Ear Thermometer

[BJelly]

Hi, I recently bought a Braun thermoscan - a thermometer that you put in the ear to take temperatures.

Has anyone else had problems with these or with similar products?

I find it to be very inaccurate and gives a wide range of temperature readings at any one time - it can be over a degree out!

I had hoped it would be better than this as it was very expensive. I have another thermometer, but I'm not confident taking bub's temperature rectally, and you have to leave it 5 mins under the armpit to get a proper reading - a long time with a squirming, crying baby!

How does everyone else take their baby's temp?

[draught]

I also bought an expensive ear one - different brand - and it is useless. I was thinking about selling it on ebay but thought that was too cruel for the mummy who might buy it!

I have an underarm style digital one that takes one minute to produce a pretty accurate reading. It cost me about $12 - and you can hold an arm down for 1 minute much more easily than for 5 minutes! I think it is the safety first brand and have found it to be very accurate.

[razzle]

I think mine is safety first brand too and it's easy and accurate for underarm readings. It came with a little first aid kit with clippers, a nose suction thingo, a dropper and a couple of other things. I shove it under there really quickly and just cuddle her until it stops flashing when the reading is finished, takes about a minute I think.

[anotherlogin]

I also was given the Braun thermometer (mum-in-law spent about $80 on it) and it's useless. It also gives different readings each time we use it. I went to a talk by a paed and he also said they were not accurate. My mum bought me a Tommee Teepee one, which is electronic a beeps when it has read the temp, so far it's not too bad as I at least know I have kept it under bubs arm long enough.

[ElizaDee]

Wow this is a bit of a shock, I thought the ear ones would have been really good and quick. I was planning on buying one when the time came.

I will have to have a think about this now.

Does anyone have an ear one that works?

[H&B'sMum]

I have never known an ear one to work. The readings are so varient because it can't always read the temp inside the ear so makes an approximation. We have a safety first one which is fantastic. It takes 1 min and has a fever beep (which beeps really quickly) if his temp is above 38. It is very accurate and I get him to watch the numbers as they change.
The safety first one is also the one we have at work (I'm a Pre-School teacher) and you can imagine some days we take alot of temps and have never had a problem with them.
Don't waste your money on them they are not worth it.

[Chickadee]

We bought an $80 ear one. After reading the instructions and trying it a few times when DD was healthy I went a bought an underarm one.

The instructions for mine said that for infants you take one reading, and then rotate it 90o (or maybe it was 180o?, I can't remember) and take another reading. The reason for 2 readings is that their ear canal is so small that it's difficult to get it positioned correctly, so of the two readings one will likely be right. Ear thermometers are better for bigger kids, and I've hung onto mine for use later on.

An underarm thermometer is definitely easier with infants as you can cuddle them while taking it, as well as being more reliable.

If you do use an ear one, remember that the temperature reading will be different than an underarm reading. So if 36.5 is "normal" for under the arm, 37 might be normal for an ear reading. That's because the ear is a more internal reading. You really need to do some readings while bub is well and not fevered, to get your baseline. If you ever have to take bub to the doctor and report their temp it's important to tell them how you took it.

[BubbleBelly]

I have just bought a forehead thermometer! It's fantastic!
I haven't given birth yet... but have tested it out on a few peoples and i am tickled pink!

[Rell]

I too was given an expensive ear thermomiter and found it very inacurate. My didgital under the arm Safety First one works much better.

[Crazyfamily]

When My son was in hospital an ear therm was used in the emergency dept. but once admitted to hosp the staff wouldn't use them as they said they can be at least 2 degres out. They use them in emergency cos they are time efficient. I now stick to the underarm digital also.

[Mumoffour]

I also forked out for a tympanic thermometer (ear one) because thats what I used at work and i found it to be useless!! They generally arent used on small children in hospital because their ears are small. The underarm digital ones are the way to go- cheaper than the ear ones and a lot more reliable. :p

[H&B'sMum]

I thought of this thread today when I was doing some reseach. I'm currently reviewing a health policy for a child care centre and was reading the "bible" of health care in child care centres and they mentioned not to use ear themo as they are too inaccurate and don't give a clear picture of a child's temp. They recommend a ditigal themo and do it under their arm.
Just wanted to let everyone know.

[Aprilsmum]

I just purchased a forehead thermometer. So far so good. I did some research before I bought it and thats where I learned that the ear ones were no good. Apparently, to get an accurate reading from them you need to push them quite firmly into the ear canal - personally, I don't like the sound of doing this to a little bub.

The forehead one is non invasive, and I can check bubs temp at night whilst she is sleeping.

[slick2]

Hi

I had an underarm thermometer for the first 9-10 months of my son's life and it worked well. My only problem was after this age he would always wriggle and resist so I was always worried that I wasn't getting an accurate result.

Since then, I bought a digital ear thermometer off ebay for about half the retail price and haven't had any problems yet. I find it really easy to use, especially when my boy is really sick and irritable.