About this fiber thing

It's really interesting that so many of the commenters yesterday mentioned that the solution to their children's potty problems (especially peeing problems) was giving their kids more fiber.

Since I've been getting 5 servings of vegetables every day, I decided to take the next step and start looking at my fiber intake. Apparently adequate fiber intake is the lynchpin of good health. Its helps with elimination, moisture maintenance, glucose and insulin level regulation, healthy skin, and weight maintenance. It helps prevent cancers of the bowel, colon, and stomach. (And, according to this book, eating enough fiber is all you need to do to lose weight. Right.)

In short, fiber is good. Adults are supposed to be getting 30 grams or more a day. (I didn't see a figure for kids in the stuff I was reading, so if anyone knows a good benchmark for fiber intake for kids, please post it.)

I gave in and joined FitDay.com (which I don't love, but it's free and seems to work OK) to track what I was eating to see how I was doing on fiber. You'd think raw kale and spinach would add a lot of fiber to your morning smoothie, but you'd be wrong, because the smoothie ingredient that actually contains the most fiber is the frozen raspberries I've been tossing in just because I like the taste. But I've been getting around 20-25 g of fiber a day without trying very hard (except for the vegetable thing, which was hard at the beginning but isn't anymore).

I'm starting the T-Tapp 60-Day Challenge on Friday, and have decided that my game plan is consistency with the workouts (three a week) and 40 g of fiber a day (I picked 40 sort of randomly). So over this week I've been slowly trying to bump up my fiber intake so I don't cause any sudden stomach issues. The next step is going to be to try to switch around some of the things the boys eat so they're getting more fiber without noticing the difference. I think in the long run, being in the habit of getting plenty of fiber is one of the best things that can happen to them healthwise.

Anyone else interested in investigating the whole fiber thing? Thoughts? Secret recipes? Have you upped your own fiber? Have you upped your kids' fiber?

(My favorite breakfast so far is cooked quinoa, reheated in the microwave at work, with raw almonds, pumpkin seeds, and dried cranberries and a little raw honey. 15g of fiber, and sticks with you for hours and hours and hours.)

Comments

[cheryl]

I've had bowel problems frequently over the years and more fiber always helps. You are already doing my number 1 tip: add it in slowly. If you aren't used to it, it can cause a lot of gas and associated pain. My second tip, is that there is such a thing as too much! You'll know when you really start to stink (and you can smell it).

Good ways for extra fiber: pears, pears, pears! Don't peel your fruit. Multigrain breads, not just brown bread. Quinoa and flax added to your granola. (If you are adding to bought granola, just toast the raw quinoa, very yummy.) Substitute brown rice for white rice - better flavour anyway. Eat your fruit and veg, don't drink it.

Finally, keep drinking lots of water! You need it to help keep things moving through.

[Geeks]

I'd be very interested in hearing people's solutions to getting more fiber in a toddler's diet.
My 15-month-old daughter is caught in a vicious circle of suffering from chronic constipation --> doesn't eat much (especially fiber) --> therefore doesn't poo.
I boil organic prunes and have her drink the "stew" and luckily she likes to steal from my bowl of Museli in the mornings, but otherwise she would rather eat bread, cheese, and yogurt when she's hungry.

I've been trying to sneak in this "soluble" fiber my ped. gave us, but it doesn't really dissolve and so she mostly spits it out. Just started trying a homeopathic remedy called Kindistip... but I'm open to LOTS of suggestions!!

[Summer]

Last year, when I was having lots of digestive issues related to lactose intolerance (especially when I made the doofus decision to go off the dairy-eliminating diet which had been working) I seriously upped my fiber as part of a "put my digestion back in order" regimen. The other parts of the regimen were probiotic and Omega-3 supplements. It did the trick, and after a couple of months my guts felt so much better, I slacked off on the fiber and the supplements, without ill effect.

I haven't worried much about my son's fiber intake, but then again, his breakfast every morning for the last four years has been old-fashioned oatmeal mixed with natural applesauce. That's got to be a good chunk of a child's fiber needs right there! And it's cheap, nourishing, warm and easy to make... if he keeps eating it, I'll keep cooking it.

I'll mention that one of the best high-fiber products I tried was high-fiber flour tortillas. They're more expensive than regular tortillas, but the fiber content is crazy high, and it's an easy substitution to make. Who doesn't like quesadillas? I mean, other than the lactose intolerant?

[robin]

Yum - the quinoa breakfast you describe sounds so good! I'm going to try that!

I am also trying to find ways to get more fiber into my 10 month old. I'll be watching the comments for any suggestions!

