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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not own a thermometer?

59 replies

Reali · 14/09/2020 10:00

In five kids I’ve never needed one, either they have a fever to treat/ are ill or not. I look for signs like flushed cheeks, warm nape of the neck, lethargy etc. One gets super hot easily, one can be really ill before getting hot... I don’t worry so much about numbers.

Just told a friend and she seems to think it’s pretty neglectful.

Is it that unusual not to?

OP posts:
Lockheart · 14/09/2020 10:01

Neglectful is a tad melodramatic but I find a thermometer is useful to have around the house just in case.

AvoidingRealHumans · 14/09/2020 10:02

I don't either and not the only one as in the last year I've had 2 neighbours ask if I have one as they don't and they want to check their children.
If the children have ever been ill and I can't manage it myself the Dr always asks are they hot to touch, flushed etc, they've never asked for the actual temperature.
I suppose it would be handy to have one but as a mum you know when your children have a temperature.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 14/09/2020 10:02

I have one. Got it in a baby care set I think.

I can't ever remember using it when the children are ill. Eldest is 9yo.

Megan2018 · 14/09/2020 10:06

It’s a bit odd yes. Touch is unreliable- my baby had a temperature over 40 that was unresponsive to Calpol and Nurofen. She was hot to touch but I couldn’t have told the difference between 38 and 40 as the doctor via 111 needed to know. Very useful now with Covid. They are so cheap, they are a vital part of any first aid kit.
Why wouldn’t you buy one?

VainAbigail · 14/09/2020 10:08

Similar amount of kids to you, eldest nearly 15, never used a thermometer.

YANBU!!

EmmaGrundyForPM · 14/09/2020 10:09

I've never had one. I've never needed one. It might be useful now because of Covid I suppose

cologne4711 · 14/09/2020 10:10

I don't have one because I couldn't get one back in March when I last looked for one. They were sold out everywhere and I've not looked since.

I did find a forehead strip at the back of my medicines cupboard but its expiry date was 2006 (not a typo).

Agree you know if your child has a temperature (or if you do yourself), which is probably how I've managed since before 2006!

Picklypickles · 14/09/2020 10:12

I've had several since my youngest was a baby but they kept getting lost, I didn't find the basic cheaper ones very reliable and bought a digital one, which was good but it broke and they're not cheap to replace so I don't currently have a thermometer at all.

VainAbigail · 14/09/2020 10:12

It’s also not odd that you don’t have one!

ChazP · 14/09/2020 10:22

Wouldn’t call it neglectful!
I have one, I always grew up with one so it never occurred to me not to have one when I had kids.
But it sounds like your system of monitoring your kids’ health works for you, so crack on!

AuntieMarys · 14/09/2020 10:25

Never had one here. My dcs are mid 20s. Still don't own one.

CatBatCat · 14/09/2020 10:27

I've got one in the greenhouse to tell me if the plants will be happy but I've never taken my own temperature.

60sbird · 14/09/2020 10:28

I never had one for my older two children but had one when my youngest was around 4 and I started looking after my granddaughter who’s mother insisted I had one

enjoyingscience · 14/09/2020 10:31

I have one but I’ve never used it in anger. It’s absolutely not neglectful not to have one - you know if they are hot or not, and you know when to seek help if they aren’t responding to standard medication (carpool etc).

Baaaahhhhh · 14/09/2020 10:32

There's another thread running where poster is checking temperatures every day!

I've never had a thermometer, and over on that other thread, about half of respondents haven't either. I suppose as with many things, it depends whether you need reassurance or whether you can just trust instinct. Neither is wrong, and to not have one is certainly not neglectful.

chunkyrun · 14/09/2020 10:32

I've got one, it's never been out the box

Kazakaren · 14/09/2020 10:33

I've never had one. We've managed fine without.

honkytonkheroe · 14/09/2020 10:35

My children are 26, 18 and 9. Years ago I got told by my doctor that a thermometer was unnecessary and you could tell when a child was hot and if they felt hot they have a temperature. Perhaps an old fashioned view but she was a v sensible lady.

RedCatBlueCat · 14/09/2020 10:35

We bought one when all the covid shitstorm hit.
Until then weve managed very nicely without one.
Ill child - pain relief, regardless of temperature.
Child warm to touch, but otherwise cheerful, keep an eye on them, lots of fluids and leave them be.

Treat the child, not the symptoms.

Original poster
Reali · 14/09/2020 10:37

So the majority are with me!

@Megan2018 surely your baby was just as ill with other symptoms regardless of temp? The few times mine have been in hospital it’s been obvious, as well as the temp, they were very ill- floppy, not replying or moaning, unfocused etc. On the other hand my youngest was just off 40 at a GP appt for tonsillitis, still the same treatment as she was obviously just I’ll with tonsillitis. She’s prone to mega spike, whereas my other had a febrile seizure in hospital at 3 at 38.

OP posts:
Enchantmentz · 14/09/2020 10:39

Never had one until recently and dc is 10, you can tell your dc is not well just by the look of them/instinct. However I did get a thermometer as it will be good for reassurance in the current climate.

A few years a go I was running a temperature of 40 something at the g.p, I felt completely fine other than having an ear problem. I came down with a raging cold a couple days later as the g.p predicted, ear problem and temp was a clue.

user1493494961 · 14/09/2020 10:40

Good for you.

ChessieFL · 14/09/2020 10:43

I think I do have one that I got when DD was a baby and I may have used it one or twice when she was really small, but haven’t used it since and she’s almost 11 now!

unimaginativeusernamehere · 14/09/2020 10:47

I can always tell if my son has a temperature but I find it useful to reassure myself that he's responding to Calpol if it comes down or to know if it's so high that I want him to see a doctor.

utterlynutty · 14/09/2020 10:47

My DC are 30 and 27 yrs old.
I never had a thermometer when they were young.
I have one now,but only because I got one free from my work.
Have never used it