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Handy thermometers to keep your baby healthy

Looking after your baby’s health is the most important priority for a parent. A bit too hot or cold, and it can cause serious issues. A handy way to check on this is by using a thermometer, both for your child as well as their environment. Quite a few options exist. In order to get some results, we got ourselves a few options and gave them a swirl.

Vital Baby Nurture Health and Safety Kit

We start off with the cheapest and simplest option. Vital Baby offer the Nurture Health and Safety Kit, which includes the following items:

  • FlexiSafe Thermometer
  • Nasal Decongester
  • Arthur Bear, a Digital Bath and Room Thermometer

This allows parents to keep an eye on their baby’s temperature as well as clear their noses. Also included is a hygienic case, ensuring the items stay clean.

Arthur Bear was probably the most used item in the whole kit for us. It works for both room temperature as well as baths. A recent heat spell meant that we relied heavily on it. It is also handy to check the bath temperature. A handy display tells you the temperature, while a blinking red light indicates if the water is too hot. The normal on this is configured between 35 to 39 ℃ by my reckoning.

The FlexiSafe Thermometer is an old fashioned thermometer with a button and a display which lets you see your baby’s temperature. This can be used in the mouth, underarm or even as a rectal thermometer. It works well and takes around 30 seconds to settle to the temperature. Of course, this may be an issue if you have a particularly young baby who may or may not remain still.

The Nasal Decongester is another handy addition. The device sucks the snot right out of their noses. However, as my nose is too big to try it on myself, I cannot report back the actual experience. Our little one didn’t seem to like it that much. All in all, rather handy though.

More on the kit can be found on Vital Baby’s website, and it can be bought via Amazon for £16.99.

 

GroEgg2

GroEgg2 is a brilliant room thermometer which features a handy night light. The device itself displays the temperature in big bold numbers that are easily visible in the dark. In fact, they are big enough that I can just about make them without my glasses.

The device has the following features:

  • Ambient Digital Thermometer
  • Gentle Night Light
  • Colour coded system (supported by safe sleep experts The Lullaby Trust) making it easy for parents to keep baby comfortable
  • Adjustable Egg Brightness (4 levels) – makes for a super handy nightlight
  • Soft Touch Silicone Dome
  • UK 3 Pin Plug

A USB equivalent is also available.

The device features a soft silicone shell on top and a display at the bottom. The back of the device has a small temperature sensor sticking out as well as the power port. There is a button on the bottom. This can be used to adjust the brightness of the night light. All the way from off to brightest. The night light works great!

The device changes colour with temperature, which makes it rather easy to know what temperature range you’re in.

Easy to use, very handy, and very convenient. Plug and play.

The device is exclusive to John Lewis and the Gro website itself. It retails for £ 29.99.

Miniland Thermoadvanced Plus Thermometer

This was the most sophisticated device we tried. It features an InfraRed temperature sensor, meaning you don’t have to be physically in contact with the baby to make any measurements. Also included is an app (eMyBaby). It measures room temperature, as well as temperatures of your baby’s bottles and such items.

It offers the following features and functions:

Reads:

  • Baby’s temperature
  • Temperature of liquid (food, milk or bath water)
  • Temperature of a room

Additional Features

  • Thermoadvanced Plus can ‘speak’ the reading
  • Silent mode available
  • Backlit LCD screen
  • Built-in memory for 9 readings
  • Fever alert – red light flashes when temperature exceeds 38 degrees
  • Stores away in a small convenience bag

eMyBaby:

  • eMyBaby is an app available for iPhones, Android and iPad
  • The app records readings
  • The app allows you to track your child’s temperature

I was most excited about trying this device. I often use infrared thermometers at work and firmly believed that this will be the best device. However, I was a little bit disappointed. Some of this was due to the design of the device, while other was due to how the human skin balances its own temperature.

Initially, the device was in Spanish. Every time you try to measure something, it will speak out the temperature in that language. Reading the manual helps you set it up in English. However, I found the whole reading out quite annoying so I changed it to silent mode. However, this isn’t completely silent, and still utters beeps.

You can also set up time on the device, though it will forget it if you don’t operate it for a few weeks.

As far as functionality goes, it is perfect for room temperature, as well as testing baby’s bottle. It will tell you if the temperature is 40 or below, but not higher. All you get is ‘too hot’.

In terms of measuring your baby’s temperature, it doesn’t quite hit the spot. The problem is that this, and all contactless thermometers, are designed for the forehead. However, the forehead on everyone is generally a little lower than the actual temperature of the body. This means that while the thermometer is giving you an accurate reading, this may not be your child’s core body temperature.

More on it can be found on the Miniland website. It retails for around £40 and can be bought from various online retailers including Amazon.

Verdict

Room temperature is easy, and I’d say something like the Arthur Bear or the GroEgg make perfect devices for measuring room temperature. The baby’s temperature is a bit more difficult. I had hoped the Miniland option would be the best, but in a funny kind of way, the cheaper option won here. Ah well, sometimes all you need is a simple solution.

Discussions with doctors do suggest an in-ear thermometer, but that is one we still have to try.

How do you measure your child’s temperature? Do you have any suggestions? Something we should try? Do let us know in the comments section below, or via social media.

 

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