It’s getting hot in here

Susan Horn - 2 Mar 15

Let me take the temperature of the room on this one. How much is too much when it comes to taking your child’s temperature? Is it a good thing to obsessively monitor for the slightest fever, or does it make you a bad mother if you wing it and go by feel?

I have to admit, I fall into the latter category. Until recently, I was relying on the old ‘hand across the forehead measure’, channelling the authoritative voice of my own mother when announcing “yes, I think he has a temperature”. In all fairness, it seemed to be working perfectly well. But now, I have succumbed, and been forced into purchasing my first electronic thermometer.

I promise you, I’m really not a bad mother. We got along just fine for 16 months without one (I can hear the sharp intake of breath from the avid temperature takers already). It’s not that I don’t monitor my son’s health. It’s just that I don’t really see how knowing his precise temperature is going to change anything. If his temperature is 37.9C, I’m going to give him some Calpol. If it’s 38.4C I’m still going to give him some Calpol – and if it’s really in the 38’s and getting close to 39, I’m going to be feeling the heat radiating from him and there will be other symptoms, so I might even take him to the doctor. Do I really need a whizzy thermometer to tell me that?

Barring all the compulsory check-ups, Otto has been to the doctor twice in his life. Last month, I took him because he had a temperature and really wasn’t well. Turns out it was three viruses all hitting at once, so the poor little mite was really under the weather. That’s when the doctor told me to get a thermometer to monitor his temperature overnight, and bring him back in the morning if it wasn’t improving. I duly trotted off and purchased said thermometer, which is exactly when my new obsession started.

Having lived for 16 months without knowing Otto’s precise temperature, I now find I can’t last a few days without taking it. When he cries in the night, I take his temperature. If he doesn’t eat his lunch, I take his temperature. It’s not as if this new knowledge can fundamentally change how I treat him. I’m still limited to Calpol and Infant Nurofen. If anything, he’s probably getting a bit more Calpol than he used to – and I have to wonder if that is really a good thing? Has the thermometer just made me more paranoid?

I have a friend who once admitted to not trusting her electronic thermometer because it gave slightly different readings each time. To counter this, she started taking her daughter’s temperature three times in each ear and then averaging the readings to get an accurate measure. WTF? These are the actions of an otherwise perfectly sane woman!

While, I’m not quite at that level (yet), I am struggling to keep my temperature taking under control. There definitely is something satisfying about announcing authoritatively – “Ah ha! He has a temperature of 38.3C”, but in reality, I’m still just reaching for the Calpol, so what’s changed?

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Susan Horn

Susan Horn lives in Melbourne, Australia. Before children, Susan worked in PR and Marketing Communications and was a complete Triathlon geek. She is currently a full-time Mum who squeezes a bit of exercise in between indulging her chocolate and coffee habits.

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