Mama Buzz Review and Giveaway: Exergen TemporalScanner Thermometer

One task most new moms dread is taking their baby's temperature.  When I had my oldest, they taught us how to when I was in the hospital and our discharge kit included a glass rectal thermometer.  Of course you not only had to know how to insert it, but how to read it.  Baby wasn't fond of the operation either.  Next, the ear thermometers were the thing, and I guess they still sell them.  My doctor's office used them for a while, but quit, saying they weren't accurate.  I just thought they were expensive.  I bought a digital thermometer and used it under my kids arms, or, when they got older, in their mouths.  Still, my preferred method of temperature taking was to kiss their forehead and declare that they didn't have a fever, had a low fever, or a high fever.  I really didn't see the need to know more than that most of the time and the in-exact nature of my method did not matter.

I recently received a free review sample of the latest thing in thermometers, an Exergen TemporalScanner Thermometer. I wish it had been in my discharge kit when I had my first baby, and it will be the device we will use here to measure temperature.  You simply uncap the device (my kids have found that it doesn't work well if you forget this step) and swipe it across the patient's forehead.  The temperature is displayed digitally.

Does it work?  Well, at this moment, my entire family is healthy, so we all should have temps at or near 98.6. I didn't check us with the other thermometers because I couldn't find them, and besides, my test subjects don't like them.  I went to each person and scanned his/her forehead five times, one right after the other, so presumably there should have been no change, as each  person was seated when it was his/her turn.  Here are the results:

Dad:  98.2, 97.9, 97.8, 98.1, 98.3

17 y.o.:  97.9, 98.0, 97.6, 97.4, 98.0

14 y.o.  99.6, 98.6, 98.5, 98.3, 98.3

5 y.o.:  99, 99, 98.9, 99.2, 99

My conclusions:  If you need a thermometer to take your child's temperature to see if she/he has a fever, and having the thermometer off by a tenth of a degree or so isn't going to make a difference, then I'd say this is the device for you.  It is big enough that is isn't going to get lost in a drawer and in the real world, for taking the temperature of a sick child, it doesn't really matter if the "real" temperature is 102.8 or 103.  It is easy to use, and if your child doesn't want to cooperate, holding anyone below the age of about 10 still enough to use this long enough to use it, should be possible, whereas most other methods require at least a modicum of cooperation from the child.  Using other types of thermometers may give results just as inconsistent as these (or more so if affected by things such as ambient temperature or food/drink intake, or the child not holding the  thermometer properly in his/her mouth).  Amazon.com sells them for $33.29 Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer MODEL# 2000C which I consider very reasonable for never having to fight to take a child's temperature.

If you are charting basal body temps as a method of family planning, I'm not sure if this would give consistent enough results for that.  (If you aren't familiar with temperatures and Natural Family Planning, you are looking for a 4/10 degree rise in your temp, taken before you get out of bed in the morning).  I'm not ovulating regularly anymore so I didn't use myself as a test subject.  If anyone has tried it for that use, I'd love to hear about it.

For more information, check out the Exergen website and Exergen's Facebook Page (which links to giveaways).

If this sounds like the thermometer for you, I am able to offer you a $5.00 rebate coupon so that you may purchase one.

Also, the nice folks at Exergen are allowing me to give away one free TemporalScanner Thermometer to be mailed to the US or Canada only.  Contest ends April 1, 2010.

Rules:
For one entry, leave a comment telling why you want to win, and leaving me an email address.
For another entry, blog, tweet, facebook etc. about this contest, and leave me a link.
For another entry, check my archives for last March.  Leave a comment on the review of a book you'd like to read, and a comment here saying which book you'd like to read.
For another entry, follow me, or tell me that you already do.

This is a MamaBuzz review, and if you check the MamaBzz site, you'll find links to other tour stops (and giveaways) (It isn't up yet, but should be soon).