This Makes Life SO MUCH Easier When One of the Kids is Sick!

With our two young children, one of our worries is their temperatures when they get sick.  I can quickly tell by a hand to their foreheads that they have a fever and I need to check their temperatures.  We use a quick-read ear thermometer for all our temperature-taking.  The kids accept it and have even asked for their temperatures to be taken if they're not feeling well.  It usually takes a couple of readings (at least one in each year) to make sure I've got an accurate reading.

Even though the quick-read ear thermometer is easy to use, it's invasive.  I've tried to get a temperature from a sleeping kiddo, but it usually wakes them up.  Froot Loop sleeps in a lofted bed and it's impossible to get up there and get his temperature.  There are two options: let the kid sleep or make sure their temperature is not at a dangerous level.  I usually opt to take the temperature to make sure I don't need to take extra steps (or a trip to the hospital).

The MyKi Care Thermometer changes that.  This magic disc easily attaches under the arm using hypoallergenic stickers (which are included).  Within 15 minutes (the time it takes the device to read the body temperature), you've got continuous, accurate readings of your kid's temperature right on your iPhone, Android phone, or tablet.  There's no need to wake them up.

At first, we all thought this would be as intrusive as the ear thermometer.  The kids wouldn't even sleep due to feeling the disc thermometer under their arm.  The opposite happened.  Honey Graham tried it out first and, despite checking his phone every few minutes just to see his temperature, he no longer felt the thermometer after a short time.  We then tried it on both kids.  At first they were unsure of the device but quickly got used to it.  They even slept while wearing the thermometer.

The MyKi Care Thermometer communicates over Bluetooth to your iOS or Android device.  The app shows the current reading, connection status, and temperature history.  Since it's Bluetooth, you're limited in range as to how far your phone or tablet can be from the thermometer.  I've had to be near the kids' doorway to get a reading.  But, unlike the ear thermometer, I'm not waking them up to get their temperature!

Luckily the makers of MyKi Care Thermometer have a solution: the MyKi Care BT.  It's a USB-powered Bluetooth dongle that just needs to be powered.  We use a USB wall adapter.  You use the MyKi Care app to configure the dongle.  It connects to your wifi, reads the thermometer's Bluetooth signal, and allows you to access the temperature from anywhere.  You can check from your living room to see if your sleeping kid's temperature is OK, and track whether it's going up or down.

The manual is pretty clear on how to wear the thermometer, how to install the app and link it with your thermometer and BT dongle, and how to use the devices.  You'll need to setup an account with the service; when you use the MyKi Care BT, you'll be able to see the current temperature reading from anywhere with an internet connection.  The dongle has a color-changing LED light to indicate its status.  If it's green, it can see the thermometer and is connected to the wifi.  To start "wake up" the thermometer when you need to use it, just shake the device a few times until the red light blinks.  (To turn if off, remove the thermometer from your kid and it'll switch off in 5 minutes.)

The app quickly recognized both the disc thermometer and the Bluetooth dongle.  Linking them took a couple of minutes.  The only setup hiccup I experienced was that I needed to tell the app to use Fahrenheit in the app's settings despite telling it the same thing during setup.  The app in normal operation has a bug that affects the temperature graph and causes the time axis to skip.  It doesn't affect the reading or the graph data.

You can even buy more MyKi Care Thermometers and monitor all of them on one account.  You can have the MyKi Care app on every device and logged into the same account so you can monitor the thermometer(s) from multiple iOS or Android devices.

The MyKi Care Thermometer comes with a CR2025 battery that should work 24 hours a day for 60 days.  The battery is easily replaced.  The devices come in a clear plastic storage case that also holds the hypoallergenic stickers and the manual.  This makes it all very easy to keep together and store.

The National Institutes of Health recommend the underarm as the second choice (after rectum) for kids birth to 2 years.  For kids 2 years and up, the underarm is the third choice.  Keep in mind that the underarm (axillary) method for taking a temperature comes with a different range of safe temperatures compared to by mouth, rectum, or ear.  The normal temperature range for an armpit reading is 94.5°F to 99.1°F (34.7°C to 37.3°C).

I can't say I'm looking forward to the next time one of us is sick with a fever, but now I won't have to worry that I can't monitor a kiddo's temperature.  There's so much to do and worry about when your kid is sick and this little device helps so much.

When was the last time YOU were sick?