Back in the day we purchaised an instant in-ear thermometer, which can also be used for forehead temp. measurement too. The selling point was that with restles

Back in the day we purchaised an instant in-ear thermometer, which can also be used for forehead temp. measurement too. The selling point was that with restless baby it's easier to measure the temp. Prior to that we used a common in-mouth (and possibly other side out) kind of beep thermometer. Alright, 15bucks later, I tried it on myself... red alert, fever-fever, when in-ear. Hmmm, roll around forehead -- ambient temp.. The old-fashioned palm-to-forehead -- obviously, no reason for alert. Finally, test with the old in-mouth thermometer- all normal. Reading the instructions only confirmed the unreliable nature of the instant readings. We kept it anyway for "backup", but for practical use continued with the "slow" in-mouth beep-beep, it also helped that it looked like a froglet. Apparently, a success of in-ear measurement is a direct view of the eardrum by the sensor, which is not always possible, esp. with babies.