SICKNESS IN INFANTS AND CHILDREN: HOW TO TAKE THE TEMPERATURE
Until the child is four to six years old, it is safer and more reliable to take rectal temperatures.
If you have to report an older child’s temperature to the doctor, tell him whether you took an oral, rectal, or axillary (armpit) reading, because the rectal temperature will be slightly higher than the oral— about half a degree, or 0.5°—and the axillary temperature, described on page 247, correspondingly lower.
Before taking the temperature, hold the thermometer tightly on the glass end, not the silvered end, and shake it with a strong twist of your wrist, until the mercury is down near the 97° F. mark. Shake the thermometer over a bed or a pillow, so that it will not break if it should slip from your fingers. Then cover the bulb with petroleum jelly or cold cream so that it can be slipped in easily.
For an infant, the best way to insert the thermometer is to place him on his abdomen across your knee. Ever so gently, push the thermometer into his rectum. Then hold it in place between two fingers with your palm flat across the buttocks. Never let go of the thermometer. It would be best to leave the thermometer in for about two minutes, but if the baby is fretful and struggles, a minute will be good enough. When the child is a little older, you can take his temperature by having him lie on his side with his knees drawn up.
Sometimes it is too upsetting for an infant or young child to have the temperature taken by rectum. In such instances, you should take the temperature by the axillary method.
Use the thick-walled rectal thermometer. Place the silvered bulb end in the deepest part of the armpit. The armpit is then closed tightly against the chest, and kept closed over the thermometer for five minutes, as actually timed by a clock.
Mouth temperature
When the child is ready to hold a thermometer in his mouth, take oral temperatures—unless your doctor specifically requests the rectal or axillary method. It is important that you do not take an oral temperature right after the child has eaten or drunk anything hot or cold. Keep the thermometer in the mouth for five minutes, unless you are using the rapid-reading type, which only requires a minute. Even with the latter, it is still best to reinsert and check the reading after another minute to make sure that the maximum temperature has been reached.
*199\68\2*
