Types

Due to the toxic risks of mercury, digital thermometers have replaced the glass thermometers you may have grown up with. In fact, if you have a mercury thermometer, get rid of it, advises the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). But don't just throw it away. Your doctor or local health department can tell you how to dispose of it properly. Here are the types of thermometers to consider.

Digital thermometers

Digital thermometers are easy to read and they don't expose your baby to the mercury in a glass thermometer, which is dangerous if the thermometer breaks. Get a digital thermometer that can be used rectally. You can also take a baby's temperature by mouth, by ear, on the forehead, or under the arm, but the AAP considers rectal readings to be the most precise way to take a temperature in infants and children younger than 3. (We've found in our tests that forehead models are especially imprecise.) After your baby's first birthday, your pediatrician might allow you to use a different temperature-taking method, so be sure to ask what's acceptable at that point, if you want to switch.

Tympanic thermometers

A popular option you'll see in stores and online is digital ear (tympanic) thermometers, which measure body temperature inside the ear. "They aren't recommended for young children because there are lots of chances for error," Paul Horowitz, M.D., a founding pediatrician at Discovery Pediatrics in Valencia, Calif., said. We've found that you have to align them in the ear canal perfectly for them to be accurate.

Pacifier thermometer

Temps taken orally, with a pacifier thermometer (a digital oral thermometer that looks like a pacifier; it displays a reading after your baby sucks on the pacifier for 90 seconds), might seem to be another way to go. But oral thermometers tend to be as much as 1 degree F lower than rectal thermometers and aren't considered as accurate for children under 3.

See also:

Cribs

Car seats

Strollers

Play yards