I’ve been blessed with an exceptionally healthy child, but he seems to have inherited my tendency towards an upset stomach after eating anything even remotely spicy.
After trying a few different kid-friendly remedies, I’ve made chewable children’s Pepto-Bismol a regular addition to our family medicine cabinet.
If you’ve tried regular Pepto-Bismol, you know it’s not the most pleasant tasting stuff in the world. Let me assure you that the chewable children’s version is nothing like what you buy for an adult with heartburn. It is labeled as tasting like bubble gum and certainly smells like bubble gum when you open the bottle.
My son says it doesn’t exactly taste like bubble gum, but he says it doesn’t have the “medicine” taste that other antacids do. I have to beg him to take most medicines, but he doesn’t say a word about taking chewable children’s Pepto-Bismol for a tummy ache.
It’s not so good that it gets mistaken for candy though, which is the problem we had with the gummy multivitamins when he was a toddler.
Children’s Pepto-Bismol is sold in a bottle with 24 chewable tablets. The standard dose is either one or two tablets, depending upon your child’s age and weight. The maximum dose per day is either three or six tablets, depending upon your child’s age and weight. You should not use the maximum dose for more than two weeks, except under the supervision of your pediatrician.
For us, chewable children’s Pepto-Bismol produces fairly quick results. My son seldom requires more than one dose and usually starts to feel better in about 30 minutes.
photo credit: Drugstore.com
