Mothers discussing rectal temperature taking.

In the 1960's mothers sometimes discussed with their friends, topics like child rearing, childhood illnesses and so forth. Was the topic of rectal temperature taking ever discussed and if so the feelings regarding the procedure.

No.

Dream on.

My moms coffee circle discussed all manner of their children's health issues from enemas to taking temperature. What age to stop using rectally thermometers , etc.

I don't recall overhearing any mothers discussing rectal temps specifically but I knew if the kid was under age seven or so that he was getting the thermometer up his butt.

Mothers discussing rectal temps on their kids is not something I ever heard in my lifetime.

They must have been sixties med-fed moms.

OH wait that was a lost episode from "Leave it to Beaver" June Cleaver tells Ward Cleaver about Beaver's rectal temperature issue.

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1784162/thumbs/r-LEAVE-IT-TO-BEAVER-JUNE-CLEAVER-large570.jpg

My mother had been a pediatric nurse, so all of the moms in our neighborhood used to call her for advice. Sometimes, she would stop by their home, or tell them to take their rectal temperatures. It was never a taboo subject in our home. One time, when I was 13, I overheard mom and 2 neighbors talking about taking temperatures. When i went to the refrigerator to get a drink, mom patted my developing behind and told the women that I still got it taken that way. My face was as red as the Coke can!

Never heard my mom discussing taking temperatures on her kids rectally...nor can I imagine her doing it. She knew how to take our temperatures

Actually and to be honest I have never heard my mother to talk with someone else about my medical history or, for example, rectal temperatures. It would have been interesting though for sure. Basically, I think nowadays mothers talk a lot especially their young kids health and other medical issues including annual exams and so on. Perhaps, today we are more free and relax to talk about such things.

Well, older people sure talk about medical issues so why wouldn't young mothers and fathers talk about rearing their kids?

My biggest fear was that my friends or classmates would find out that I still got my temperature taken rectally at age 14. I felt like a baby when my mom would say she had to take my temp in my bottom because it was the most accurate way.

I was always worried that she would say it in front of my friends or to one of my friend's mothers. The humiliation is real just thinking about it now.

It's understandable but hardly something to be ashamed of or to feel so very different from one's peers. My own guess is that many more were having it taken rectally at home or from their doctor than they let on. Having a rectal temperature taken often involves following a directive and hardly something that is sought out for the most part until much later in life. Best of luck.

The concern is completely understandable and relatable, though I agree with Julie that you probably weren't as alone in your experience as you think. I was always self-conscious about getting my temperature taken that way at home, which was the norm until I was about 10 or 11. I knew there was an alternative, since my pediatrician's office and school nurse took it orally. While I'd object to having it done, I didn't really mind it that much. I remember asking a couple of friends how they got their temperatures taken, and hearing oral or underarm, but never rectal (I didn't volunteer why I was asking or how I got mine taken). However, when I'd play doctor with friends I'd include rectal temps, and I don't ever remember anyone I played with being unfamiliar with or surprised/ put-off by it, which would suggest that maybe I wasn't the only one used to getting it done that way, or at least that it was an area of curiosity or just not that big of a deal.

In play settings now I like to use scenarios like a friend dropping off homework and seeing a thermometer and vaseline out and asking about it... I like playing off the imagined embarrassment. Imagined and real are two very different things, of course, and I suspect I might not be as interested in that sort of scenario if I had felt the level of fear of unwanted disclosure - especially at an age like 14 when there's an inherent abundance of insecurities that everyone experiences during a time of big physical and social development.

I did not often hear my mother discussing my history with others, but I can say she talked with the nurse at the pediatrician's office when it came time to decide between an oral or rectal temperature. She would confide with her to the greater accuracy of the rectal type and then it was a foregone conclusion. I was not one to argue, rather I would get quiet and turn over as the nurse asked of me. To a certain extent, I knew this was coming at each visit, which was also a much different era than today. It was in the Midwest in the 60's. It did effect me though, as I would always look at the two thermometers in the glass holders that sat on the shelf as we walked in.

My mom is a nurse and I have heard her talk about taking temps rectally quite often. My sister and I never had our temps taken at all that I can remember growing up. But I do remember her talking about giving them to her patients sometimes. It seemed to me though if I remember correctly that it was always when they were either in the dying process or when they were in really bad condition. So it was never somethng I associated with sexually growing up. However now that I am a grown up, my thoughts of rectal temps have changed. I am highly interested in them and I am not sure why really?

