Moving to Singapore

[singaporesam]

Hi all

After receiving approval of my husbands employment pass application today, it looks like we will be moving to Singapore in early April!

I would love to hear from anyone already out there with tips etc about baby fun (and anything else!). Our little boy (Samuel) is currently 14 weeks old and we will be living in Clarke Quay for the first few months until we find ourselves a condo.

Thanks in advance

[papooshka]

Join the FB page 'Storks Nest' which is for parents in Sing and also 'Real Singapore Expat wives' which has loads of info on it.
Theres lots of groups you can join to meet people, a good one is New Mothers Support Group (NMSG)…they have coffee mornings and socials going on.
St Georges Church in Tanglin also has baby groups a few times a week which are really popular and cheap!
Mother and Child in Tanglin Mall has musical monkeys classes once a week which are good and you will meet lots of other mums.
Singapore is full of expats coming and going so you will definitely make friends quickly, everyone is or has been in the same boat as you.
(We left 2 years ago after 12 years of living there)

[singaporesam]

Thanks so much papooshka. That's very helpful! Great to have a mums endorsement for the place too.

Random question, but are there baby weigh in clinics that one can drop into, like we have in the UK? Baby's weight has been gradually dropping down the line - not worrying at this stage but I definitely want to monitor it before we start to wean. What's available? Many thanks in advance!

[LondonerinSingapore]

Mother and child is your best bet for weighing, other than your doctor or paediatrician. I had one child in the UK and one in Singapore and the systems are quite different- you have to pay and be proactive to access support with your new born! No health visiting system etc. I didn't use mother and child myself but know they employ western midwives and have breastfeeding support etc available (if that's how you're feeding).
There's few freely available baby activities here, but you can find out about meet ups and so on via the Facebook groups and also the ex pat meet up websites so you should be able to create your own support network... Look for a condo which is family friendly with lots of other families and you won't have to work too hard to make friends
We're on the East Coast and the lifestyle here is very family friendly. But prepare for freaking out about how to keep a baby cool in this weather... It's about 33c at the moment but feels above 40c according to the weather apps!
Feel free to pm if you want to chat further and good luck!