Fever: Facts & Fiction

Fever is a body temperature that is higher than normal. Although your child’s normal temperature varies slightly with time of day (lower in the morning, higher between late afternoon and early evening), ambient temperature, activity level, and how much clothing is being worn, most consider any thermometer reading ≥100.4° F (38° C) to be “fever.”

Taking your Child’s Temperature.

While you can suspect your child has a fever by faster heart and breathing rates, facial flushing, as well as feeling warmth of the forehead, only a thermometer can tell exactly what the temperature is. This number may be important to convey to your pediatrician.   Another part of the puzzle is that most kids will have symptoms of the illness that is causing the fever, such as an earache, sore throat, rash, or stomachache.

Types of Thermometers.

Due to the poisonous nature of mercury, mercury thermometers should not be in your home! Here are some alternatives.

• Rectal:  If your child is under three years of age, taking her temperature with a [lubricated] rectal digital thermometer is most reliable. Insert the thermometer 1/2–1 inch into the anal opening, hold in place for about one minute, and remove and read the number after you hear the “beep.”
• Oral: Once your child is four or five, you may prefer taking his temperature with an oral digital thermometer. After waiting at least fifteen minutes after your child has had a hot or cold drink, place the thermometer under his tongue, hold it for about one minute, remove, and read the number after you hear the “beep.”

Others:

• Ear (“tympanic”) thermometers may be used for older babies and children; however, due to the need for proper ear canal placement and the possibility that too much ear wax may affect a reading, they are not considered as reliable as the rectal and oral thermometers.
• Underarm (axillary) recordings are also not as accurate as rectal or oral readings, but may be used with children older than three months. Using either an oral or rectal thermometer, place the sensor end in your child’s armpit for about a minute; remove, and read the number after the “beep.”