Baby Temperature

[Georgie2445]

Hello!

I wondered if someone could help?

I have a 5 month old baby boy. He's got a slight sniffle but apart from that seems ok. I have checked his temperature in his ear which is coming out as 36.4 but when I check under his arm it's 37.9. Which is the most accurate reading? He has cold hands and feet but I have stripped him off just in case and given him calpol.

Sorry if this is a silly question! He's feeding fine and seems happy!

Thank you!

If he's just got a slight sniffle but is feeding fine and seems OK then I wouldn't worry about exactly what his temperature is.

Thermometer under the arm will be the most accurate.

They don't reccomend using ear thermometers on babies especually under 1s as they can be inaccurate due to smaller ears and user error.

As long as its under 39c and comes down with paracetomol or ibuprofen then it should be fine. If your worried NHS 24 will help if you give them a call :)

You have different temperature readings in different locations of your body. I'm sure they are within normal range

Thank you all for your responses!

I'm probably just over stressing but the thermometer keeps giving me different readings. I didn't realise that ear thermometers weren't recommended for under 1s! Thanks for letting me know. I'll get a new thermometer tomorrow just to be careful.

His under arm temperature has gone down and he has kept his calpol down thank goodness!

When DD was in hospital they said they would not use ear thermometers for under 2s.