How To Accurately Measure Your Baby’s Temperature
Written by Evan Tweedle on November 28th, 2009
You need to be able to measure your baby’s temperature reasonably accurately – babies don’t have the same level of control over their body temperature that adults do. Touching your baby’s forehead or neck with your hand will give you a rough guide – but don’t use your baby’s hands to try and estimate their temperature as the temperature of the extremities and body can be quite a bit different depending upon environmental conditions.
This is just a rough guide of course. Sometimes that will suffice, but there will be other occasions when you will want a more accurate measurement. Using a thermometer of some type would be the obvious solution – but which of the variety of thermometer types available is best for you and your baby?
Standard Glass Tube Mercury Filled Thermometers These are certainly accurate enough – but the risk of breakage is always there, and they need to be in position for a minimum time period (typically thirty seconds or so) to guarantee an accurate reading. They must be placed in the rectum, in the mouth or under the arm – all of these could be difficult with an unhappy baby for a patient.
Digital Stick Thermometer Very similar to a traditional stick type thermometer, byt battery powered, made from plastic as opposed to glass and incorporating a digital display which will help to avoid errors due to reading. Place it under your baby’s arm for thirty seconds and you will get a pretty accurate reading.
Plastic Strip Thermometers These are simply held against your baby’s forehead and kept there for around 15 seconds. They change colour to indicate temperature. They are cheap, pretty easy to use and fairly accurate. However, it is possible to misread them. If there is perspiration on the baby’s forehead, then this can lead to an inaccurate reading.
Non Contact Scanning Thermometers Babies don’t like to be poked and prodded with strange objects anymore than the rest of us – so non contact thermometers are a really good option as they don’t make contact with any part of the body. They work by taking an infra-red reading of the skin temperature. At the temple, where the skin is thin, is a good place to take a reading. However, surface perspiration can still impact upon the reading’s accuracy. Typically this type of thermometer will have a digital display.
Ear Thermometers The ear is considered to give the most accurate reflection of the body’s core temperature and should give you a fast and accurate reading. Most ear thermometers come with disposable caps which you put over the tip and then throw away after each use to make it hygienic. Digital readouts are normal and negate any user error.
Any of the above types of thermometer will work just fine. Your choice will most likely depend upon your own personal preference.
A digital readout is a good option if you want to be sure of avoiding reader error.
From the point of view of not upsetting your baby, either a non contact infrared thermometer or an ear thermometer is probably best.
In terms of accuracy, the ear thermometer comes out on top.
The ear thermometer option may be a good overall choice for both you and your baby.
Learn why an ear thermometer makes sense for both you and your baby.
This entry was posted on Saturday, November 28th, 2009 at 8:42 am and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Tags: baby thermometer, children, children's health, ear thermometer, family, Health, toddlers
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