Dr. Su Laurent: There are various different types of thermometer that you can get for a child and I personally don’t have a single one because I think I am pretty good at feeling. But parents will often like to have a thermometer and there is the simple one that you stick under the arm which has been around from long time, it’s the Mercury one, although the danger of that it is, it might fall on the floor and break and Mercury is toxic or there are fleshy things you can stick in a child’s ear like the one that we use in our ward which are very good but that are quite expensive. Or there are strips you can put on the baby’s head which just gives you some idea about the temperature but not much in detail.
Wendy Hill: What would you normally expect your baby’s temperature to be?
Valerie Amato: 36 and a half or 37.
Wendy Hill: Yeah, we say 36 and a half to 37 means about normal. If it is only 37, it could be a sign that she has got slight infection.
Valerie Amato: Infection.
Wendy Hill: Or if it is under 36, it could mean that she needs more clothing.
Valerie Amato: Okay.
Dr. Su Laurent: All babies with bit temperatures evolved infections and I suppose the most important message for young parents is that if a small baby, a young baby say less than six months old, has a temperature which you can’t explain, you know that haven’t got a little bit of a cold, little bit of temperature. You should seek medical help if the baby is feeling hot and you don’t know why, because the younger the baby the harder is to tell what’s going on. As they get older, things become much more obvious. You’ll be able to tell they’ve got an air infection or they’ve got nasty colds and it become much more obvious.
Wendy Hill: So Valerie, your baby’s temperature is 36.8 which is fine. That’s means she is perfectly well, she is nice and warm. We just do a backup and that’s fine.
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