How far do you insert the thermometer?

Definitely a few inches for sure, add in the occasional twist for good measure

Anytime I have taken a female's rectal temp I make sure both cheeks are spread really wide. I only go in about 1 inch, but keep pulling it out and putting it back in. Then I put it as far as it goes and tap it. My wife loves the end of the thermometer tapped when it's in deep. She says she can feel the sensations through her vagina. I am always very very careful with the angle. Almost lost one when I was a teen. She was on her back with legs way up. That would have been fun explaining to my mom.

Only about an inch. Anything more seems unrealistic.

When I was growing up, my temperature was taken with thermometers similar to the current Geratherm models. These thermometers were suitable for oral, rectal or armpit use, but mom (and the nurses at the hospital) only used rectal. They consist of a narrow tip, and then a thicker part. The method is to insert the tip into the rectum,.

I was very surprised when, a few days ago, a German lady on this site, about the same age as me, told me her mother would insert also part of the thick shaft of the thermometer. That lady was surprised my mother did not do that. It's so interesting how “normality” is defined by what one experienced. (One interest of pushing the deep part in is that the thermometer is then unlikely to fall out.)

In addition, a Zity member who married a Frenchwoman told me that this lady sometimes took her temperature rectally while standing in the bathroom and brushing her teeth. This is impossible to do if you insert the tip only unless you hold the thermometer in, and with a glass thermometer it takes 1 to 3 minutes. This does not seem too compatible with brushing teeth. I have to ask him if she used an electronic one, or if she pushed it deep.