Do you have a thermometer in your home for taking someones temp?

[snoopybabe]

When the kids were small I had both the ear & under the tongue digital thermometers. Now tha they're older I have 2 digital thermometers for under the tongue.

My DS who came home on Fall break this weekend with a temperature and it was mommy I don't feel good. Its amazing how quickly they can regress when sick.

 

[EMom]

I have 9 second, 10 second, 30 second and 60 second thermometers. When DD was a baby, we had the ear type one but it was a piece of crap. I never got the same temp twice. I even took MY temp with it, making certain I hit the exact same spot.......Different temp. So I taught DD at a young age to "lay your tongue on the thermomter like a blanket" so I could take her temp.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

By watching my mom my whole childhood, I learned how to take a temp., with the back of my hand on the forehead and cheeks.

No seriously, I can tell when my kids have a fever/temp just by touching them. I treat them with motrin or tylenol. If the temp/fever has not gone away after two days, I call the Dr.

I have pretty healthy kids, so a don't think a thermometer is a "must have" in this house. If they were prone to infections or had a serious illness, then I would keep my house stocked with all kinds of medical supplies.

 

[quentina]

Nope....not sure why, I do the lips on the head method.

I take my kids to the doctor way to early...I usually have to bring them back 36-48 hours later for the dr to see the symptoms.

Maybe I will ask for one for Christmas!

 

[ZachnElli]

I have lots of them, but cannot find a single one when I need it! I do not have an old fashioned glass one, but I think I have all the others, lol.

 

[minkydog]

Nurse here, so at any given time , we have 3-4 thermometers. Ranging from a rectal to a digital to the old fashioned mercury (not mercury anymore) thermometer.

I don't take my kids temp on a regular basis. But if my kid is warm, I would like to know what his temp. is. And sometimes a kid feels not fever like but still has one.

And if I call the pediatrician when the kids are sick, the first thing the nurse asks is, what was his temp.?

I know what you mean. I'm a peds nurse and i used to get calls all the time from parents whose child was "burning up with fever." Just how high is the fever? Well, they don't have a thermometer but he "feels" like he's 105. I even had one parent tell me she didn't have a thermometer,but she had tied a slice of onion to his wrist and it "hasn't finished cooking yet." What does a digital thermometer cost, $6?

As far as which ones are most accurate, the digital thermometers get my vote. Fever strips are nearly useless and ear thermometers can be variable, especially if the child has an ear infection. You can use a digital thermometer for rectal(most accurate), oral, and armpit temps(least accurate). Of course, you'll want to mark the one RECTAL, haha. We don't recommend the old glass-mercury thermometers anymore because they break easily and they're hard to read. The mercury is toxic--you don't want to have to clean it up and you sure don't want that in your kid's mouth!

 

[disneybound2010]

I have an oral and a rectal. DS hates the rectal, but if I feel it is a pretty high fever, that's the one he is getting. For a lower grade, I will use the oral. Anytime I have had to call in to the ped's office, the first question is does he have a temp and what is it?

 

[TheBigBadWolf]

I have several thermometers, both digital and glass, but all have been up a horse's butt or a dog's butt at one time or another. I haven't been sick in ten years and never feel the need to take my temp. DH has asked about a thermometer a couple time in the past but I'd tell him, "I don't have one that hasn't been used on my animals".

With all the talk of H1N1 this year, I broke down last month and bought a digital thermometer for the humans in our family, in case one of us happens to get sick. I also stocked up on cold medicine, "just in case".

ETA - the pets' thermometers are kept in a separate "pet cabinet" with all the animal drugs, bandages, and pet supplies. No chance of them being mixed up with the human thermometers.

 

[2cats1kid]

I have a digital under the tongue one but it rarely gets used. If it is DD who is sick I use the lips to the forehead method and I can tell if she is hot like that. In her life (she is 12) she has never developed a high temperature with anything. I do use the thermometer on me occasionally if I feel rough, but I tend to get a low temperature when I'm ill, so maybe I'm just weird.

