Today I replaced my IR gun – here is why

A friend of mine send me a message last week about thermometers. Maybe not the most sexy topic but now that we have a baby I really pay attention to medical information. As soon as I told my mom I was pregnant she started spoiling me with gifts. One of them was an infrared thermometer. You know, one of these point-and-click thermometer where all you have to do is aim the thermometer at the forehead of your child (or adult for that matter) and it gives you a temperature reading. 

Well, I will not be using such an IR gun much longer.

That is because the info my friend send me is actually quite disturbing. It is an article about how the FDA – the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – has decided that IR guns are not accurate. My friend also send me information about Australian research that shows IR guns miss 5 out of 6  fevers! That is not why I use a thermometer when my little girl is not feeling very well.

When I talked to my doctor about this she was aware of the research. She also advised me not to buy an in-ear thermometer as an alternative. The reason is that using an in-ear thermometer means that you have to push the sensor of the thermometer into your baby’s ear. And because the ear canal of babies is far too small for such a sensor it might hurt them. And it might even damage their ear drum.

So when I asked my doctor what the best thermometer for our family is she said I should buy a Temporal Artery Thermometer. These thermometers are new to me, but the doctor explained that these thermometers are very accurate and very comfortable – even to babies, but also to older children and adults. All you have to do is gently swipe the thermometer across the forehead of your baby and within seconds you know the exact body temperature of your baby. You can even do it while your baby is asleep. I like it!