To never to use a thermometer

[Notthinkingclearly]

When my first dc was born my health visitor advised me to buy a thermometer. Over the years it has been a invaluable tool when my 2 children have been poorly particularly if it has been stuck at 40 degrees and wouldn't budge prompting a trip to hospital. I have been talking to 2 friends who don't t have thermometers and have never taken their child's temperatures.I am now wondering if I should take my child temperaure when poorly and what other people think. My instinct tells me that it is a good way of assessing my child and Drs use it too but wondered what others think.

I've never owned nor used a thermometer. I go off how the child is in themselves.

I've got 4 dc and don't have a thermometer, a GP actually told me once that I should be ashamed of myself for not having one 😳
Actually I am an advanced nurse practitioner and am able to objectively assess my dc and get medical help if needed.
I can understand the GP thinking I should have had one (even if he was astoundingly rude) as for OOH it helps with telephone triage if they have actual numbers to work with. However, it is fraught with operator error - I frequently see people using tympanic thermometers and getting inaccurate readings as they have not used it correctly - these are HCP's!!!
Personally, I don't feel the need to use one but it's has been useful for you and guided your decision making, don't doubt yourself based on what others do.

It's a useful tool alongside how the kid seems in themselves otherwise, I wouldn't not have one personally. But was surprised when DD (2 at time) had a temperature of 40.5 for several days and medics didn't seem worried.

No thermometer in my house, or my parents.
I think i can maybe count the number of times I've had my temp taken on one hand.

I have a thermometer and use it often when they are ill. But the reason I call a doctor, or would worry is nothing to do with the reading on the thermometer. It is to do with how well/ill they seem, what is wrong with them and how long it has been going on for.

I have also come to realise that kids are very different. dd1 is very poorly if she has a temp of 39. Her base temp tends to be low and she has to be really poorly before she registers a fever. If I depended on the therm I would miss times when she needed more.

dd2 on the other hand has a temp that shoots up at the first sign of anything. She spent a week in hospital as a toddler because her temp wouldn't come down. Cue loads of tests etc etc. Now that I have known her a bit longer, I probably wouldn't even take her to the GP. She often has a temp of 40 when ill. I once took it and it was 42. When she is very hot or floppy I give clapol and /or ibuprofen and it always comes down.

You really need a thermometer. A GOOD, accurate one.

Sure, you can tell if a child has a temperature without one but you can't tell how high their temp actually is. I ended up calling an ambulance at 1.30 am Sat night because my 3.5 year old dd had her first ever febrile convulsion. When the paramedics arrived they told me she had a temp of 40 degrees. My shitty Boots digital therm told me it was 38.5 (and because of the convulsions the outside of her body actually felt cool, it was her core temp that was high). She hadn't seemed particularly unwell before bed either.

It's soooo hard to assess whether toddlers are REALLY I'll or just a little bit I'll - it's good to have an objective measure.

Also, can anyone recommend a good thermometer?

Jesus, I wish I had proof read that before posting.

My DCs are getting a bit bigger and are seldom ill, so it's getting easier to judge how they are without using a thermometer. Either mine seems to run low, or they have a low core temperature. They're normally under 37oC and have rarely gone above 38oC.

It's a useful tool to building up the bigger picture, particularly when very young.

I am a dr but don't use a thermometer on my kids at home

I have a thermometer but haven't used it. I can tell if they have a fever and if they do I give them medication (they are usually miserable as well, anyway). I've never been in a situation where the medication hasn't brought down the temperature. I suppose if that happened, that's when I'd use the thermometer... but I'd also be ringing 111.

Actually my eldest gets her fevers at the end of an illness so I have to go by other symptoms anyway.

It's personal choice. I have never used a thermometer. My mother never did. We used to place the back of a hand on the child's forehead. You can feel when there is a high temperature.
My friend takes her children's temperature every night with a thermometer 'just to check'

I've never used them except when my waters broke without any contractions and I was advised to take my temperature hourly to monitor for infection.
I'm not sure I see the point of knowing the temperature at home as its not as if at a certain point X or Y will happen. Mine have been very hot and well and not as hot and really ill. I've taken a child to the Doctor who measured his temperature at over 40 but there was no sign of anything causing it so we went home and he was better in a couple of days.
SIL takes DN to the Drs, OOH or A+E if DN's temp is 39 or more regardless of how DN is or any other symptoms. This has resulted in her complaining all the time that she is told DN just has a virus, or has to wait ages to see someone.

I don't own a thermometer and have never felt the need for one. My dc are 9 and 12.

If they have a temperature I know, but I've never needed to know the exact temperature.

But they've never had a temperature and illness that I've felt needed being checked by a doctor. We've has a few colds and both had chicken pox but never been to the GP for anything. If they had a track record for illness I'd have probably bought one.

I'm a doctor and very rarely check my children's temperatures, only if I am concerned enough to take them to their GP.

It is useful, especially in the first few months where a temp of over 38 is a massive concern...

If your friends' children are rarely ill then it's understandable that they don't have to use a thermometer.

My children are teens and haven't had any significant illness other than chickenpox at 5 and 6 and dd had a 48h sickness bug last year - those are the only times I have needed to take their temperatures or give them painkillers. If they were ill more often then I would use it more often.

I never use a thermometer. If a child's ill they are ill regardless of the numbers on a thermometer.

I have one but only use it when DD is hot to touch. I like to have the option as a severe temperature can be dangerous so it's good just in case. I wouldn't give it a thought as it can't do any harm having it.

No matter what thermometer i'be had (mouth, forehead, ear) when DC have had a temp and I have told a doctor, they have asked "what type of thermometer did you use?" and what ever one I had used they said "oh don't use those, they're rubbish."

A friend used to say she only felt their forehead to decide and I felt inadequate because I didn't think I could do that. Then DS1 got a massively high temp - almost too hot to touch!- and after that I could do it. Breastfeeding made it easier still - that hot little mouth

Surely you need to use a thermometer even less if they are hot to touch?

Thermometers for home use aren't manufactured to clinically robust standards, nor are they ever recalibrated, nor are non-HCPs trained in their use. As an ex acute care nurse I've never gone near one as a result.

You can have a fever and the child not feel hot to touch though. If my children look poorly I will use a temperature to check.

Yeah, but why do you need to know? If a child is poorly then you deal with that. If they're not, not. Regardless of temperature.

Nope never had one in the house. My mum never used one either. Use the lips on forehead method!
I thought the high temp was actually the bodies way off fighting off the virus .. so useful in a way??

My point was that a child may not feel hot to you but actually has a temperature. Knowing the child has a fever builds a picture up so you can take action. Headache and light adversion is likely to be migraine. The same plus a fever that doesn't go away with antipyretics is more worrying.