Welcome to Moms on Call’s video: 


Baby Basics: Take a Rectal Temperature


[Introduction music and imagery displays]


Hi, I'm Jennifer Walker from Moms on Call. Today we're going to talk about taking a rectal temperature. Do we have to take it rectally? Yes, but it doesn't have to be scary. I'll show you how. Come on.
                                        
The first thing we're going to do is prepare the thermometer. So turn on the thermometer and then we're going to put just a little bit of this Vaseline on the tip. Now, if you don't have Vaseline, it's not essential to the process. It just makes the insert a bit easier. And then we're just going to visualize where the thermometer is going to go. And we're going to insert the thermometer until we can't see the silver tip anymore. And he might get a little wiggly, but it just makes him feel like he has to poop. Yeah, and it's totally, totally fine.
                                        
One of the most important things is don't put your face down too close because poop flies out of that hole, and you may have gotten it on you already. But sometimes when we do a rectal temperature, it makes them feel like they have to poop, and they will. That's okay. Just wait till they're done and then reinsert the thermometer and start over. And it beeps usually three times when it's finished in about 30 seconds. It feels like the longest 30 seconds ever. You're doing great.
                                        
So right here, you'll hear those beeps. That means we're done. A normal rectal temperature is under a 100.3 degrees. In a baby under three months of age, a rectal temperature of a 100.4 degrees or higher is reason to seek immediate medical attention. And that's 100.4 degrees, not 104 degrees. And here's how we clean a rectal thermometer. We just take a little baby wipe and we clean the tip off and then we're going to label it so we know this is only a rectal thermometer.