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So mad - pls rec your thermometer for toddler/preschooler

amyinaustinamyinaustin
in Austin Babies

So in the past 6 months, we've probably bought 3 thermometers for DD.  SHe'll wake up w/ an OBVIOUS temperature (when I touch her forehead and she feels like an oven), sniffles, whines, etc - so I KNOW she's sick.  Then I take her temp w/ one of the thermometers we have and I can never get an accurate reading. We even splurged on the $50 vicks one that you swipe across their forehead - and I get a different reading each time.  Like 101.9, 98.9, 99.5 - all pretty different.  The nurse line at our pedi said to just get a cheapie and do it under her arm - so we did that.  Same thing though -way different results and I know she's sick or consistently low results when she is burning up.  If we ever have to take her in to the pedi for something, she is always running a low temp (like 99.9 or 100.5) and that is usually after we've been medicating at home w/ tylenol/etc so I know it was higher before we came in.  She now freaks her freak when I try to do it rectally (can't blame her!) so I'm at a loss.

This morning she was burning up and we had the same situation w/ the thermometers again.  I gave her some ibuprofen and she feels much cooler now to the touch, but I need a good reading from a effing thermometer to be able to manage whatever she has, you know?

So do you have one that works well for you and gives you dependable results?  Or do I need to just suck it up and accept that we'll have to buy a new one every month or so?  Sheesh.

 

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Re: So mad - pls rec your thermometer for toddler/preschooler

  • misjennmisjenn member
    We have the forehead one and I HATE it! I get the same thing every single time. We have the ear thermometer now and I love it. I get accurate readings everytime. I have had this one for about 2 years and never had a problem just replace the batteries. I hope your LO feels better.
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  • nanannnanann

    I feel your pain.

     

    I have an ear thermometer.  I usually do it 5 or 6 times, and by the last couple readings they are the same/close to the same so I trust it as much as I can trust a thermometer.  Usually it keeps raising for the first couple tries so I keep going until they are equal.

    SO very frustrating, though, and luckily my girls like getting their temp taken with it..

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  • rssnlvrrssnlvr
    We have the forehead one and I just swipe it three or four times until I get a general feel for what's happening. It all depends on the angle you have it--if the sensor is not flat against their head for the entire swipe, it's not going to be as accurate as it would otherwise because cooler air is getting in, kwim?
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  • SarahPLizSarahPLiz member
    I posted the same Q to my FB this weekend. For DS we went with a new thermometer for rectal use. Eventually though we will chuck the ear one for a temporal one. The exergen got great reviews from my friends list. 
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  • NessiaNessia
    I have a Braun ear one that I've used for years and I feel comfortable that it's as accurate as possible.  I'm not a fan of the temporal ones but I think it's because I don't think some nurses know how to use them. Sometimes they just seem careless about using them. There have been times that they don't show a temp but I have told the nurse to run it again because I can tell my child does have a fever and sure enough when they use the temporal more carefully it is what I believe to be more accurate. I have what I call a mommy thermometer, I can pretty much tell by touching their lower back whether they have a fever and whether it's in the 100 or 102 range.
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  • MrsMillerTimeMrsMillerTime

    imagerssnlvr:
    We have the forehead one and I just swipe it three or four times until I get a general feel for what's happening. It all depends on the angle you have it--if the sensor is not flat against their head for the entire swipe, it's not going to be as accurate as it would otherwise because cooler air is getting in, kwim?

    Ditto.  I usually swipe 3-4 times and take an average.

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  • Ruby44Ruby44

    I still use a rectal thermometer ... this one. I've been happy with it.

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  • fjarilfjaril

    We use rectal still. It's the only way to get accurate reading at home (imho).

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  • amyliisaamyliisa

    imagerssnlvr:
    We have the forehead one and I just swipe it three or four times until I get a general feel for what's happening. It all depends on the angle you have it--if the sensor is not flat against their head for the entire swipe, it's not going to be as accurate as it would otherwise because cooler air is getting in, kwim?

    Ditto.  And the bolded is something that I am CONTSTANTLY telling DH, because he will swipe it without the thing even touching skin.  Silly boy.  Anyway, we bought the temporal lobe one because we had been having a heck of a time with daycare sending him home when he didn't really have a fever.  They would check under his arm and add a degree (as per state regs, I guess) and it was NEVER accurate.  After the first couple times, freaking out and taking him straight to the doctor who said he was 98.6 or whatever, we bought a temporal for his infant room at the center, and asked that they use that instead, which they did and we didn't have any more problems.  We used rectal at home till he was a toddler, then bought a temporal for us at home and I haven't had any issues with it.

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  • SinafeySinafey member

    We have an Exergen Temporal one, but our results have been mixed.  It seems to get more accurate readings if I start the swipe behind her ear, and like PP's I do it several times to see what the average is.  

    Are you able to replace the batteries in any of the ones you bought?  I was told that you can get weird readings when the batteries start to run low.

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  • brideonjuly8brideonjuly8 member

    imagerssnlvr:
    We have the forehead one and I just swipe it three or four times until I get a general feel for what's happening. It all depends on the angle you have it--if the sensor is not flat against their head for the entire swipe, it's not going to be as accurate as it would otherwise because cooler air is getting in, kwim?

    Yeah, we have the Exergen Temporal scanner, and even though the readings are different every time, I still love it.  I've taken my temp back to back with a regular one and that one comes back different every time, too, so I just take it a few times and take an average.  If it's super high and I don't feel the readings are anywhere close to one another, I'll take it a different way.  And usually, I just take the higher of all the readings since it's probably more likely to get a low false reading than a high false reading. 

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  • bobcatstephbobcatsteph member

    imagefjaril:

    We use rectal still. It's the only way to get accurate reading at home (imho).


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  • amyinaustinamyinaustin

    THanks for all the advice.  All the ones we've bought in the past 6 months should still be good on batteries, I would think.  I've been using the temporal one more today being really anal about keeping it flat against her skin and that is helping a little more.  I agree w/ PP - that mommy thermometer is usually dead-on!

     I always figured rectal would be most accurate, but it's gotten to the point where it takes 2 of us to hold her down and she freaks her freak about it, plus I know we can't do that when she's 10 so we might as well take it for what it is now.

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