What did your pediatricians thermometer look like?

I don't recall this. However I recall that in hospital, the nurses had thermometers stored in some kind of pungent disinfectant (camphor alcohol, I think). I don't recall how they looked. I was given the thermometer and had to insert the tip into my rectum and wait for the nurse to come back and then take it out and hand it back.

In the USA the patient was never allowed to insert their thermometer it was always done by parents, doctors, or nurses and never under the covers. The thermometer had to always be in plain sight.

It was digital.

White rectangular plastic box, with a red probe and a blue probe. Didn't know until I was much older that the red probe could be used rectally or vaginally, and wish I had one now.

At my pediatricians office there was kind of a small metal rack sitting at the sink. The rack contained 4 glass thermometers. When one entered his office the sink was in straight vision. So the first thing to see were the dreaded instruments.

When doing home visits he had a huge suit case containing all his instruments. Including a metal tube with a glass thermometer in it.

In the exam rooms of my childhood pediatrician, the glass thermometers were kept on a counter, submerged in what I guess was rubbing alcohol. In fact, the whole place smelled like rubbing alcohol. That was during the 1970s up to the mid 1980s. I have not been inside a pediatrician's office since but would assume that all thermometers are now digital.

@DaphneKL ,

What you described sounds like either an IVAC or FILAC brand electronic thermometer unit. Had my rectal temperature taken with both brands. The sheathed red topped probes attached by a long red cord to the unit which had a LED readout as the temperature registered, then stopped and beeped when the temperature was reached.

Only not as a pediatric patient.

1970-80’s They were in a 2 different glass container on the counter. I remember as I got older. The nurse would say let’s get ur temperature now. If your visit was just a checkup . She would walk over to the counter take out a blue tip thermometer wipe it off . then snap her wrist to shake it down then look at it . Walk over and tell you to open up and place it under your tongue. Then look at her watch.

Sick visits the nurse would talk to your mother about what was going on with you that day. when you started feeling bad. If you was running a fever. How your temperature was taking. when was The last time it was taking and about the reading. If you had taking anything and if so how long ago. Then she would say let’s get your pants off and onto your stomach. So we can get your temperature, even in your teenage years didn’t make a difference. she would get the red tip thermometer walk over to you lower your underwear part your butt cheeks slip it into ur butt.

after you seen the pediatrician depending on what was wrong with you. etc. a virus with nausea sinus ,Respiratory, sore throat or ear infection. You was going to more then likely getting a Shot of antibiotic in the butt. and a suppository.

Long glass mercury with a short bulb at the end,

Yup that sounds about right.

I never saw it at the dr office. I just knew it was coming when he parted my cheeks… And boy was it cold.

In the hospital, it was in a metal & glass holder beside my bed. Everyone had on on their table.

My pediatrician used to store all his instruments in a cabinet with multiple drawers. The thermometers were kept there also. It was an ordinary glass/mercury thermometer like the modern geratherm. But it had a all yellow scale and was contained within a metal case. I still remember these odd feelings while watching him taking the metal case out of the drawer and then taking the thermometer out of the case.

I don't know, it was in my butt and I was laying on my tummy when they were taking my temperature, I was never able to notice.

It was the 70s/80s so it pretty much had to be the good old fashioned glass mercury kind.

I don't remember too much. The thermometers were held in upright glass tubes, two tubes I'm pretty sure. I don't know the reason, clean vs. used?, rectal vs. oral? The doctor's thermometers were different from the home thermometer. The non-business end of the doctor's thermometers had a little triangle ‘cap’. I realized much later that BD brand thermometers had that distinctive feature. Our home thermometers were Johnson&Johnson and they had a smooth rounded over end.

It's hard to remember exactly considering they were up mine and my brother's ass ;-)

I only ever had my RT taken once at the doctor's office. I was 7 or so and had strep throat. It was still a glass thermometer I remember clearly. It was in a thin red case with a clear top, and a red dot on top of it. The nurse who took my temp was very cute and young I remember and asked my mom is rectal was ok because that was the only thermometer she had in the room. This was in 1993 and by 95 they had switched to digital.

My mom was a pediatrician. All of the exam rooms had dual glass cylinders on a heavy metal polished nickel base. Each cylinder had a metal cap with a hole just big enough for a thermometer.

Each cylinder had an enamel badge below it on the base. A blue badge that said ORAL and a red badge that said RECTAL.

Both thermometers were straight glass rods (no triangular or round knob at the end.). The oral thermometer was clear all the way to the end. The rectal thermometer had a red end.

The cylinders were kept full of alcohol.

I posted what my doctors holders looked like sometime ago, yours sound like what mine looked like but no labels and both thermometers where red top rectal models. If they needed an oral model they had to leave the exam room to get one, not sure where they kept them.

Our pediatrician in Indiana kept the thermometers in glass sterilizers, one for oral, one for rectal. I don't remember if they were marked. When we moved to New Jersey, the thermometers were kept in glass sterilizers as well, with an O for oral and an R for rectal on each glass tube.

I can attest to the fact that literally every checkup I sat down on the exam table and was stared down by two glass thermometers in a holder filled with alcohol. One was for oral and the other was rectal. Typically, once the other vitals were taken, the nurse would choose which thermometer to utilize, or as I got older she'd ask my mom her preference for my temperature, to which she would share that in our house, she always took it rectally.

I remember it being a box and a weird string coming out of it and the tip I don’t remember

I can't remember what brand it was, B-D, Faichney, Asepto etc, but I remember that it was kept in a holder which was on the counter, across from the exam table. All I remember is that it felt really good when it was in my butt and that I wanted to stay in longer than it did.

No idea. I think all thermometers then used in France looked like the current Gerathem ones.

I think it had a red end on it. I never really saw it up close. I was always on my stomach on the table.

At the pediatrician’s office they had oral and rectal thermometers in a glass jar filled with alcohol. You could really smell the alcohol when you entered the room. Both were labeled, but the oral thermometer was only used for patients over 18 years old. They were glass with mercury. I usually was able to get a quick glance of the rectal thermometer while lying face down on the table. After shaking it down, and before applying Vaseline, I noticed the wide stubby tip, and the top of the thermometer was red. It was similar to the one used at home. The thermometer at home was kept in a black case. When I was sick the thermometer was left on my night stand next to the bed. The only time I ever had an oral temperature growing up was if it needed to be taken in school. While I hated rectal temperatures, and was glad the school nurse used oral, I never really liked that either, because I didn’t want anything in my mouth that was in other people’s mouths. Very funny feeling to me, and the alcohol was very bitter. While not liking the process of rectal temperature, I didn’t feeling the same way about the thermometer in other people’s rectums.