Did your friends know you were having rectal temperature taken?

As a child of the seventies rectal temperatures with a glass thermometer were still common place. But even at that time there was a move to transition over to oral at a fairly young age, at least from what I could tell. I was the youngest of five children though, and my Mom was a bit older than most of my friends and school mates. As I have posted I began to get switched over to oral around six, but I would still get rectal temps off and on till I was ten. Later as a teen I also began getting them partially because I claimed nasal congestion. I knew of only two other friends who had rectal temps taken after first grade. One of them because they told me about an embarrassing doctors visit when he got sick visiting his divorced father. The out of town Pediatrician office apparently required a rectal temperature on him or "down there" as he put it because he was ill. My other friend was the oldest of his three siblings and his mother was about my mom's age. But even than I didn't find out how she took their temps until one day I walked into his house and sitting on the dinning room table was a big yellow jar of Vaseline and a yellow cased B-D rectal thermometer. I asked what it was for and he said his younger brother, who was around seven at the time was home sick and his mom had recently checked his temp while he was watching TV in the living room. Fast forward a little bit and I was staying over one night and was allowed to change into my bed clothes in the Master Bathroom, the one I had never been in before. Well being a kid of 12, I was not going to let this opportunity to pass, and I looked in the family medicine cabinet. Only one thermometer, the trusty old B-D rectal and a jar of Vaseline with the tell tale scoop marks. He was the only friend I really talked about RTs with, although it did get out later that I ended up getting one while I was in the hospital getting my Tonsils out.

So how many people here talked about rectal temps with their friends. And if you did, what was that like.

I was born in the mid 50's, so naturally rectal temps were very common. I didn't have them past 5 or so, but plenty of my friends still received them well into their teens. Even in college, there was a first aid aisle in the book store, with both types of thermometers. I noticed very clearly that the rectal ones were almost empty, along with the oral. So, apparently some students were using them. There were times when the subject was brought up, but usually in good taste.

I never talked about rectal temperatures. I only talked about them here on this website.

They did not. It would have been soo embarrassing if they did, though. And it always was one of my greatest fears that for some reason they could find out. As I grew older, however, that became one of my fantasies...

I don’t think my friend knew. I was just something that was not talked about. I don’t ever remember it coming up.

I don't recall speaking about rectal temperature with my friends. I don't think the subject ever came up; however, many of my friends went to the same pediatrician's office as I. As discussed previously on this forum they took my temperature rectally all throughout high school so I know they got the same thing. When you were being led to your examination room and also leaving the room on the way out, many times a door was totally or partially open and you could see other kids either getting examined or having their temperature taken. Sometimes you recognized the person, but somehow never told them that you saw them. Of course, I could be seen by others as well.

When I was 10 i had a 10 year old male friend. We both had the same pediatrician and we talked about exams. So yes i had a friend that knew. We also played doctor a few times as kids and when parents were out got the rectal thermometer and took each others temps. This was the late 1960's. We were never found out. But did have one or two close calls. We even gave each other an enema a time or two as well.

I too was a child of the 70s/80s and rectal temps were still mainstream for kids at home of all ages in my area. I have said before I think there is a demographic and regional element to how temps were commonly taken. Anyway, I knew I was not alone for several reasons. We all knew how we got it taken. It was just a given in most cases and it was embarrassing, but, still talked about. If a friend told you, "Yeah, my Mom thought I was sick last night and she took my temperature", you knew what that meant, rectally! Pediatricians ... forget it ... it was rectal, period end quote. So, there too you knew your friends, if nowhere else were getting it taken rectally at the doctors.

When I first found out about the rectal thermometer, I told my friends, they said that they had not had that done in years. Being six and not even knowing about it kept quiet from that point on and was Mom's and my little secret. Secretly I loved it after the second time.

Beccarnmom said:

I too was a child of the 70s/80s and rectal temps were still mainstream for kids at home of all ages in my area. If a friend told you, "Yeah, my Mom thought I was sick last night and she took my temperature", you knew what that meant, rectally! Pediatricians ... forget it ... it was rectal, period end quote. So, there too you knew your friends, if nowhere else were getting it taken rectally at the doctors.

As a child of the 40s in New England my only memory of that was objecting loudly to my mother when she had the family doctor in to see me because I thought he was going to stuff that thing in my ass. I won and forever after I got it in the mouth. So I must have experienced it in my ass somewhere previously. I was probably quite little as I was laying in bed sick in my parents bed because their bedroom was closer to the kitchen where my mother would be spending the day. Pediatrician? What's that? I guess only the rich people took their kids to one of them fancy docs. The doc who delivered me had grey hair and dull needles which I objected to so they found a younger family doctor to call but only if you were so sick they were afraid there was a danger of dying. From birth until I was married at 26 I don't think I saw a doctor more times than I have fingers so there was little chance of getting it in the ass many times.

