How to choose a thermometer for your child and use it properly.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
You know when your child is feeling under the weather, but a hand on the forehead is no substitute for a thermometer.
We’ve come a long way from the old days of hard-to-read mercury thermometers.
Now today parents have a lot of other choices.
So which type of thermometer is best? It depends on your child’s age.
A rectal digital thermometer is the easiest and most accurate way to take your baby or toddler’s temperature.
Hold your baby on your lap. Put a little bit of petroleum jelly on the tip of the thermometer to make it easier to insert. Then place it about ½ inch to 1 inch inside your baby’s bottom.
For babies under 3 months old, every tenth of a degree matters. You should contact your health care provider if a child this age has a temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.
Starting at 3 months, you can try an underarm, forehead, or pacifier thermometer if your child just won’t lie still.
Though these aren’t quite as accurate as rectal thermometers, they can be easier to use on a squirming baby.
You can also use a digital ear thermometer, but wait until your baby is at least 6 months old. Pull your child’s earlobe down and back, and push the thermometer–very gently–into the ear. Hold it there until it beeps.
By age 4 or 5, your child should be ready for an oral thermometer. Place it the thermometer under your child’s tongue, and ask her to close her mouth and hold it there until you hear a beep.
At what temperature is your child running a fever?
That depends on which type of thermometer you use.
– When you take the temperature rectally, in the ear, or on the forehead, 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit is considered a fever.
– When taken orally, it’s 100 degrees
– And, it’s 99 degrees when taken under the arm
Before you put the thermometer away, clean it with rubbing alcohol or soap and water. Wash it again before using it the next time.
Label your oral and rectal thermometers. You wouldn’t want to mix them up!
Use a disposable cover on your thermometer and throw the cover out after each use.
Once your child’s germs are gone, you want to make sure they don’t come back.