Dubai Travel Forum

We are traveling through Dubai in late May and staying over for a few nights in the city. I simply love the place and it was my idea to stopover. However just now I realised that now I'm a breastfeeding mum and UAE is a Moslem country. So I'm wondering how am I going to feed my baby when we go on a bus tour or roam around souqs or just having coffee in a coffee shop.

Any suggestions what can I do?

thanks!

You can but like cover your breast not full exposure. You can use shawl to make it more demure :) seriously..you can!

Find a quiet place and cover yourself and your baby well with a light shawl/pashmina or some such (as suggested above).

Be tactful. I don't think feeding your baby in a coffee shop, even covered up, would be a good idea.

Accept that the loo might be the only suitable place sometimes.

You could also start to readjust baby's usual feeding pattern before your visit, so that his/her hungry times fit more easily into your potential schedule. This is easily done if you make small adjustments over a longish period, even for babies usually fed on demand.

Do not do it in public, covered or not. And especially not when you 'roam around souqs'. You will need to go to the ladies room and of course you can simply arrange your trips around baby's feeding times.

for what reason I can't breasfeed covered?

Because it's inappropriate in a conservative society, because if someone complains you could be in trouble.

in the worst case scenario what can happen to me (if I get "caught" breastfeeding covered with a shawl)?

I don't know. I guess it depends where you are, who complains and who they complain to.
If you're in a western coffee shop with western customers and you cover up maybe no-one will take any notice. You wouldn't even dream of feeding the baby in the souqs - even if no-one complained you'd be surrounded by a crowd of curious men in about one second.

thanks!

In almost all shopping malls they have babies and mothers room where you can feed baby/Change diapers etc. So avoid Souks with the baby in my opinion.

Marina, just to try to explain a bit more. You said "and UAE is a Moslem country." but that isn't the only point. It is indeed a conservative Muslim country, even though it's more liberal than many. But remember that about 75% or so of the population is male and the majority of people, female and male, come from very conservative countries compared to Oz. Huge numbers also come from societies where crowds gather for just about nothing to stand and stare, where the idea of personal space doesn't exist.
Have a look at my Dubai Shopping Tips pages and look at the photos on the Tip titled "Local shopping area in Deira: Naif Road" and you'll get some idea of what I'm saying.

I replied to your question in the other forum.

I'd like to add I agree with Colin:

you CAN cover with a shawl to breast feed, but do it in a quiet and slightly "secluded" area in public, and not in the middle of a restaurant.

Why don't you carry a pump and storage bags use a cooling box where ever you go in Dubai. Use the pump in hotel room and then bottle feed your baby in Malls, etc. I am not a mother but I think it can be done :)

If, like me, you've exclusively breast-fed your baby, then switching to bottle just for a shopping trip isn't as easy as it sounds... plus all the sterilisation equipment, etc...

Anyhow, the answers on this thread have helped me a lot. I think the best bet is to count on the mother-and-baby rooms, do a bit of research as to whereabouts before the trip and hope that baby doesn't get hungry in the middle of nowhere!

ahaha, these men!
sounds as a very good solution, Business Traveller, it takes 2 words to spell it out and 2 hours to implement! ;-)

I can't help to agree with LydiaP - bottle feeding, plus expressing, plus warming it up, plus washing, plus sterilizing it all, carrying it appropriately ... yada yada - it all adds up and can be a real pain!!

unless of course a baby feeds only once a day but not every 3 hours ;-) I assume he might get a bit thirsty in hot Dubai weather, so it could be even every 2 hours!

how much easier it is to pop a bubby on a breast! the whole thing takes 5 minutes and off you go shopping or sight-seeing.

of course these little things are hard to know until you become a mum :o) I didn't know that before myself!


but anyway, baby rooms are fine, if worse comes to worst a shawl somewhere in a quiet corner will do, if the wild men want to watch well, let them watch, can't starve my baby can I?

I keep on asking myself how they used to feed their babies in a desert before baby rooms appeared?

It was done in private, away from the eyes of men other than one's husband. As was the mnorm in many cultures/countries until very recently (including the UK).

And, basically, that's the issue here. It was a sensible question which has been answered sensibly.

Breast-feeding in public is not something which is necessarily acceptable to do in all cultures in public. Not because 'wild men' might watch, but because one might possibly cause real offence. When visiting anywhere one should respect cultural norms.

Coffee4bear, There should be a milk bank in advanced city like Dubai where one can go a buy pasteurized milk. At least, an expat mothers group living there can propose one!

My trip to Dubai went well, so what about breastfeeding…?

The answer is actually very simple – say YES to breastfeeding in pubic

Yes, the Arabic society in the Emirates encourages breastfeeding, including breastfeeding in public. However you do need to remember to cover yourself properly and not to expose any nakedness.

I spoke about breastfeeding with locals - including an Emirati woman at the cultural breakfast at the Sheikh Mohamed’s Centre of Cultural Understanding and an Emirati man at the Dubai Museum. They both assured me that the breastfeeding was very common and preferable way to feed a baby in the Emirates and public breastfeeding was not that uncommon and was no way forbidden or offensive.

Moreover before I managed to ask my questions I was encouraged to breastfeed my little munchkin as “it is the best for small babies like him”.

Speaking of numbers – in many western countries there are heaps of parenting rooms while so little number of women breastfeed whereas in Dubai such rooms are not that abundant but majority of women do breastfeed. How do they do it? In the most natural way – in public - fully covered with abayahs.

Did I breastfeed on public? Yes, I did, covered with a huge but light shawl. It was easy, safe and very natural.

Conclusion: Mums, no need to rush and change your bubs’ routine or menu, no need to hide in toilets and buy bottles and pumps… Dubai is a truly breastfeeding-friendly city!
All you need to do is to get a big light shawl to cover yourselves thoroughly and drink plenty of water to keep your milk supply up! and of course enjoy your trip!

It is as I expected: it's not the breastfeeding itself, it is the way in which it is done which matters (and which should be respected).

I am glad your visit went well.