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Symptom Checker

How to Take a Child's Temperature

Taking a child’s temperature means measuring body temperature with a thermometer. Different thermometer methods measure temperature at different body sites.

Rectal, oral, forehead, ear and underarm thermometers are common methods. Age, technique and thermometer type affect how accurate each method is.

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Where this comes from

The American Academy of Pediatrics publishes the guidance behind this page and keeps it current. Their Symptom Checker carries a question-by-question tool for individual symptoms, and it covers this subject as background rather than as a set of questions to work through.

Open the AAP Symptom Checker

When to see a doctor

Contact your pediatrician or another healthcare professional if:

  • Your baby is younger than 3 months and has a temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher.
  • Your child looks very ill, is not drinking well or has other concerning symptoms with the fever.
  • The fever persists or keeps returning.
  • You are unsure whether the temperature was measured accurately.

Call 911 or get emergency care if:

  • Your child has severe trouble breathing, is very difficult to wake or has a seizure with serious illness.
  • You think your child has a life-threatening emergency.

Talk to a nurse now, at any hour

When can my child be seen

Be seen today.

Every office keeps same-day appointments for illness and injury.

This evening or at the weekend.

Most offices run After Hours Care, by appointment rather than walk-in.

If you are worried, call. We would rather answer a question that turns out to be nothing.

More on fever and infection

See the rest of this group and all 164 symptoms