Thermometer Reviews

Vicks Rectal Baby Thermometer

The Vicks rectal baby thermometer – one of three in the Vicks Life Stages series of thermometers - has gained a fair degree of renown, for both its ease of use and its sleek design.

It won a 2005 Medical Design Excellence Award, and was described on the Medical Device Link website as follows:

The Vicks Baby Thermometer is designed for safer and easier rectal temperature measurement in babies. Its compact, ergonomic design makes it easy to hold and control, while the large display makes viewing easy. The short probe helps guard against over-insertion.

The Core 77 design website acclaimed it:

The details for the thermometer were carefully applied with safety and accuracy as top priorities. The device, designed with new parents in mind, include a number of user-friendly features such as an ergonomic, compact size, a guard to prevent over-insertion, a flexible tip, and a large backlit LCD positioned on the side for easy viewing. It also records temperatures at a speedy 10 seconds. The co-molded, thermoplastic rubber shape and aesthetic are also very friendly and non-threatening, but still convey the look of a credible and precise medical device. The organic rounded pod shape guides the user's hand into the most comfortable and correct position for accurate and optimal operation.

In January 2006 Business Week carried a lengthy feature on the Life Stages thermometers. About the Vicks rectal baby thermometer it said:

For sanitary reasons, the key was to stray from the previous concept of multipurpose digital thermometers that could be inserted in various areas of the body. And a specific design challenge was to eliminate push-button activation standards that unintentionally harmed a baby when parents pushed the button and consequently inserted the thermometer deeper into the infant's rectum.

Smart [Design]'s designers also resolved to make a device that could be operated with only one hand -- most rectal digital thermometers require two-handed use -- so a parent could hold the baby with the other. The breakthrough concept was to come up with an instinctually squeezable device.

The aesthetics of the rectal thermometer would play an important role as well. The final, ovoid design is slightly indented where the activation button is placed. "We wanted to illustrate that where to squeeze has already been squeezed," says [chief executive Davin] Stowell. "And we had to have the right design language. It looks like a soft cotton ball, and communicates soft friendliness and compassion," he adds.

According to the Parent World website (report no longer online):

Suffice it to say that when you're taking your baby's temperature, the circumstances are likely not pleasant. At least make it easy with Vicks' new Life Stages Baby Thermometer. Results are accurate, but more importantly, they're quick. The ComfortFlex tip means less discomfort, and the large back-lit display makes reading results a snap during daytime or night.

* Get the Latest Price on the Vicks Rectal Baby Thermometer.

February 25^th, 2006
Updated: November 7th, 2007

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