[Nichole]

My toddler won't eat any fruits (other than applesauce) or vegetables. When she started having constipation issues, I started putting Benefiber in her milk and juice (a total of about 2/3 of a teaspoon a day). It's helped tremendously. We're still working on the fruits & veggies issue, but in the meantime she's getting her fiber that way.

[Julie]

Is quinoa similar to steel cut oatmeal? I'm addicted. But lazy, so often forget to make it (it takes about 30 minutes to make - though I try to make a double batch that will last at least a week). I put butter and organic raw brown sugar in it. Soooooo good. I suck at fiber, mostly b/c I also suck at the veggies. Am thinking about doing the t-tapp 60 day challenge....but not sure.

[Charisse]

A great snack with TONS of fiber is plain old roasted pumpkin seeds. Mr. C, who's a South Beach type (or kapha in ayurvedic terms) eats tons of them for snacks. There are a couple brands around.

Avocados are also surprisingly high--I think that's where Mouse gets a lot of hers, and we eat very wholegrain breads for toast and sandwiches, which actually taste better anyway.

[Kate]

@ Robin: An average avocado has about 10g of fiber. I found that out after my son (at about your daughter's age) ate most of one for dinner. Yikes.

My kids often split one as part of their dinner. If they have grilled cheese made with Trader Joe's whole wheat Fiber bread (5g fiber a slice! No HFCS!), that's 15g apiece. They also eat fruit at every meal and in between like they're never going to see it again.

My kids eat a lot better than I do. I should lay off the cookies and eat more carrots.

[Charisse]

Oh also, popcorn has quite a bit, but if you're trying to stick to stuff with a low glycemic index, it's not that great. (May not matter for you if you're not sugar-sensitive--I love popcorn but tend to forget because I'm usually eating with someone who is.)

[Amy]

Can we please hear more about healthy, filling, fiber-full breakfasts? I've got some blood sugar issues and a bowl of cereal just doesn't do it... I want to lose some baby weight, get healthier, and add more fiber (just now noticing that my bowl issues are tied to my cycle...). I need some easy solutions for both kids and adults!

My mom uses flax seed for extra fiber. Can kids and toddlers eat it?

[Amy]

Ooops, those are "bowel" issues. ;)

[electriclady]

My 14-month-old was adamantly opposed to green vegetables of all kinds from the moment she began eating solids. Then a couple months ago we discovered that she will eat just about anything if it's mixed with yogurt. I saute greens (spinach, chard, whatever) with a little garlic, chop fine and mix with plain yogurt. I also got a great recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian for broccoli and spinach with garlic, onion, ginger, and cumin, which we eat as a side dish with meat or beans, and I freeze the chopped-up leftovers for baby, she eats that nearly every other day. Mixing with yogurt is also good for sweet potato, lentils (dal) or mashed beans, and fruit. Somehow the dairy makes it so much more palatable for her.

The other things we do for her for fiber: I mix 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of ground flaxseed into her breakfast (baby oatmeal--too lazy to cook real oatmeal!--with whatever fruit is handy). She eats lots of beans, mostly canned--plain pinto or black beans by hand, or canned refried beans (Amy's makes vegetarian refried black beans) in a quesadilla or just spread on bread. And she eats LOTS of prunes--Earth's Best Prunes & Oatmeal, which is expensive, but I can't deal with cooking up prunes myself, and it's pretty much the only jarred food she eats. I tried it and it's actually pretty tasty--she has it for "dessert" several times a week.

I'm realizing that my kid eats WAY better than I do most of the time--I need to work on being as diligent about my own diet as I am about hers!

[Jan]

At last, a food choice that I actually do right! We are all about the fiber in my house; no constipation for me, even during pregnancy.

Kellogg's makes an All-Bran cereal that I have a bowl of almost every morning. The Bran Buds with psyllium husks. I know the regular All-Bran (the sticks) is pretty unappealing to most people (me included), but the Buds are delicious, I swear. I don't even use (or even want -- unheard of for me) sugar on it. Seriously. About every third box I recheck the ingredients because it seems hard to believe it isn't sweetened. Go figure. Anyway, it's expensive, but that right there gives you pretty close to your RDA. (Oh, and BTW, I am living proof that you can eat plenty of fiber and still be fat. Yay, me. (<--sarcasm).

For the kids, we buy bread that is 100% whole wheat -- 'multi-grain', 'wheat', 'made with whole grains': all these are code for "made with regular white flour with some whole grains thrown in so we can make health claims on the label". You need to look at the label and see that the first ingredient is WHOLE wheat.