 

[Carys]

I don't have children but I do have a digital oral thermometer.

I also take it with me when I travel. Several airports I go through when travelling (in asia) have temperature scanners, so I take my temperature on the plane to set my mind at ease that I'm not going to trigger the temperature scan (as I did earlier this year with a low grade fever when returning from holiday) otherwise it'd be nagging at my mind the whole flight.

I don't however have a pet thermometer, thanks for bringing that up previous poster, I should look into getting one.

 

[sunlver]

We have several cheap digital ones..now where they are is a different story

When the kids feel hot, I ALWAYS take their temp. Sometimes though they feel very REALLY hot, and its is only like 99. I know when you call the drs office, or take the kids in, they have always asked me what the temps have been.

My husband doesnt believe in taking temps..if they dont feel good give them tylenol/motrin etc...

I am a fact checker.. I like to know everything

 

[aprilgail2]

I'm sure my post is one of your three -- unless there are 4 going around.

I don't really see the point in taking DS's temperature. If DS is sick, I'll know because he'll have symptoms. If he has symptoms, I'm not going to send him to school regardless of his temperature. If he's hot to the touch, achy, or has the chills, and grouchy/sleepy, then I'm going to medicate him regardless of the temperature. If he's glassy eyed, unresponsive and lethargic (the symptoms he's had when he's had a 105 kind of temperature in the past) I'll medicate AND seek emergency care, regardless of the temperature.

If you do have a thermometer, and take your child's temperature on a regular basis, what exactly do you do with that information?

As soon as I call the Dr they ask me "whats her temp?"...I can't imagine saying "gee I don't know".... there were times when she was younger that she would get a really high fever and the Dr always told me if it goes to 105.8 take her to the ER so those times it would get taken frequently. I remember freaking the first time I saw 106 on the thermometer- that was a trip to the ER!

 

[aprilgail2]

My husband doesnt believe in taking temps..if they dont feel good give them tylenol/motrin etc...

I am a fact checker.. I like to know everything

I always check first and I don't give tylenol or motrin unless the fever is up there...not a big fan of giving meds unless it is seeming the body can't fight it off on its own in due time.

 

[golfgal]

Every time that I have called my ped with a question regarding a sick child, the first thing they ask is if they have a temp. I have atleast two digital thermometers...

Right but if it is 102 vs 103 it doesn't make that much of a difference.

By watching my mom my whole childhood, I learned how to take a temp., with the back of my hand on the forehead and cheeks.

No seriously, I can tell when my kids have a fever/temp just by touching them. I treat them with motrin or tylenol. If the temp/fever has not gone away after two days, I call the Dr.

I have pretty healthy kids, so a don't think a thermometer is a "must have" in this house. If they were prone to infections or had a serious illness, then I would keep my house stocked with all kinds of medical supplies.

Unless they are really uncomfortable it is actually better NOT to give them anything-the fever is there to kill the germs.

I know what you mean. I'm a peds nurse and i used to get calls all the time from parents whose child was "burning up with fever." Just how high is the fever? Well, they don't have a thermometer but he "feels" like he's 105. I even had one parent tell me she didn't have a thermometer,but she had tied a slice of onion to his wrist and it "hasn't finished cooking yet." What does a digital thermometer cost, $6?

As far as which ones are most accurate, the digital thermometers get my vote. Fever strips are nearly useless and ear thermometers can be variable, especially if the child has an ear infection. You can use a digital thermometer for rectal(most accurate), oral, and armpit temps(least accurate). Of course, you'll want to mark the one RECTAL, haha. We don't recommend the old glass-mercury thermometers anymore because they break easily and they're hard to read. The mercury is toxic--you don't want to have to clean it up and you sure don't want that in your kid's mouth!