I remember once my friend’s mother telling my mom about her taking her son’s (my friend’s brother) temperature rectally.

The conversation went something like this:

Friend’s mom was frustrated because she had to leave work early to care for her sick son. She received a call from her husband saying that son had a fever taken under the arm. Husband refused to take a rectal temperature, so mom had to return home to get an accurate reading.

I remember my mother discussing with her friends or relatives health issues of their children. Temperatures were often mentioned, but never the fact that they had been rectaly taken. This point was an evidence for every one.

My mom never talked about rectal temperatures because she was always the only person who took it with me over her lap with pants and underwear to my knees.

My mom would always do mine yes she talked to my grandmother all the time.

I remember my mother and my best friend's mother having a conversation about temperature taking when I was about 9 years old. Rick and I both had bumpy transitions from rectal to oral temps when our mothers first tried oral shortly before we turned 7. I managed to break an oral thermometer when I lost my concentration and the thermometer fell from my mouth and shattered on the floor. Rick kept biting down on an oral thermometer so both of us went back to rectal until we turned 8.

Our younger sisters had no such difficulty and were on oral temps before they turned 7. Fortunately for Rick and I, our sisters were two years younger than us. So even though we were 8 and our sisters were 7 when oral temps were mastered, there was never a time when our younger sisters were on oral while we were still on rectal. Our mothers certainly made note of all of this and had a discussion about how much easier it was for girls to master oral temps than it was for boys. (At least in their experience)

Nope never

Growing up in Asia, the concept of rectal temperature was not a thing. They've always taken my temp orally. I don't mind it being taken anally though 😉

Actually, my parents had some friends visiting years ago, when my sister was around 11, and had been feeling under the weather. My mom went to check my sister's temp., orally, and her friend, who was from Germany, asked her why she didn't take it rectally. Being 9 years old at the time, I thought that she was joking, but apparently she was serious. Fortunately for my sister, my mom wasn't persuaded to do a rectal.

I remember my mom discussing rectal temperature takings and suppository givings with her friends and I remember being so embarassed..

I remember my mom discussing rectal temperature takings and suppository givings with her friends and I remember being so embarassed..

Happened to me too. I was always really embarrassed when my mom was talking about me getting suppositories and rectal temps

I overheard my mother discussing it with another neighbor mom a couple times. It was embarrassing.

Not to do with rectal temperatures but I do remember my mother discussing my clinic appointments with other mothers.

It was never in graphic detail but I always felt she said just enough that they would get the general idea and it made me so embarrassed that they knew.

Only once did I hear my Mom comment about taking my temperature rectally. I was 11 or 12 and we were at a friends and her Mom needed to take my friend's temperature. My Mom asked how she took it and the response was orally. My Mom commented that she still take ours (my brother and mine) rectally because it's more accurate and the pediatrician does it rectally. My Mom disappeared and my friend didn't speak to me for 2 days! I guess you know what happened!

This was a conversation I overheard between a mother and young daughter; it wasn’t so much a discussion.

Last June while having lunch in an open air restaurant in downtown Arvada Colorado, I was sitting next to a table of two very nice looking young parents having lunch with their two children; the boy was around 6, and the girl was probably in between three and four. I noticed the little blonde girl looked flush and wasn’t touching her food. Her mother noticed it too. After feeling the child’s forehead with the back of here fingers, she told the girl that after they finished lunch they would all go home so she could have her temperature taken. The girl said in a tiny voice, “are you going to take my temperature in my bottom again mommy?” Her mother replied, “that is where I’m going take it, honey.” The daughter replied, “good mommy, that always helps me to feel better.” They finished up and left with the sick little girl slung over the dad’s shoulder.

I was so lucky to get to eavesdrop and appreciate that conversation.

(This is not a fictional story). That particular conversation is locked onto my brain like Memorex tape.

I do recall at a doctor visit the summer I turned 7 and ran a high fever the nurse asking mom if my temperature reading she had taken was oral or rectal. Mom replied she had taken it rectally so the nurse did it the same to be consistent. I distinctly remember the crinkle of the exam table paper as the nurse took my temp.