familyguy

Hi,I have a job offer in Oman,and although I visited there last year to get a feel for the place there are certain questions my other half asked which are way beyond my scope.Can anyone help please.

Breast feeding?If done discreetly can this be done in public i.e shopping malls etc..

We also have the 3 year old daughter who has a better social life than her parents in England,but we are concerned about the extreme temps in the summer months.What do children do when its too hot to play outside?When I visited the Muscat mall I noted an indoor play center,and then theres Muscat mums and the childrens museum but im sure there must be many more.Any parents out there with advice.

Many thanks and thanks to all the posters who I have picked info from whilst viewing this great site.

admon

Why do mothers feel the need to do this in public?

Go to a bathroom facility. Nobody wants to see it.

Apart from pervy arabs and construction workers of course, who will no doubt take photos of it.

Of course it would be illegal breastfeed in public here.

The Dean

............. BITTY!!!................

Fairydust

Suggest you ask the question on expat woman dot com.

Pretty sure its not illegal Admon as long as done discreetly and who wants to feed a baby in the toilets

admon

You want to feed a baby in front of a load of leerers?
Sorry but there is no need for this in a public place.
In nearly 5 years in the ME, I've never witnessed it, so that perhaps speaks volumes..

Don't give me the 'its natural' bull - otherwise sex in a shopping centre aisle (so long as it's done discreetly) is fine also..

Bonny Boy

In Dubai, allegedly the most liberal part of the Gulf, it is frowned upon if people hold hands in public.

Draw your own conclusions with respect to breast feeding in public in more conservative Oman!!

Bambi in Abu Dhabi

I am afraid I agree. It always makes me feel slightly nauseous seeing women breastfeed. Especially in restaurants - yuck!

However, I can understand why your wife would not want to breastfeed in a public lavatory. I don't have an answer, but I definitely DEFINATELY would not do it in public. I think you would probably be arrested. Or rather your wife would.

As for the temperatures, yes it gets very hot which is why most wives and children decamp to cooler climes. That said, it is not unbearable and you do get used to it.

MataHari

exactly...you can breastfeed your baby in public without anyone ever noticing you are doing it, just give a bit of thought about what you are wearing before you go out and there isn't a problem.
And just as you don't need to look at every woman, you don't need to look at a woman feeding her baby.
The whole go and do it in the toilet thing is such an annoying thing to say, do you eat your lunch there....It is only offensive when you regard it as anything other than a mother feeding her baby...

As far as the summers are concerned, just look at it like the winters back home...kids will justn spend more time indoors. My daughter was 2 when we moved here, and her nursery did a summerschool where she went to in the mornings. And although it is hot, my kids still went outside throughout the summer in the late afternoons and they never complained...get the garden hose out, get a paddling pool set up in the garden, organise playdates with other kids in the neighbourhood etc...It really isn't that much of an issue.

MataHari

why why why would you feel nauseous about that...jeez
Grown ups with bad table manners, talking with their mouths full, that is disgusting, a baby whaling for an hour because it's hungry, that is a pain in the arse when you are having your lunch...a baby being fed, how can that be offensive, I really really don't get it....
I have never heard of anyone being arrested for breastfeeding a baby in a discrete way.
Does a woman that breastfeed need to be confinded to her house for months, I don't think so...
Most women will take the feeding times into account whenever they go out, but sometimes a baby will not stick to the schedule and needs to be fed.

admon

I'm sorry, I just don't see the need for it and I don't want to see it.

Bambi in Abu Dhabi

I agree. It makes me feel sick. Sorry if that is not very PC of me.

Hello.Kitty

Admon... F*** off! Do you eat in public loos? If you do, then I retract my insult, but if you don't, then think about it a bit more...

MataHari

babies are not progammable....so it can happen they get hungry...and the sound of a baby crying surely is worse than a baby being fed...and like I said...you don't have to look at it...turn the other way, it's easy.

MataHari

it's nothing to do with being PC...

Investoman_uae

So you think in the UK when you breastfeed in the train for example, its ok? Come on,.... the breast shudnt be shown in public anywhere in the world... cos men react pretty much the same anywhere. It aint an "arab" thing (to Admon) you just cant say "pervy arabs"... thats pretty f********* racist dont you think?

So please to the mothers out there,... breastfeed your child somewhere more private, wherever you are in the world.

Inv.