Again, does it really make a difference if it is 102 vs 103. I can always tell if my kids have a fever and be accurate within .5 of what it is just by touching them. When they were younger I would call in, they would ask if they had a temp, yes, what is it, about 102, ok. I would bring them in, they would be at about 102. With my kids, when they were younger, they NEVER ran temps with things like ear infections or strep throat. Our ped's understood that so not having a temp with my kids wasn't a reason not to bring them in.

Once when DS17 was about 5 he was playing with his buddy next door. His friend's mom brought him home saying he all of the sudden didn't look good. I felt his head and he felt really warm, around 103. I took his temp, 103. He started complaining that his neck hurt about 15 minutes later, he felt a lot warmer, took his temp 105, rushed him into the ER, they couldn't find anything but his WBC was up so they gave in a shot of some antibiotic.

 

[Christine]

I use a thermometer to gauge how the illness is going and if the Motrin/Tylenol dose I used (minimal) is enough and is working. My son was sick over the weekend and his temp was close to 103. I gave him Motrin and then about an hour later he was still feeling awful and the temp had not budged. I then knew that I needed to give him more Motrin to get the temp into a tolerable range. My doctor said that once the temp gets over 102, you may need 3-4 Motrin to get any relief. So I used it for that.

Also, as another poster said, when the fever dropped and my son said he was "all better" I took his temp anyway and he was close to 101. He felt better, sure, but had I taken his word for it, I may have sent him to school.

 

[crz4mm2]

Yes.
Several. Both glass and digital.

One of my pet peeves in life. Patient calls the office and says she is running a fever. Ask how high? She says she doesn't have a thermometer....


I run a higher temp using the ear thermometer too.

 

[minkydog]

Also, as another poster said, when the fever dropped and my son said he was "all better" I took his temp anyway and he was close to 101. He felt better, sure, but had I taken his word for it, I may have sent him to school.

You bring up a good point. A kid can have a high fever and once the fever breaks they start to feel better. But that doesn't mean the fever is gone. Sure, they might perk and play or even eat something. But the only way to truly know if they still have a fever is to take it with a thermometer.

I'm reallly proud of those of you who have such a sensitive hand that you can determine fevers within 0.5 degrees. However, there are many,many, many more parents out there who not only don't have a thermometer, they don't have a clue what their kid's temp is. They're either "hot' or "not hot", and as we all know there is a lot of latitude in that.

I don't worry about very high fevers with my little, 2 to 8 year olds. They can run high fevers with simple ear infections and still be running around screaming and playing. I get more worried about high fevers in my over 15s. The older we get the less tolerant we are of high fevers. So I might let a 104 go in an otherwise healthy 3 year old. I would never let that go with my 16yo or her father.

 

[2binak]

After months of dealing with chronic ear infections with DD, we tossed the basic digital and bought an ear thermometer - it's quick, easy to use and retains info on past temps taken. It's also really accurate - or at least it registers the same temps as DD's pedi's thermometer.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000050FE0

One pp asked what you do with the temps...well, we write them down and if we take DD to the pedi, we bring the paper with us so the pedi can see the progression of the fever.

 

[pixiewings71]

We have a digital under the tongue, it's great, seems to be quite accurate actually. I wasn't sure so once when I was sick (with the beginning stages of pnuemonia, thank goodness we caught it so early) I took it with me and had them take it and then I compared. They were almost exact, just a few .00 different. There was a period of time we did not have any, that was after our house fire and they were thrown out. When one of had a fever I had to run out and buy a new one.

 

[Piglets Mommy]

I have lots of them, but cannot find a single one when I need it! I do not have an old fashioned glass one, but I think I have all the others, lol.

that's exactly why I have so many. Just last week when DS was sick I had DH stop and pick up a new one on the way home from work, because I couldn't find one. Later that night, I found2....one in DD's "Dr kit" and one in her "baby's" cradle. Apparently Baby wasn't feeling well either