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Which Thermometers Are Most Accurate?
Parents will often bring their children in and say their kid had a fever. But when asked how high the fever was, many times parents will say they didn't check the temperature, but by feeling their child, they just knew they had a fever. We ask about how high a fever is because kids can feel hot, but don't clinically have a fever.
Parents should keep thermometers in their home to check their child's temperature. But what thermometers are best, and how should the temperature be taken?
Many of us grew up with the old mercury thermometers, and I don't think they're sold very much anymore because they're glass, and if they break, mercury gets all over the place, and that's not good.
In the past, fever strips were also used, too. Those are the kind that you put on the forehead, and they give you a range of what the temperature could be on them, but they aren't accurate either. And digital pacifier thermometers, sorry, not accurate either.
Many parents have digital thermometers, and there are two main kinds — the digital ear thermometer and the regular digital thermometer that can be used in the mouth, armpit, or rectum. With digital thermometers, parents will often do armpit temperatures, but they're not as accurate as the oral or rectal temperatures. With digital ear thermometers, if the ear canals are small, curved, or full of wax, the temperature won't be accurate either.
The most accurate thermometers are actually those temporal artery thermometers, like the kind that is often used in your doctor's office. They use an infrared scanner to measure the temperature of the temporal artery in the forehead, and it can even be used if a child is sleeping.
How to Take Your Child's Temperature by Age
So how do you accurately measure a child's temperature? It depends on how old your child is.
Newborns to Three Months
For newborns to three months old, the gold standard is a rectal temperature. Some research suggests that a temporal artery thermometer is accurate, too. But here in the clinic, if we do a temporal temperature and it's over 100 degrees, we always confirm the temperature with a rectal thermometer.
Babies three months and younger who have a rectal temperature of 100.4 or higher need to be taken to the closest children's hospital emergency room, as they could have an infection that requires more of a workup than we can do in the clinics and possibly IV antibiotics.
Four Months to Four Years
For kids from four months old to four years old, you can use a digital thermometer for a rectal or armpit reading or a temporal artery thermometer. Don't use the ear thermometers until your baby is at least one year old.
Four Years and Older
Once your child is four years old, they should be able to do the oral readings and keep a digital thermometer under their tongue for a short time. They are also good with armpit, ear, or temporal artery thermometers. If you do an armpit temperature, add one degree to get your child's actual temperature. Oral and rectal temperatures and temporal artery thermometers are pretty much spot on.
An accurate temperature can make a big difference in whether or not to worry, both as a parent and as a pediatrician. So it's important to know how to take it correctly.
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