My kids have been eating oatmeal (raw oats cooked in water, not the instant stuff) for breakfast since the very beginning. When they were babies I ground it up in the blender (dry) before cooking it so it made a pasty substance similar to the much-beloved (*cough*) rice cereal. (I sweeten either with raisins or real maple syrup, to stay away from refined sugar).

Cantaloupe is an excellent source of fiber. And I second the pears -- even if you have to feed them canned. Most fruit, actually (not bananas, though!) Berries are great. And yes, pumpkin seeds. Brown rice is good. Corn.

If you're not worried about allergies, nuts are good. Almonds and walnuts are both regularly touted as containing healthy fat.

If your kids (or you) like yogurt, try buying real plain yogurt (Mountain High is one brand) and adding real fruit to it. I do canned peaches sometimes, or previously-frozen berries. We just keep a couple of containers of fruit in the fridge and mix it up at serving time. Regular yogurt is loaded with sugar!

Honestly, so much of what my kids (3 1/2 and 2, and at least one would qualify as very picky) is high in fiber that I have trouble figuring out what to feed them (to help bulk up) if they get diarrhea.

[Maureen]

One idea for those of you needing more fiber in your kid's diet, chop up pears and add them (or raspberries, blackberries and blueberries) to your childs yogurt. I forgot until I started buying them for the boys how sweet pears can be... Also, switch out your standard white pasta to either whole wheat or quinoa pasta. Still tastes pretty good so it is a relatively easy swap. Also, I used to do this all the time for the boys when they were toddlers and it went over really well for them (and any other young child guests we had) - chop up some apples (leave the skin on) and put in a glass dish, add enough water to reach at least half way up the apples, sprinkle on some cinnamon and stir around a little. Microwave for a good 7-9 minutes until the apples are soft. Cool in the fridge. Serve in bowls like that (they like the "juice" from the bowl too) or add to plain yogurt (along with a little juice).

As for adults, I found two products that help kick you over the 30g/day... one is called Lightful and it is a low-caloried smoothie of sorts. Has 5 g fiber and only 90 calories, so it is an easy snack to have in the afternoon. Also there is this bar called Gnu Bars that come in banana/walnut, chocolate, cinnamon raisin, orange/cranberry and peanut butter. They are actually quite tasty and have 12g fiber and 130 calories per bar.

[Jan]

Oh, and PS, for @electriclady, re: too lazy to cook regular oatmeal. I make regular oatmeal in the microwave -- just put the oatmeal in a microwave-proof bowl big enough to handle the expansion during cooking, then put in enough water to just cover the oats, pop it in the microwave for a couple of minutes (I use 3 minutes for two very large servings). When it's done, immediately put the oatmeal in another bowl and mix in milk, squishing the oatmeal if there are any big chunks.

[michelle]

We started eating a lot more fiber when my husband was trying to beat his high cholesterol by altering his diet.

He ate oatmeal or All-Bran every day and fuji apples, and we always kept (and still keep) some kind of veggie burgers in the freezer as a quick alternative to pizza/carryout. A word of caution about veggie burgers- they vary widely in terms of nutrition (particularly salt). Read the box.

Thomas' multi-grain lite english muffins have a lot of fiber (can't remember exactly, but I think 10 or 13g) and are good for breakfast with Smuckers' natural peanut butter or regular butter. I also do hummus and avocado for lunch on these.

We also started making a really yummy spinach side dish, after having it at a tapas restaurant in DC- sautee fresh spinach in olive oil with apple, golden raisins, garlic and (if you have them) shallots. Serve with lemon wedges.

[Maureen]

Forgot to add that canned beans go surprisingly well for many young children (toddlers, preschoolers, etc.). We feed the boys garbonzo beans from the can (drained and rinsed) and they love them. Hummus (sp?) is a great way to get beans in and can count as a dip which we all know chidren love everything if they get to dip it in something. I tend to cut back on the garlic when making my hummus as the boys like it a little better that way. (Simple hummus recipe is just a drained can of garbonzo beans, a little tahini, juice of 1/2 - 1 lemon, a little garlic (or garlic powder), and a little water. Mix in blender until smooth (add water as necessary to get to a good consistency). At very end blend in some olive oil.) My boys will eat a ton more broccoli if I dip individual pieces in the hummus.

And, I have to agree with the other posters, my kids definitely eat so much better than I do. If I could just eat exactly what they do and not add anything else, I am sure I would be super skinny and healthier.

[Moxie]

Amy, kids and toddlers can eat flax seed. Grind it up, though, or else it goes right through them and they don't get the Omega 3s from it.