My childhood best friend and I discussed it a few times. We knew both of our moms took our temperatures, and she told stories of her mom taking her siblings’.

Never talked to my friends about it as I was growing up

No. I was so afraid I would be teased if my friends knew. My mother was consistent, and didn't waiver from this method for me, even so much as telling my nurse what her preference was for me, and that I was still given a rectal temperature each time at home.

I grew up in France in an era when it was very common for adults and children to take their own temperature rectally. It would not have been considered odd or a subject of laughing matter.

What would have been odd and laughable was to have mom or other caregiver insert the thermometer past a certain age.

It happened to me once (as a form of punishment after I had tried cheating) and I certainly did not mention it to friends. Neither did I mention I was still getting suppositories from mom.

It's not something I explicitly talked with friends about, since I realized it was kind of a sensitive topic, and I was also embarrassed to bring it up since I assumed I was the only one still getting it done that way. That said, I'd include it when playing doctor, and most friends happily obliged and I don't even recall questioning about doing it that way, so perhaps my case wasn't so unusual.

No, I never spoke about anything like this with my friends. It was not out of fear or embarrassment but more so it was such a normal occurrence for me. I just never thought to ask a friend.

No one knows of my fetish except me

I grew up at a time when in France it was very common for older children, teenagers or adults to take their own temperature rectally (younger children got the thermometer inserted by an adult of course) so it was nothing that other children would have considered abnormal.

What would have been considered shameful or abnormal was to have an adult inserting the thermometer into older ages.

My best friend and I went to the same pediatrician and we both knew that a visit there involved an RT.

I am just curious why did we take rectal temps when almost every one could just take a mouth thermometer?

In years past it was very normal to take RT into the teen years in the USA I had RT till age 13 at the doctors this was 1960's i turned 13 in 1971.

Thank god no...

No my friends didn't know I got my temperature taken rectally

I did know from one girl in my class, that her temperature was taken rectally at home. 😃

My friends that I played doctor with, and I would talk about our recent visits to the pediatrician. They knew that I got rectal temps, and I knew that they (and many of their older siblings) got rectal temps both at home and at the pediatrician. We also found out that some of us, including me, got oral penicillin when we came down with strep throat and other infections, while others got an injection of penicillin in the bottom.

My sister and I would play doctor with some of our friends and it was a given that the play would include rectal temperature taking. I guess what started it was at one point, we had been talking about being sick and either mom or the Dr would take our temps 'In the butt'. One thing led to another (It was probably during a Truth or Dare game), and we wound up sneaking a rectal thermometer out of our house and taking it up to the rafters in the garage where we had our Exam Room set up. Luckily, we never got caught.

Never discussed with friends. Too embarrassing. But several girlfriends certainly found out!

The only friends that knew about my getting rectal temperatures were those that I choose to share that with. Half the time it was shared first by a friend that they got rectal temperatures. I told others usually when talking about a recent doctor visit. All this was with my male friends. I learned early on that girls were gossips and you had to be very careful what you told them.

That 'common-wisdom' was confirmed when I was 7 (maybe 8 ). I had been ill with some normal childhood thing during the 60's and had missed most of the week from 3rd grade. On Friday afternoon I got a visitor from school. It was Margaret, the no-good nosy busy-body. We were definitely not friends and I steered clear of her as much as possible. But she knew how to impress grown-ups with her 'mature' act. She had come to our door after school and told my mother that she was a 'friend' and had heard I was sick and brought me some school papers that I had missed. My mom was charmed of course and invited her to come in and deliver those papers herself. Margaret was the last person I wanted to see but I was stuck (especially since I usually naked below my waist when I was sick.) Margaret talked to me in her condescending way as my mother stood nearby. Then I noticed that Margaret was distracted by something. I wanted to die when I realized she was staring at the open jar of Vaseline with the thermometer sticking out of it at was on my nightstand (a common occurrence when I was sick.)

She was only there several minutes but it felt like she'd never leave. When my mother snapped out of her spell she told Margaret it was probably time to go. The worst came when my mom shamed me into thanking Margaret for her visit and bringing me that school papers. I only just managed to cough out those words without puking.

As Margaret walked out of my bedroom she told my mom she probably should leave since it was probably time for my mom to check my temperature and me to rest.

Having shown Margaret out, mom returned to my room and told me it was indeed time to check my temperature. I then had to lie there on my belly with that thermometer in my butt as my mom gushed over how truly sweet Margaret was.

Returning to school was hell. I'm sure Margaret had shared her discovery with her girl friends, because for several weeks they would giggled whenever I walked near.

No my friends never knew

In nursery school, we didn't have to talk about it. We saw each other getting rectal temps taken every school day morning. Wonder if what the teachers routinely did then would be considered child abuse today.