Dear Judith,

I am indeed interested in the mecanism by which dried fruits to mom would
help baby's constipation.  The fiber in the fruit is what loosens stools
and to my knowledge, it does not enter breastmilk or mother's circulation
for that matter.

About infant stool frequency, a favorite topic of mine as you may guess,
I'd like to add my 2 cents.
1.  Stool frequency is very variable in infants.  In older exclusively BF
infants (older than 4-6 weeks) you may come down to 1-2 stools per day or
as few as 1 stool every week or 2.  Its usually a big one and always
soft.  Most parents call that constipation (once baby skips a day and is
a little fussy) and rush to the doctor who usually treats with
suppositories and or juices or karo syrup. I do not treat unless stools
are rock hard.  So the prunes may "work" because taking them may coincide
with the stool that would have occured any way.  or the parents you didnt
hear back from consulted their doctor.

2.  Many doctors are not aware of normal stool patterns in infants.  good
article came out in the june or july issue of pediatrics looking at stool
frequency with age depending on what babies were fed.

Maryelle  (should I say "queen of poop"!!!!!!!!!!)