since we started feeding him food (so about a year). It’s so painful to see him cry during a bowel movement. I hate using miralax as well and after reading this, I definitely don’t want to give it to him. I’m heading to the store to bug these ingredients. I hope this works well for him!

  10. I’m defintely trying this all weekend for my daughter. I’m pushed to tears when I see her struggle to poop! Will come back with feedback at the end of the weekend. Fingers crossed!

  11. Thanks so much for sharing. I’m definately going to give it a try as we are desperate at this point. My daughter is 3.5 & also a picky eater. Unfortunately she has what I believe to be an anal fissure & has recently had a tear despite daily BM’so, fiber probiotics & Miralax. Has anyone else had experience with a fissure? Desperate Mom needs advice!

  12. Thank you so much for this. My 1.5 has been dealing with constipation and this made him go without any discomfort; and best of all, he actually liked it! I would definitely recommend this recipe.

  13. OMG thank you for posting this article & recipe!! My daughter has encopresis( which is a constipation disease) & we have been on Miralax for almost 2 yrs but we have a very busy schedule so its hard to always give it to her. Ive had concerns about it also but have been told its the only thing we can do besides trying to give her more fiber. I will definetely be trying this tonight!!

  14. Thank you for sharing!! All 3 of my children have struggled with constipation since birth. And rather than investigate why, our doctors keep pushing PEG. They keep arguing that it is the only safe option. Yet all the research I do proves otherwise. So I have tirelessly been researching and testing out my own natural alternatives. Some work, most don’t. So your story is very similar to mine. I’m looking forward to trying this with my kids. Thanks!

  15. I made her this smoothie and she pooped hours later!!! It was 4 days that she didn’t go and now she went!

    Thank you!!!

  16. I am struggling with constipation as well. I am 41 and I will be trying this smoothie. I will let you know the results. My doctor also said miralax and stool softner

  17. Looking forward to trying this on my 3yo who holds it in. He’s had constipation issues since 6m old and ive tried everything- from miralax-metamucil- benefiber, exlax, pedialax, enemas… flax seed oil…

  18. Just checking that you use the canned coconut milk (thick, used in sauces, found in baking aisle or Mexican food aisle)? Not coconut milk found in the refrigerated case with cows milk and almond milk (like the Silk brand)? Thank you!

  19. Thank you so much for sharing this….my daughter is struggling so much with this and I’ve been trying to figure out how to get her to eat any and all of these things in a way she can enjoy so definitely gonna try this!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

  20. Hello! I will definitely try this out today!!👌 My daughter has had constipation problems Since she was 1 year old probably and get worst when the weather gets cooler. I’m tired of trying things and don’t see any results since she is a picky eater too. I have used the miralax because it is the only thing that helped her go but I have read that it is bad for her gut so I’m going to try this and hope to see any result. Thank you so much!!!!!!

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