How to Take Your Child's Temperature

Your temperature (TEM-pruh-chur) is how warm or cold your body is. Normal temperature for a child is 98°F to 99°F or 37°C. The small circle (°) means “degrees.” Anything over 100.4°F or 38°C is a fever. (See “Words to Know” for ^“F” and ^“C.”)

There are many ways to check your child's temperature. Always use a digital (DIJ-uh-tul) thermometer (thur-MOM-uh-tur). These show the temperature in numbers in a little window.

Don’t use a mercury thermometer (the kind with silver liquid inside). They are dangerous if they break.

This is how you read and say the temperature:

100.2° This means “One hundred point two degrees.” 102° This means “One hundred and two degrees.”

Be sure to read it carefully. There is a big difference between 100.2° and 102°.