 | Did you miss taking your temperature this morning, or wake up later than usual, or have a rough night? Don’t worry, this happens and there’s usually ways to handle it. Taking your waking temperature at the same time each day, give or take 30 minutes, is an important part of using fertility awareness as contraception but it’s not the whole story. |
It can be satisfying to have a complete set of data, and to have a routine that makes your temperature taking effortless.
A routine that means you feel virtuous for pressing the snooze button on your alarm.
And a good night’s sleep is a glorious thing.
But back in the real world, stuff happens. Temperatures are missed, we get ill, we travel, we have rough nights, or fun nights.
Luckily a late or missed temperature is not a massive deal. It’s not like a missed pill, which can completely scupper effectiveness if it’s not handled correctly.
Missed temperatures at the beginning and end of your cycle are nice to have, and a handy way to keep your routine in place, but not essential.
DO take your temperature from about day five of your cycle and until you have confirmed a shift from lower to higher temperatures, six lower temperatures followed by three higher temperatures.
This shift, combined with a double-check, is how you confirm ovulation has been and gone and the infertile, or green, days at the end of your cycle have begun.
One missed temperature or outlier can be ignored during your six lower temperatures. An outlier or "spike" is at least 0.2 degrees above those on either side.
Record it as “disturbed” if you’re using the Read Your Body app, circle it if you you’re using a paper chart.
The double check is important because it helps provide context for any missing or disturbed temperatures.
There’s various double-check options, including fluid (not as tricky as you might think), ovulation tests, and even cervix checks (not for everyone, but can be brilliant).
You can also wait for a fourth higher temperature.
Long-term insomnia, or disrupted sleep, is no fun. Leave your phone in the kitchen at night, buy an alarm clock and check out NHS sleep advice.
And don't dismiss fertility awareness. Your waking temperatures might be good enough, you only need three hours sleep before you take your temperature and later or earlier than usual temperatures can often be used, so long as they're adjusted.
You could even contemplate a wearable thermometer like Tempdrop – expensive but might be worth it. Keep an eye out for their deals.
If all that doesn’t work, and you don't mind lower effectiveness, you could switch to an approach to fertility awareness that relies on fluid and cycle day.
This will mean more buffer "might be fertile" days, and more than 11 days using condoms or other precautions, but maybe that suits you both.
That said, of course fertility awareness is not right for everyone. Check if it's for you here.
A routine that means you feel virtuous for pressing the snooze button on your alarm.
And a good night’s sleep is a glorious thing.
But back in the real world, stuff happens. Temperatures are missed, we get ill, we travel, we have rough nights, or fun nights.
Luckily a late or missed temperature is not a massive deal. It’s not like a missed pill, which can completely scupper effectiveness if it’s not handled correctly.
Missed temperatures at the beginning and end of your cycle are nice to have, and a handy way to keep your routine in place, but not essential.
DO take your temperature from about day five of your cycle and until you have confirmed a shift from lower to higher temperatures, six lower temperatures followed by three higher temperatures.
This shift, combined with a double-check, is how you confirm ovulation has been and gone and the infertile, or green, days at the end of your cycle have begun.
One missed temperature or outlier can be ignored during your six lower temperatures. An outlier or "spike" is at least 0.2 degrees above those on either side.
Record it as “disturbed” if you’re using the Read Your Body app, circle it if you you’re using a paper chart.
The double check is important because it helps provide context for any missing or disturbed temperatures.
There’s various double-check options, including fluid (not as tricky as you might think), ovulation tests, and even cervix checks (not for everyone, but can be brilliant).
You can also wait for a fourth higher temperature.
Long-term insomnia, or disrupted sleep, is no fun. Leave your phone in the kitchen at night, buy an alarm clock and check out NHS sleep advice.
And don't dismiss fertility awareness. Your waking temperatures might be good enough, you only need three hours sleep before you take your temperature and later or earlier than usual temperatures can often be used, so long as they're adjusted.
You could even contemplate a wearable thermometer like Tempdrop – expensive but might be worth it. Keep an eye out for their deals.
If all that doesn’t work, and you don't mind lower effectiveness, you could switch to an approach to fertility awareness that relies on fluid and cycle day.
This will mean more buffer "might be fertile" days, and more than 11 days using condoms or other precautions, but maybe that suits you both.
That said, of course fertility awareness is not right for everyone. Check if it's for you here.