Aibu to think most home-use thermometers are crap?

[MrsHookey]

I've tried stacks of them at hugely varying price points. They all seem to have wildly fluctuating results.

Has anyone actually ever found a good one which is consistently reliable and doesn't result in tears because you have to hold it under a sick child's armpit for a ridiculously long time?

Had a look in the prime sale in the hope that a super duper one might be available but no.

I just use a Braun Thermoscan ear one. Seems alright. But I don’t use it much, just when I can see he’s got a fever.

Same, in ear Braun one, like a doctor would use. One of the best things we bought when kids were little, it's been invaluable....around £30 I think.

We have the Which Best Buy one from Lloyds. Only £20 and it's great.

https://lloydspharmacy.com/products/lloydspharmacy-no-contact-thermometer?currency=GBP&variant=32657489690687&utmmedium=cpc&utmmsource=google&utmcampaign=Google%20Shopping&gclid=CjwKCAiAqIKNBhAIEiwAuuZLDvC69noIdl2-rGHSzEB-8Cc89G7O9RhIOnUXm3vuAiisOFIiQjIgpBoCthMQAvD_BwE

Braun in-ear one, in fact it looks exactly the same as the GP uses. Seems reliable.

We have an in-ear one that came in the baby box (Scotland) and it has never shown a high temperature even when DS was boiling hot to touch, shuddering and delirious. I always cross check it on me or DH if we’re not sure about DS, and it shows us both as having quite low temps.

Braun thermoscan 7.
It's crap. Unreliable.

I've never found a reliable one. I work in a nursery so we buy 3 or 4 at a time.
We have had 3 different types over the years.
A child's temp can read differently on all 4 thermometers almost every time, whichever brand we go for.

Braun ear one. The one they have at my docs

With 5 kids I’ve never owned one. You can see if a child is feverish and it’s the symptoms you need to treat. If they are hot and sad, or hot and silent you make different judgements. Obviously settings need them, but they aren’t really needed for home use.

Obviously excluding children with specific medical conditions that require special treatment

@SpangoDweller - I'm glad you said that about the Babybox one. I've found the same thing. Dd was boiling hot last week yet temp was under 36 degs according to the thermometer.

Have just ordered the one @Starcaller recommended.

@Whichcatthatcat

I've never found a reliable one. I work in a nursery so we buy 3 or 4 at a time. We have had 3 different types over the years. A child's temp can read differently on all 4 thermometers almost every time, whichever brand we go for.

Me too. One minute we are 36 degrees, then 41. The readings are all over the place.

@TheViewFromTheCheapSeats

With 5 kids I’ve never owned one. You can see if a child is feverish and it’s the symptoms you need to treat. If they are hot and sad, or hot and silent you make different judgements. Obviously settings need them, but they aren’t really needed for home use.

I think you have a point. One or two times I've given it my best guess when asked for an actual temperature.

Surely you need to know whether they're 38 degrees and just feeling ill and hot, or 40 degrees and need keeping an eye on carefully? Especially for small children.

Just a few weeks ago I put my son to bed with a low grade fever, unwell but not too worried. Checked on him later and he was breathing faster so I checked his temp, and it was nearly 40 - I'd never have known it was so high without the thermometer.

@TulipsGarden I think you can develop a fairly good idea. And those thermometers are telling me nothing accurate anyway.

I would like to own one which was accurate and useful!

My kid is prone to febrile convulsions, so I personally like knowing for sure whether his fever is low grade or a 40-degree whopper.

I get on well with the Thermoscan, I see others don’t, but he doesn’t mind having it in his ear and always sits still, which probably helps the accuracy of the reading.

I've had the same thermoscan for 7 years - seems pretty reliable, and was the one on my GP's desk so I assume not a bad choice.

Mind you, when ex bought it it was about 70 quid and I was a bit cross at the cost (ds had recently been really ill and he was worried and over-compensating)

We use old mercury ones. I ordered a forehead scanning one at the beginning of the pandemic, but it was always wildly out even with new batteries, so out came the mercury Fahrenheit one.

An inaccurate thermometer can have dangerous consequences.

Braun in ear are generally reliable. I never had one at home but use one at work and I actually do think they are potentially useful. . In these days of phone appointments for GPs it is useful to have hard facts to hand for them and for you.

@MrsHookey

I would like to own one which was accurate and useful!

It depends a lot on where you are taking the temp, on a baby the only accurate way is to take a rectal temperature.

If you have a toddler squirming then under arm will be useless and so will under the tongue.

The ear and forehead scans will be slightly less than core temperature and in the case of a forehead scan can be the temp of the skin so if your child has had an ice pack on it won't be accurate.

The best idea is to take a baseline of your child (or yourself) then you know if the temp has gone up from their normal.

We've got the Lloyds in ear one Linky

very fast and has seems consistent to us.