Best time for bbt (basal body temp) taking

rebecca&nathan

Hi Ladies,

As part of my morning routine, I take my basal body temp, but was wondering when exactly I should be doing it.  From what I understood, I'm trying to capture my true metabolic temp.  So should I take it before I do any moving at all?

For example, should I take it when I wake up at 4am to pee, but before I get out of bed?  Or, should I take it before I get up in the morning but after I've hit the snooze a few times and am mostly awake?  For me, the two temps differ by 0.4degC (almost 0.65degF).  I don't want to miss an O and so far, I haven't had one 3 months.

Any suggestions?

merci - Rebecca

 

mel72

You should try to do it at the same time every day, before you get out of bed or do anything.  I kept mine right near my bed.  Best of luck to you!

katieranck2202

You need to do it before you do anything else, no snoozing and if you can help it no getting up to pee. Before moving at all.

Since you need at least 3 hours of sleep prior to temping, and if you get up every morning to pee at 4am, temp before get up to do that. Or if you aren't getting up until after 7:30, do it then.

oct11bride03

With charting, you're looking at the whole picture, the pattern of temps. The actual temps themselves do not matter. As long as you take your temp at the same time every morning you will be able to see an ovulation temp shift, if ovulation occurs. The problem you might run into since you have such varying temps if you take it at the 4am pee break or after the snooze is missing O because of the variance. In your case I'd pick one of the times and always use that. Again, it's the pattern you're looking for, not the actual temps.

For me, after charting for almost a year I know I have a bit of leeway in when I temp that doesn't affect my overall charting.

Good luck!

lovemymonkey

it's been a long time since I've temped, but I think you're supposed to have at least 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep before taking your temp. So if you get up at 4am every  morning to pee, then you should take your temp no earlier than 7am. You should always take your temp before moving around so keep it on your bedside table and take it before getting out of bed.