How to serve by age
6+ months
Use ripe, soft fruit, or cook it until soft, and offer it as a smooth puree.
Offer ripe, soft fruit as a large wedge or strip that’s easy to hold. Cook it until soft if needed.
9+ months
Offer a mashed texture with soft pieces.
Offer soft wedges or strips for self-feeding.
12+ months
Offer it finely chopped or mashed in dishes your child eats with a spoon.
Offer small soft pieces as part of family meals.
Choking risk
Firm or unripe pear can be hard for young children to chew safely.
To lower the risk:
- offer ripe, soft pears;
- peel if needed;
- cut into thin soft slices or small pieces.
Keep your child sitting upright and stay with them throughout the meal.
Allergies
People with a birch pollen allergy may cross-react to pear.
Individual allergic reactions are possible.
Pears and constipation
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) lists apple and pear juice as a home remedy for constipation in babies older than 1 month: the sugars in these juices aren’t digested well, so they draw fluid into the intestines and loosen stool. It’s an exception to the general rule, since the AAP otherwise doesn’t recommend juice before age 1. Once a baby is eating solids, the AAP suggests vegetables and fruits for constipation, and a call to the pediatrician if diet changes don’t help.
An NHS children’s service also names pears, along with apples and prunes, as high-fiber foods that can help with constipation in babies eating solids.
Fiber and the peel
100 g of raw pear with the peel has 3.1 g of fiber.
That’s USDA data. Canned pears with their juice have half as much, 1.6 g. Pears are sweet: 9.8 g of sugars per 100 g, 6.4 g of it fructose.
That’s more fiber than apple with the peel (2.4 g). 100 g of pear also has 4.4 mcg of vitamin K, more than the daily amount for babies 7 to 12 months old (2.5 mcg, according to the NIH), and 116 mg of potassium.
Canned pears
Canned pears come in handy when fresh ones are still hard. The NHS advises choosing fruit canned in natural juice rather than syrup. According to USDA data, 100 g of pears canned in juice has 9.7 g of sugars, about the same as fresh pear. For your baby, just mash canned pear or cut it into soft pieces.
Sources · 12
This page is based on guidance from health organizations:
- WHO — Complementary feeding of infants and young children
- CDC — Foods and Drinks for 6 to 24 Month Olds
- NHS — Preparing food safely for babies
- WHO — Complementary feeding
- NHS — Choking and gagging on food
- AAP — Infant Constipation
- NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough — Constipation in babies
- USDA FoodData Central — Pears, raw
- USDA FoodData Central — Pears, canned, juice pack
- NHS — 5 A Day portion sizes
- USDA FoodData Central — Apples, raw, with skin
- NIH ODS — Vitamin K
For informational purposes only. Not medical advice. Decide on introducing foods, especially allergens, together with your pediatrician.