Beans! So delicious, and so good for you. An easy breakfast is a bean burrito with pinto beans (either plain canned, or canned refried with no icky fat) and salsa, cheese if you eat it, in a tortilla of your choice. Add in some sauteed green pepper and onions for extra deliciousness. I used to make up a dozen of them and wrap them in foil and freeze them, then pop one or two in the foil in the oven to heat up while I was doing other things.

Easy lunch: Can of black beans, frozen corn, chopped avocado, chopped tomato, dressing amde of lime juice and soy sauce.

Julie, quinoa (KEEN-wah) is a grain from South America that's super-high in protein compared to other grains and is more complex nutritionally than many other grains. You can buy it in bulk from a health food store, but I like the fair-trade red kind I get at Whole Foods. It takes 15 minutes to cook, and always has this kind of explosive bite to it. I cook one cup dry with two cups water on Sunday nights, then bring in a tupperware and reheat at the office and put my toppings on (raw almonds, raw hulled pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, raw honey, sometimes plain greek yogurt).

Other good things to do with quinoa are to cook it and add savory stuff--baby spinach, chopped scallion, diced chicken, tomato, olives, etc. and some Italian dressing.

[Robin]

@ Kate- that is refreshing about the avocados. My son eats 1/2 an avocado most days. I just started becoming concerned about the amount of dairy products in his diet, and wanting to balance it with fiber-rich fruits/veg. I work full time and try to prepare enough purees, finger foods for him on the weekends to last through the week but sometimes it doesn't happen and I feel myself leaning on the dairy too much.

[Moxie]

Kashi GoLean cereal has 10g of fiber per cup. But a lot of sugar.

Dried figs have 2g *per fig* but also tons and tons of sugar.

[rudyinparis]

Maureen, that apple idea is great! I think my kids would really like that. Tons of great ideas here. And Moxie, I like your breakfast idea--I eat the same thing for breakfast every day (shredded wheat & raisins) so it would be nice to mix it up.

You know, I am determined, have been determined all along, not to let food become any kind of power issue whatsoever, so I just strive to make the healthiest, whole-grainiest food I can and put it in front of the kids at regular intervals. Tried it, don't like it? Then you may be excused from the table, thank you for trying it. That's our method, in a nutshell. I have to hope the whole fiber and nutrients amount shakes out right at the end of the day. I could see myself getting obsessive there, so I can't let myself monitor grams of fiber, etc.

Again, I love all these great ideas for healthy noshing! Yum!

[MrsHaley]

We do "Old Fashioned" oatmeal (done in 3 minutes in the microwave like a pp described -- just as fast as instant) with a teaspoon or so of ground flax and frozen mixed berries for breakfast for me AND my 15-month-old. I was pleasantly surprised at how inexpensive the frozen berries are! I estimate 15g of fiber per cup of that concoction and she eats it every day.

I second canned beans -- perfect for little hands. Also frozen mixed veg (about 1/4C) with butter or olive oil at every meal. She doesn't always eat it, but at least it's familiar. Maybe one of these days ...

I love that idea of mixing savory things with plain yogurt! I will try some of those combos for Little Miss Picky.

I will also try quinoa ... it hadn't occurred to me as a baby option. I would also like to lean a little more on plant proteins instead of dairy.

About apples ... she will eat peeled raw apple slices but will spit out the skin if I don't peel it for her first. That would pretty much negate the fiber benefit, wouldn't it? But for babies, doesn't the pectin perform the same function? And isn't that in the apple flesh, too, not just the skin?

Fascinating and enlightening discussion -- thanks Moxie!

[Marian]

I second the motion that beans are a great source of soluble fiber. My toddler eats black beans cut in half. Some other ideas are chili, black or pinto bean quesadillas, baked beans, refried beans...can you tell I'm a semi-vegetarian? Beans are a great protein source, filling, cheap, full of fiber and taste good. Lots of recipes on goya.com.

[MrsHaley]

PS: I love All Bran Bran Buds too. What's up with them?!?! SO GOOD!!

[Joceline]

I will second Moxie's love of quinoa. Our favorite go-to dinner when there's not a lot of time is cooked quinoa with whatever veggies are in the fridge--tomatoes, spinach, kale, carrots, bell peppers, onion, etc. and a little feta cheese with salt, pepper, olive oil, and red wine vinegar. The whole thing takes 20 minutes and is so filling.

