Parents warned on temperature checks for babies
Common misconceptions about thermometers — including the belief that “more expensive is better” — is potentially putting newborn babies’ lives at risk.
Parents are being warned about the risks of using incorrect thermometers on newborn babies, with varying readings potentially putting young lives at risk.
While not critical for older children, an incorrect reading can be life-threatening for an infant.
And experts fear common misconceptions about thermometers — including the ‘more expensive the better’ — and vital temperature information is being missed.
But one Melbourne mum is taking in upon herself to remind families about the importance of using the right thermometer for a child’s age.
Catherine Williams knows just how vital a correct reading can be.
Her youngest child, Alessandro, now one, was rushed to hospital at just two weeks old after Ms Williams realised something wrong.
“He felt a bit warm so I checked his temperature using one of the expensive ear thermometers and it was normal, so I dismissed my concerns,” Ms Williams said.
“But by chance in the late afternoon I found one of those cheap underarm thermometers – and because I found it I thought I’d just try it.
“It read 38.1 – and I knew that was a fever in a newborn so I took Alessandro straight to Box Hill’s emergency department.”
At the hospital, Alessandro was diagnosed with meningitis — a potentially life-threatening infection — and transferred for critical care to the Mercy Hospital for Women.
“It was really traumatic,” Ms Williams recalls.
And while watching her son recover, Ms Williams discovered that the cheap thermometer she happened to find was actually what saved her baby’s life.
Dr Cathy McAdam, Head of General Paediatrics at Monash Children’s Hospital, said in babies under the age of three months old, the best indicators are an axillary — or underarm — thermometer and a parent’s “intuition.”
“Babies often don’t mount the usual fever response so your intuition about your child is an important clue,” she said.
Ms Williams has now written a book, called A World Full of Life, to raise money for the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and help babies like Alessandro.
For more information, visit www.aworldfullofbooks.com
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