basal body temperature thermometer

[eatswithfork.livejournal.com]

I want to begin charting my BBT. I already own a thermometer - it reads a temperature in 10-15 seconds and measures to the tenth decimal place. My question is, do I really need to get a BBT thermometer or will that do? I'm using it to get better familiar with my cycle so I can begin TTC in a few months, not for birth control so an "oops" is not really a concern. Thanks!

Comments

[devonrexlvr.livejournal.com]

Actually an extra number doesn't make it any more accurate. They're "supposed to be" accurate to +-.1 and would be regardless of if there were a hundredth or even a thousandth place. And regular thermometers are accurate to +-.2, but it doesn't mean that they're any less accurate the BBTs - and I've tested this with 2 BBTs and 3 regular thermometers and found I receive consistent readings with all of them as long as the batteries are good.
And if I remember correctly, when charting you're not supposed to round up based on the hundredth point, so if you have a jump of .19 you'd still count it as only .1.