@Geeks-My 4 year old nephew has had terrible problems with constipation his whole life, in part because his parents don't deal with it. Everyone in the extended family worries about him so much (it's BAD), so I am so glad to hear you wanting to help your daughter! When my nephew stays with anyone else in the family, we totally eliminate while flour or rice and replace it with whole grains, and we also eliminate dairy. He fights it, but with an offer of Spiderman stickers after the meal, he'll usually comply without too much of a fight. One thing that he enjoys and that helps him a lot is a smoothie with lots of fruit and veggies, as well as flax oil. He'll drink it happily and then usually poop more easily after two or three days of those. It is tough to fight a kid on that stuff, I know, but you are helping her so much by doing so!

[Tamar]

Wait, so it's not pronounced KEY-NO-AH? Whoops.

I wanted to add that wheat germ is great on plain (try Greek!) yogurt with a swirl of honey and/or some kind of fruit. Another thing you can do with it, as well as with ground flax or pumpkin seeds and different brans, is add it to the breading for chicken or fish.

You have to read labels, though, because some brands sweeten wheat germ with corn syrup (seriously). Also, don't do what I did and forget to refrigerate after opening.

Ground flax seeds and wheat or oat bran can be subbed for various ingredients in things like pancake batter or muffins. The information for how to sub is usually printed on the package.

By the way, I've been able to find most of these things at the regular old Shoprite. No quinoa, though. (Oh, and quinoa is excellent in soups too.)

[Shandra]

I've never tracked our fiber but my son hasn't been constipated in a long long time.

We eat the same stovetop regular old oatmeal it looks like everyone is eating. :) We add in raisins, sunflower seeds, and fruit quite often. My son is a fruit monster so that's easy on me. We also eat Red River cereal which is like, 9 grains or something, I forget.

We almost exclusively eat whole grain breads. But we eat white pasta. It does not have the bran and the germ, but a good semolina pasta is a coarser grind of wheat, and most whole grain pastas have been totally modified in order to have a good texture, so for me it's worth the loss in fiber.

The beans are a big deal here - we have a bean-based meal at least twice a week and usually more. I have what my husband has occasionally called a "distressing tendency" to add lentils or navy beans to just about any stew or shepherd's pie-like dish.

My son likes chickpeas almost any way, lentils and rice together, beans in soups (minestrone usually), and our standard Friday night fare is pasta with white beans, chopped spinach or chard, and pesto.

We also eat hummus and bean dip, and a lot of vegetables, although my son sometimes just goes through a phase of leaving most of them for a few days (often followed by eating a whole bowl of green beans or peas or something).

He loves frozen peas and edaname for snacks too.

Mostly that's just genetics I think and I take no credit except that we just serve him what we eat and let him work it out, although I'll make him a sandwich if he's really hungry.

Oh we make bean burgers too. This recipe is yummy and dead simple: drain and mash a can of romano beans; mix with one egg + one eggwhite and 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs + either 1/4 teaspoon of cumin or a couple shakes (ha) of italian seasoning; form into patties and cook in a small amount of olive oil. I serve that in a whole wheat pita, spread with mashed avocado and it's yummy. It sometimes falls apart though.

I will take credit for two things: we get our vegetables delivered from an organic service and we have always treated it like santa claus. And second, my son helps with almost all the vegetable prep, and rinsing out the beans, so I think he considers them more "his" than the meat and fish and stuff.

[Shandra]

Oh more rambling - my mother picked up this weird chocolate bar recipe and we make it sometimes. I don't have exact amounts but you melt a bag of chocolate chips and add in about - oh - a cup of wheat germ. Spread it out on wax paper to make bark. You can add in nuts, dried cranberries, or raisins. Or marshmellows. And chocolate is a laxative.

Can't call that health food though. :-)

[Carmen]

Haven't read all the posts yet so forgive if I repeat something...

I read something in college about how we all need 25g fiber a day and if we just ate that we'd lose weight. So I gave it a whirl and found that I have a gluten sensitivity. It wasn't an issue when I ate my normal amount of whole wheat but after three days of eating whole-wheat-everything-possible I got a seriously itchy rash over most of my body that took about 2 weeks to get rid of fully.

Obviously I did it wrong and should have added more veggies instead of just eating a shit-ton of bread, but just throwing that out there as a warning. I'm also prone to eczema and dermatitis though... not sure if that's related or not.

[Missy]

My kids will eat anything that looks like a muffin - so bran muffins are popular at our house. I have a "refridgerator" recipe, where you can keep the batter for up to 3 weeks and bake a fresh batch daily (but it usually is gone after a week). I use the low sugar bran cereals (ie, not raisin bran), and play around with the recipes to cut down on refined sugar and white flour.

