Basal body temperature, sometimes referred to as BBT, is the lowest temperature of a person’s body during a 24-hour period, and your body usually reaches its basal temperature during a good night’s sleep. Typically, your body temperature will begin to rise as soon as you wake up and will continue to rise throughout the day, peaking right before you go to bed at night.
To get an accurate measure of basal body temperature, you can take a sleeping person’s temperature in the morning while they are still asleep. It is best to get this reading with with a non-invasive thermometer that won’t wake the sleeping person.
You can also get a good idea of a person’s basal body temperature by taking their temperature right after they wake up. While this method will result in a temperature reading that is slightly higher than the true basal temperature, it will be very close and is often more convenient. If using this method, it is important to take the temperature while the sleeping person is still in bed, before they have begun to talk, eat, drink or move around.
Why should i know my basal body temperature?
Many people think that 98.6⁰F is a normal body temperature. They think that a temperature higher than 98.6⁰F is indicative of a fever. The problem with that theory is that 98.6 isn’t a “normal” temperature for every person.
Knowing your basal body temperature and your normal peak body temperature will help you better gauge when you have an abnormal temperature and when you don’t. It is a good idea to take these temperatures for your child as well.
Basal body temperature is also one indicator of ovulation for women trying to conceive. Ovulation predictor kits can be handy, but also very costly. Charting basal body temperature daily is one natural and cost-free way to monitor ovulation.
For more information about basal body temperature and ovulation tracking, please consult a doctor.
