Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Expat Life for Children & Families
Arabs love the company of children and celebrate childhood through large families and
varying indulgences. As such, expat children are assured of a welcome and may find that
they have more freedom than they do back home, as parents feel safe in the knowledge that
they are not going to be preyed upon in parks or offered drugs. The main concerns for a
family are summarised below.
Activities
There is little sophisticated child-oriented entertainment outside of the big cities, but a beach is never too far
away, and there are often parks containing children's play areas (including swings and slides) even in small towns.
Birth & Maternity Leave
Many expat women give birth in the region and it presents no special difficulties in the main
cities. There are prenatal and postnatal groups on hand to help. Maternity leave is enshrined in law in most Arab coun-
tries.
Childcare
Nannies (usually from the Subcontinent or the Phillipines) are one of the easily afforded perks of the region.
Many mums opt for live-in home help and villas often cater for this with the provision of maid's quarters. In some cities,
babysitting services are available in malls.
Coffee Mornings
There are many groups, such as the Women's Guild in Oman (
www.womensguildoman.com
)
, which
act as a forum for non-working expat women. These groups are a lifeline for many new arrivals in the region, providing
local knowledge about everything from schooling, home help and health care to voluntary work and leisure activities.
Education
The standard of international schools in the Arabian Peninsula is excellent, offering similar curricula to
Western schools, enabling a smooth transition into university or college outside the region.
Healthcare
The extreme heat can be debilitating for children, particularly babies. Obstetric and paediatric units in hospit-
als and clinics are generally of a high standard and most scourges of childhood in hot climates (such as polio, malaria and
typhoid) are under control.
Hotels & Restaurants
In top-end and some midrange hotels, children can usually share their parents' room for no extra
charge. Extra beds or cots are normally available. High chairs are often only available in top-end restaurants.
Infants
Disposable nappies are not always easy to come by outside large cities. Infant formula is widely available,
however, as is bottled water.
Resources
The international website Mums Net (
www.mumsnet.com
) is a useful forum for sharing advice and informa-
tion on expat life in the Peninsula. For further advice on the dos and don'ts of taking the kids, see Lonely Planet's
Travel
with Children
.
Special Needs
Catering for the needs of children with disabilities is highly challenging in the region as often locals attach
stigma to physical and especially mental disability. Even finding help or support with common childhood issues such as
dyslexia, ADD and anorexia can be difficult.