[cricket]

my 20 month old son has been having an issue with pooping too often since he started solids at 6 months. 5-6 times a day at his worst. turns out more fiber's good for that as well. his ped recommended 1/2 tsp of benefiber twice a day and a capsule of acidophilus. i put both into yogurt, and he has that for dessert each night. it's made a huge difference in his quality of life (and mine as well). so fiber works both ways. it's like a miracle drug for poo!

[Kristie]

Another high fiber breakfast idea that is so easy: muesli. Mix oatmeal with yogurt the night before, in the morning add yummies like dried or fresh fruit, nuts, etc and you're good to go. Changing up the mix-ins makes it completely new. Plus...no cooking of the oatmeal. I have been giving this to Moosie since she was 8 month old and she loves loves loves it. I love it too.

[hedra]

I have to suggest going easy on pears as an fiber food in kids under 3 - there's so much sorbitol, that you'll set up a separate issue (fructose malabsorption - basically because sorbitol blocks absorption). Apples, pears, and pit-fruits (prunes, peaches, nectarines, etc.) have a lot of sorbitol in them. YES, they'll loosen up the bowels, but that's because you're creating osmotic diarrhea (having the body dump fluids to the gut) in reaction to the fermenting fructose, NOT because the fiber is helping retain appropriate fluid in the stool. It 'looks' (and maybe smells!) the same as the results of fiber alone, but that's not all that's going on.

Sorry, my soapbox there, heh.

For adults, the gut fermentation can trigger depression and anxiety. For kids, ADHD-like behavior, depression, and anxiety, plus mood disturbance. If you're gonna add a lot of fruit, definitely cut WAY back on the fruit-juice/fruit-concentrate sweetening. And if the constipation gets worse, DANGER WILL ROBINSON - you might actually have fructose malabsorption at the baseline (reducing fructose stopped the chronic constipation completely with R, where it was otherwise a constant effort with the prunes!). And if they're already loose on stooling, you may be better off reducing the fructose load first, THEN adding other fiber back in. Heck, I'll vote for that overall for everyone - keep fructose balanced with glucose, keep the total load low, and go easy on the sorbitol-containing foods, too. THEN boost fiber.

So, my kids are so-so on fiber (Moxie, I'd heard that the range for kids was highly variable, but up to 30 g - try the My Pyramid cdc.gov site, you can run it for kids as well). They get most of it from veggies, what they get. Avocado, asparagus, broccoli, carrot, cucumber, pea pods (snap and snow), and some leafy greens are their main sources. Can't do most dried beans, most whole grains, or fibrous stems (kale, etc.). Whole grain corn and rice cereal, rice cakes, and some seeds are other sources for them. Big ditto on the pumpkin seeds as a fabo source, and the kids love them (bonus, omega-3 source)! Dried cranberries are also good - low in fructose, high in fiber, no sorbitol. Prunes have a lot of fiber, but also a lot of sorbitol, so while yes, they work, I'm not sold on using them as a standard management tool.

If you're really struggling to get a kid to eat something they don't usually eat, do consider if they might not know better than you do what works for them. They might not (after all, M was a huge fan of pears), but they might (G avoided everything that caused reactions). I (myself) resisted moving R to a low-FODMAPs diet (low fermentable sugars and polyols, basically), but reducing the fructose, increasing the glucose, going to NO wheat but lots of white rice and potatoes... well, no more constipation at all. Period. She likes what she's eating, no resistance to the diet at all, and no constipation, either. So... yes, do try to help, all you can! But consider whether you're solving the right problem. If we loaded R up on fiber and sorbitol-rich foods (pears, prunes), she DID ease up on the constipation. But then it would be right back if we weren't on top of it every blessed day. I no longer have to be on top of it at all - the underlying problem is gone. Okay, provided she doesn't eat wheat or watermelon or apples... ;)

Good luck with the whole process. And ditto the advice to go slowly on the introductions - colonic adaptation takes a little time, but your body WILL get used to the new level of fiber. (There's no adaptation to either fructose or sorbitol, by the way - so if you adapted, you're good! If you start having IBS symptoms or depression, maybe not.)

[Jan]

Horrors! I just checked my brand new box of Bran Buds. I find not only sugar (SECOND ingredient) but HFCS. I'm certain it wasn't that way before. I ate it every morning when I was on the gestational diabetes 'diet' with no problem.

Another one bites the dust. *sigh* I just hate that.

