hot in here or is it me?

E’s a robust little fella; rarely ill with anything more than the usual baby snuffles.  Developing a fever is a telltale sign when something more serious is brewing.  The bleep of the thermometer and the high temperature reading it signals confirms what we already know. Only a poorly E would tolerate having a thermometer held in his armpit for over a minute.  Once he’s well again thoughts of whether there’s a better way of measuring the seriousness of a fever are forgotten until the next time. Turns out there is a better way.
An in-ear thermometer that reads a temperature in 3 seconds.
I know, 3 seconds! I couldn’t believe it either. Until Braun sent us one to try.
The ThermoScan® 5 ear thermometer was true to its word – easy and fast to use.  Safe for all the family to use from birth.  The patented ExacTemp™ pre-warmed tip fits even the smallest ears comfortably. Readings are fast and accurate by measuring the heat generated by the eardrum and surrounding tissue.  The last 8 readings are automatically stored which can be helpful for tracking temperature changes during a period of illness.  Cross contamination is avoided if more than one person in the family gets sick by using disposable lens filters.  All in all, a distress-free temperature reading experience for all concerned.
A decent in ear thermometer, the preferred choice of health professionals, has always been out of our price range so I never have acted on my ”Is there a better way?…” ponderings.  When Braun offered me the Thermoscan to try I turned them down at first since parting with £43 from our family budget for a thermometer would never be something I could justify.   ”The 3-in-1 digital stick thermometer is more our price range” I said.  ”Try them both and see how they compare” they said helpfully.

A shared feature of both thermometers is lots of bleeping which captivated E. Understandably after much play he got a bit confused about just what went where (did you spot his earlier attempts to take his ear temperature up his nose?)

Amazon reviewers of the 3-in-1 thermometer swear by it as the number 1 choice for vets (a rectal reading in 10 seconds!).  For usefulness with little ones it couldn’t really compare with the Thermoscan’s  deluxe features.  Oral readings, also delivered in 10 seconds, are not recommended for under 4’s if you want an accurate result. E gave it a noble try but couldn’t grasp the closed mouth needed and soon took it out syaing ”oh, broken’‘ when bleeping was not forthcoming.

The 3-in-1 thermometer is a good, affordable choice for adults and older children at home or in a travel first aid kit. In our temperature tests it produced similar readings (the difference between heat sensitivity in the mouth and in the ear?) which can also be stored.  It’s waterproof for easy cleaning if sharing use in families.  For reassurance with babies I am persuaded by the usefulness of an ear thermometer following our trial.  I’d still hesitate to spend nearly £50 (with the cost of buying extra filters needed) but as an investment in the families’ wellbeing it’s a reliable product offering peace of mind just when you need it. Hunt around and there are some good discounts on-line – (£37 with 60 filters and free postage).

So you’re probably thinking it couldn’t possibly be all good right? Well, we did get to try our ear thermometer out with a poorly E this week. Thankfully he wasn’t feverish which confirmed our suspicions that his sickness was a result of something he’d eaten rather than a bug. Had he been troubled in the night I would have liked the display to light up so it could be used without having to turn the light on. I haven’t seen any other thermometers that do that either so actually, yes it’s all good.

Disclosure:  I was sent the thermometers to review.  I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.