At home and at the pediatrician my temperature was always measured rectally. When I visited a General Practitioner (first at age 15) he measured my temp very seldom, and only in my ear...
The way of measuring differed between done at home and at the pediatrician office. At home it even varied between measuring from my mom and my dad. So it went like that:
- My mom told me to lay down at my side, seldom on my tummy. She was very careful while insertion, and most time she held the thermometer in place.She was that careful so I hardly recognised how far she pushed the thermometer inside me.
- My dad was quite not that careful. He inserted the thermometer quick and deep .Most time he removed it mid time and reinserted it, he sometimes twisted it to read a temporary result.
- At the pediatrician office the nurses where careful while insertion. They used lots of vaseline which felt much better than that sometimes burning baby oil at home.
- The pediatrician itself was more rough. He often took my temperature again, and after insertion which was that far as my dad did it, he pulled up my briefs/shorts to cover my bum. Unfortunately this caused an uncomfortable pressure to the thermometer, too, which stuck in my bum.