[Sara]

Our morning fiber blow out (okay so the pun IS intended) is a very flexible blue corn blueberry pancake recipe we like. My son has been eating them since he was 13 months old. 1/2c quinoa flour (or any combo of brown rice, millet, whole wheat)- 1/2c oat bran-
1/2c blue corn meal- pinch salt-1/2 t baking soda-1/2t baking powder- 1/4c freshly ground flax seeds-2 eggs-1/4c oil-add liquid to desired consistency about 3/4 c, we use hemp milk-1c frozen blueberries. Mix it all together (my toddler loves to add the blueberries and stir it all up) and cook. It's a very flexible recipe and you can play with it according to your tastes.

[DW]

One word: lentils. My little one loves them and they have TONS of fiber.

Moxie, I've been tracking at The Daily Plate. Yesterday I had 59g of fiber! I had oatmeal w/ flax for breakfast, lentil soup for lunch, brown rice and veggies for dinner, strawberries for dessert (and a few other things w/ no fiber).

I love quinoa too. Never tried it for breakfast, though. Great idea.

I'm a huge fan of fiber. We eat lots of whole grains and limit wheat in general. I think it's great for digestive health.

[Charisse]

Our easy & decently fiber-ful breakfast is a hardcore wholegrain bread with PB & (depending on family member) J. We get that bread that has the bible verse on it--Ezekiel something? Anyway, it has 5 grams fiber per slice and very low sugar and tastes good. Whole Foods has it in the freezer. And it takes 3 minutes, which is about the time all our late-rising family has in the morning.

[abby]

as usual Moxie, you are to somthing! My husband is a colorectal surgeon and the first thing he says when someone comes to him with any sort of digestive/poop issue is "More fiber". When you've loose stools it helps firm them up and when they are too firm it helps loosen them up.

I've found that when my kids need fiber I put the correct amount of soluble fiber in a special drink (juice for us) or if the texture is an issue, then some applesause. Then I just watch to make sure they finish the item. Especially with picky eaters I've found that this is easier than trying to get them to eat fiberous foods, which they might even like.

[Debbie]

We also do the oat thing in the morning. We use half steel-cut oats and half quick oats with some cinnamon and brown sugar. You can have that ready in about 20 minutes as opposed to the 30 plus minutes it takes to do just steel cut. Every week, I do bags with the oats, cinnamon, brown sugar and dash of salt so in the morning we just add in some milk and water and let it cook.

[DD]

I have found the hardest thing about getting enough fiber into a 1 year old is the tiny portions toddlers eat. So even with the most concentrated high-fiber foods such as canned beans, if their serving size is 2-3 tsp they don't get that many g of fiber from it. Every little bit helps. We do canned beans almost every day, whole grain bread (but read labels -- some WG bread still has only 1g fiber per slice. I aim for getting 3g/slice or higher), lots of fresh fruit. I had a high-fiber cereal with flax seed that she ate well for a while, but now she doesn't like it and we're back to Cheerios.

And for some reason, prune juice is much more effective for her constipation than the strained or dried prunes.

[Stacey]

When my twins first started solids we had lots of issues with constipation. I added one tablespoon of solid packed pumpkin from a can to the cereal every morning and it worked like a charm. Now if they have a bout of constipation I will put together my pumpkin pudding :o) It a mixture of pumpkin, vanilla yogurt, cinnamon, nutmeg and a little bit of rice ceral to thicken it up. They love it and it works!

I have started eating a bowl of hot oat bran cereal every morning and have noticed a big difference in my body. I have lost weight, have more energy and feel better.

Oh, and I also give the kids whole wheat pasta instead of regular. They have never had the regular kind so they only know the wheat.

I am also going to be doing the T-Tap 60 day challenge.

[Toni]

I second Jan (and whomever else may have mentioned it) for the All Bran - we eat the ones with the Yogurt thingys (technical terms only in my house!). My girls (2 & 4) love it - and it's got good fiber - about 10-12 grams per serving.

My oldest has hypoglycemia - so fiber is super important to keep her blood sugar regular.

I was thinking about getting more fiber into my own diet. I like reading some of the ideas.

[ikate]

For my 18 month old, she's never had any bowel issues, mostly because she has eaten beans, bananas and blueberries nearly every day since she started solids at about 7 months. We buy black beans by the gross! A cup of blueberries has 4 g of fiber and she easily eats a cup a day. She's a bit of an addict. We also put beans in just about everything we make. One of her favoriate meals is an egg scrabled with black beans, topped with cottage cheese. She also loves to just eat black beans straight. 1 cup has 15 g fiber so they are pretty potient. She's not potty trained yet but she does poop at least twice a day!

As for me, I make a smoothie each morning with yogurt, psyllium husks, spinach, frozen fruit (usually straw or blueberries), a banana and whey protien. Fills me up for at least 4 hours and has anywhere from 20-23 g fiber. Add in the beans we usually have at dinner and I'm pretty close to 30.

