Thermometers: Which Ones Should Parents Use?

Thermometers are widely used by parents in monitoring their children's temperature during fever. They may vary in styles, but it is best to know the different types and how to properly use them so as to make it easier to decide which one to use for infants and kids of different ages.

There are different kinds of thermometer when it comes to physical structure; some of them are the commonly used digital thermometers which use electric heat sensor to track temperature and the one with mercury. It is highly recommended to use the digital type on infants instead of the one with mercury content as mercury has been proven to be toxic,  according to Bundoo.

Parents may seem to worry about the discomfort it may bring but doctors highly recommend using only the rectal thermometers for infants 3 months below as these are proven to be the most accurate way of taking body measurement. This process is also recommended for children up to 3 years old.

Temporal artery thermometers or forehead thermometers use infrared scanner to gather temperature from the child's forehead. Experts are still in the process of studying whether this type of thermometer can be as accurate as the one being used in rectum.

Older children may use oral thermometers in their mouth as long as the mouth is closed while the temperature is being taken. However, they need to wait for 15 minutes after eating or drinking before taking their body temperature.

Digital pacifier thermometers function like an oral thermometer to younger children. In the form of a pacifier, children won't even notice that their body temperature is being taken. This, however, is not recommended for newborn as they do not have the ability to hold this device for five minutes in their mouths which is a primary requirement for accurate reading.

Tympanic thermometers also known as the digital ear thermometers are the most comfortable to children as they do not have to wait for more than a second in taking their temperature. This device uses infrared ray to capture the amount of heat from inside the ear canal, according to Mayo Clinic.