To take 11 month twins to Dubai

[Floatyboat]

So this year is a big birthday for my mum and my two younger sisters want to take her to Dubai (it's on her bucket list). The expectation is that I come too. The complicating factor is that I (unlike my sisters) have children. DS and DD will be 11 months. Is taking them to Dubai a silly thing to do?

I'm worried about the travel - time at the airport plus the 7 hour flight would be a journey into the unknown (4 hour car rides are hard enough). Also when we get there - would taxis have car seats or is public transport comprehensive enough that taxis wont be needed.

It will be hot there (the point of going for my family I suppose) so we will have to stick to indoors or the shade (perhaps defeating the point of going). What is there to do there - people always say restaurants and shopping but that doesn't really justify a £1000 holiday. I hear the water parks are good but with wee ones the flumes would be wasted and we'd be stuck in the shade.

What about about breastfeeding in dubai? I've read that public places have "rooms" for breastfeeding. Does that mean breastfeeding elsewhere is not ok? I know topless sunbathing is illegal there. I do mixed feeding - whatever is easiest in the moment.

On the plus side my family would be willing to help out with the babies. My dad may end up coming along too so another set of hands.

Another option is to leave them at home with DH. That would mean him taking annual leave (which can be tricky with his work). Also, I have never been apart from them for more than 4 hours and never been in a different city from them so I don't know how I feel about that.

I'd be more worried about getting banged up if a man committed a crime against me and I complained, if I asked the wrong questions, or if there was some technicality wrong with my passport. All three recent things have been on the news and resulted in normal people being banged up there. It's a backwards place with a glossy exterior.

Breastfeeding is fine in Dubai. I moved there when my eldest was 6 months old and EBF, and I had my second son there and fed them both out and about no problem at all. Most of the time I didn't use a cover I used to do one top up one down and was just discreet. Pretty much like I am in the UK.

Depends when in the year you're planning on going as to how hot it will be.

Public transport - if you stay somewhere central there is the metro and the tram. There are certain taxis that guarantee one car seat but not always two.

The beach is lovely, there's loads to do along the marina, everywhere is very welcoming of children. We left a couple of years ago so I'm not 100% on what's best any more but I wouldn't be too worried about taking them.

When are you going?

Hottest month is August (in the 90s) coolest is January (high 60s).

Flight won’t be much of an issue but temperature might be.

Where are you staying? We stayed at the Burj al Arab and it would have been (easy, they cater to your every need but) boring with babies except the rooms were spectacular but a lot of money for sitting in a palatial room! We then went to a spa on the beach. Very hot.

Shopping, coffee shops and restaurants is what there is to do. I must admit we weren’t looking for childreny things as it was before we had children but I dont remember anything for little ones at all!

It will be great so long as you avoid the summer! Dubai is super child friendly, we went with our DS when he was 13 months and it was great. Kept him on UK time so he came out for dinner with us and then slept 10pm - 9am which was lovely. Plenty of stuff to do.

I have lived in the UAE for 9 years now. I had my youngest son here. The UAE is very pro breast feeding so you wouldnt face any problems. The mothers rooms in malls etc are there if you prefer privacy but are not at all obligatory.
It is very child friendly. As a culture they love children. Beaches, pools, play areas in malls etc.
No car seats generally in taxis. You will need taxis a fair bit.

Depends where you stay. We've been to Dubai 6 times now (and yes we love it). DS2 was 2 when we first went and we managed to get pretty much everywhere we needed to go by the metro system which is excellent. Its only in the last few years that we've used the taxi's.

I completely agree with the PP that they are very child friendly and they love children.

Yeah we took our car seat with us and just belted it in and out of taxis - the drivers would look at us like we were crazy but it didn’t cause any issues!

Very child-friendly place, and no you won't get "banged up" there if you refrain from travelling on an expired passport and then hurling abuse and photographing immigration officials when challenged.

Dubai is a vile place.

Any money you spend there perpetuates a system where women are second class citizens, and anyone not white or Arab is lower than the muck on my shoe.

Do you really want to do that?

Yes. I've worked around the ME for a decade.

I would be going in January which I think is the best weather, but a bit pricier. Thanks for the responses. Good to know about breast feeding.

People who've been - what did you do activity wise? How did you spend your time?

We were in the region anyway so tended to just do weekends there rather than long stints.
We enjoyed the water park at the Palm Atlantis although January might be a bit chilly for it. There's also the Wild Wadi which is really good.
We walked around the bit between Dubai Fort and the creek, lots of markets. Took a little ferry over to the Gold Souk at the other side.
Dubai Mall and the fountain are good fun. They've got a fantastic aquarium. You can also go up the Burj Khalifa from there to the viewing tower or one of the restaurants.
The Marina area is nice as well and they've got a good public beach.

@zzzzz If it's not your experience, I assume you're rich and white. Do ask the Pakistani gardeners what they think as they tend to your beach. Do ask the Emirati women whether they feel constrained.

Or, just enjoy brunch!

Panda, if you feel so strongly that Dubai is such a terrible place, I wonder why you worked in tbe Middle East for 10 years? Were you involved in charity work to help the downtrodden or perhaps negotiating some high level diplomatic deal to improve conditions for them?
Or..... did it not matter to you so much when you were pocketing the tax free cash?
Every country has its faults. Those of us here in the UAE are here for the package and the lifestyle. We do what we can to help people less fortunate. I think every country has racism and discrimination and many other issues.
Sorry to derail the thread OP. I think come to the UAE. Try citywalk in the evening and if you are here between oct and march go to global village. We also have legoland for the little ones.

Sorry, i cant leave this. Just re read your comment about Emirati women. I work in a huge organisation here with many well educated Emirati women. I am fortunate enough to count lots of them as my friends. I have never heard them.say they feel constrained. Honestly, they are more free than me. They travel, work and have freedom. Why do you think they are constrained?

Gulf women do breastfeed publically but doing so in Islamic wear and doing it in western wear are two very different things. Dubai is very women friendly though. Most restaurants if they don’t have a feeding room (with drinks / nibbles) will provide you with a privacy screen.

Do it op. We’ve been going once a year to Dubai for ages and then took our children with us - it really is very well catered for them.
And not to hijack the thread, but what’s the global village please UAEMum? We normally don’t stray far from the hotel but are going to try and be more adventurous when we go next week. We’ve also got day tickets for Dubai Parks; is that worth a visit? DDs are 4 and 6. Thanks v much

Women in Dubai who report rapes face arrest. Why would you step foot in a place like that?