Kris Brooks.com

Babies don’t have the same control over their body temperature that adults do – so it’s important to be able to accurately tell what your baby’s temperature is. Simply touching you hand against your baby’s forehead or neck will give you a rough idea – but don’t use the baby’s hands as a guide – the temperature of the extremities can be quite a bit different to body temperature just as a result of ambient 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 Fairly similar to a conventional thermometer, but battery operated, manufactured from plastic – not glass – and with a digital read out. Put it under the baby’s arm for thirty seconds and you should get a pretty accurate reading with no operator error due to the digital readout.

Plastic Strip Contact Thermometers Hold these against your baby’s forehead for about fifteen seconds and the plastic strip type thermometer changes colour to indicate temperature. They are easy to use, cheap and reasonably accurate. It is possible to misread them however. If there is sweat on the baby’s forehead then this can impact upon the accuracy of the reading.

Non Contact Scanning Thermometers Nobody likes being poked or prodded when they’re ill and babies are no exception. So non contact scanner thermometers are a great option since they don’t require to touch any part of the body. They use infra-red (perfectly harmless) to take a reading of the skin temperature. Points where the skin is thin – such as the temple for example – are good points to take readings. Surface perspiration can still reduce the degree of accuracy obtained.

Ear Thermometers The ear gives a very accurate reflection of the body temperature – you should be able to get a quick and accurate temperature reading. Ear thermometers can be fitted with disposable caps which you can discard after use to keep things hygenic. Digital displays are the norm for this type of thermometer.

Any of the aforementiond types of thermometer will work perfectly well. Which one you select will depend upon your own preference and circumstances.

A digital readout is a good option if you want to be sure of avoiding reader error.

A non contact thermometer, or an ear thermometer, is probably a good choice if you want to avoid upsetting your baby.

In terms of accuracy, the ear thermometer comes out on top.

All thing considered – the ear thermometer may very well be the best choice for both you and your baby.

Discover why a baby ear thermometer makes sense for both you and your baby.