[Sandra]

I always just throw the quinoa into our rice cooker (1 cup to 2 cups of water, like Moxie said) because I'm lazy like that. We mix it with pureed squash for our 15-month old son and he loves it because he can spoon it up himself. Well, mostly. We call it squinoa :) We started it because it's also high in iron and the kiddo is a self-declared vegetarian at the moment.

It's interesting to hear that pooping too much can be solved by more fiber too. My son has been pooping 4 times a day for like the past 4 months, but we always just shrugged it off to high metabolism, as his father has a similar pooping schedule. Ahem. But maybe I'll try more fiber and see if I can cut back on the poopy diapers I get to change every day.

[Katie]

Here's my morning oatmeal recipe, which I've been eating obsessively for years--I don't have precise measurements b/c I just throw it all in:
-1/2 cup oatmeal (old fashioned in microwave with a bit less than a cup of skim milk, 1 min 45 sec.)
-2 dried apricots, which I snip into pieces and cook with the oatmeal
-spoon of jam (I like cherry, probably 1 1/2 t) to sweeten it
-little handful of frozen raspberries, which cools it down so I can eat immediately
-smaller handful of chopped walnuts (maybe 2 T?)
-1-2 t of wheat germ (Yum, kids love to eat it straight)
-c. 1 t of wheat bran (doesn't taste great, but I don't notice it)

I love this oatmeal (and so does my 3 year old). I'm grouchy when my sweet husband makes pancakes b/c I know I'll feel sickly first and hungry later.

Also, Flat Out Wraps are pretty tasty and have a freakish 9 grams of fiber per wrap.

I have a few great bean dip recipes, too. . . like to make a good bean dip b/c it encourages me to eat my veggies.

[Julie]

@Missy...please post the long-fridge-life muffin batter recipe.

Gotta go get some Quinoa! Also, anyone have any good ideas for how to crush the flax seeds so we don't just pass them w/o absorption? I tried grinding them up with my ball and stone (you know, the trendy little stone bowls with the stone press thingies we get from Williams Sonoma as a wedding present but are not sure what to use it for?) and it was very very hard. Those little suckers are pretty tough.

I don't worry too much about fiber with Alex at this juncture because eating is one of our hot buttons. Getting *any* kind of food in that boy is a good thing in my book, whether it be chicken nuggets or pizza, or roast beef or veggies. "Nofing please" is usually what he says when I ask him what he would like to eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Oh ya, he also doesn't like *us* to eat either. Which is great as a diet tool, not so great for family harmony when we are all three of us pissy from low blood sugar.

[ACJ]

Mmm, fibre. SJ and I are good fibre eaters but we backed off the whole wheat when T. had issues digesting it. Right now she's on white bagels and white pasta and a lot of fruit. I was feeling good about that until right about now. We will start transitioning slowly back to WW pasta and grains, easy to do since we already eat them ourselves. Our carb monster will be glad to eat it however it comes I think. More veg and beans seems like the next best step though, so we'll try that.

A recipe for Missy's muffins would be VERY appreciated though. I just did a batch of banana mini-muffins that are delish but would love to fibre them up.

Was there a time when mothers didn't worry about things like food and sleep? Sometimes I think this is taking up too much of my time. Surely there's a field that could stand ploughing...

[paola]

Kiwi, Kiwi,kiwi- love them and full of fibre ( I eat the skin where most of the fibre is contained)

Bran for breakfast with some prunes, and a vegetable soup almost every night is what keeps me and hubby regular. I have just discovered that...surprise, surprise, fibre is recommended for Irritable Bowel Syndrome sufferers like my son ( even if he has the runny poo variety). Apparently stops cramps, tummy aches if they have them.

My 15 month old daughter has never had any constipation issues and poos at least 3 times a day. She gets at least 5 different veggies/fruits a day (veggies cooked in pressure cooker and frozen every couple of days)

[paola]

@julie

how old is your little guy? My 15 month goes thru stages of not eating too. I always offer an alternative which is also rejected and then kick myself for doing so as I never did it with my son ( he sometimes went 3 meals in a row without eating and I never gave him an option). He is now a great little eater and knows I am not kidding when I tell him that if he doesn't eat what I prepare there is nothing else.

Thing is that Noah was always in the 90th for weight/height and so if he didn't eat, he wasn't goign to dwindle away to nothing. My daughter is in the 3rd and if she doesn't eat, she might just do so.

[shirky]

ok. marian. I am fixated on this idea that you're cutting black beans in half, one by one, with a dollhouse knife.