Posted by
sandy4658
19 yrs ago
I am a new mom (my daughter is 4 1/2 months old) and about to be a new Ex Pat. I have never lived anywhere except the US but have traveled extensively. My husband and I are excited about the move, but not sure of what things may not be available or may be hard to find in Shanghai as far as for my baby and support for me. We currently are in Mommy and Me Yoga and a new mother's group and would love to continue in Shanghai as well. I am very much into organic foods, clothing, and am using chlorine-free diapers. We are moving on 9/1 into a serviced apt in Luwan/ Huang Pu until we can figure out where we want to be for the rest of the time. Any advice would be helpful... especially since I feel like I need to hoard my favorite items and bring them with me (and I am not sure I need to.) I hardly know what to expect...
Please support our advertisers:
Please support our advertisers:
phsu
19 yrs ago
Hi Sandy - We moved to Shanghai ten months ago with two boys then 8 months and 21 months. Shanghai has a limited supply of organic foods and I haven't seen any organic clothing, but they do have cloth diapers! For us, after a couple months adjustment, we were able to find everything we needed here other than infant tylenol and other medicine that we felt more comfortable bringing from the us. I also want to caution you that my children have had many colds and sniffles after moving to Shanghai whereas they were always healthy in the US.
We also arrived on September 1st last year and stayed in a serviced apartment in Luwan for a month before signing a lease. Feel free to e-mail me or let me know of any specific questions. We really enjoy living in Shanghai and I hope you will too.
Best,
Patricia
Please support our advertisers:
elane
19 yrs ago
Hi Sandy,
We lived in Shanghai for about 2 years. Before we left Shanghai for HK.. an Organic store just opened up near the Parksons in Hongqiao. I remember seeing Chlorine free diapers there. Also, I remember seeing a few organic varieties of vegetables at Freshmart in the shopping center across from Jin an Temple. Hope that helps! Also, hope these places still exist as I know China is always changing super fast!
Please support our advertisers:
I'd agree with the advice to bring your own over the counter pediatric meds. I've never seen Tylenol brand Simply Stuffy in China, for instance, and Chinese docs don't like to prescribe infant ibuprofen (which is great for fevers). There are a few other things you may not be able to find here. For instance, my doc here had never heard of auralgan (for ear pain) which is commonly prescribed in the USA. Along the same line, when she starts teething you'll appreciate having anbesol (for teething pain). Never seen it in China.
Please support our advertisers:
Oh, and some calamine or caladryl for insect stings. Some other things for insect bites are the benadryl cream or cort-aid.
Please support our advertisers:
Carrefour, Freshmart, City Super, Parkson etc are
supplied by organic farms so you can go to the nearest location or buy online as the same organic farm/company have free home delivery. Also participate in some of the Farmers Markets.
http://shorganic.com/e_home.htm
http://shorganic.com/images/branch%20name.pdf
http://shorganic.com/e_farmersmarkets.html
Contact: Brian
email: bheimberg@shorganic.com
+86 21 62492118
As for yoga, "Breeze Yoga" have several centers, so you may want to check them out.
http://www.breezeyoga.com/English/EVENTSNEWS/YTTC/200707/English_20070712125337.html
Please support our advertisers:
There is a La Leche League Group in Shanghai..check out www.lalecheleague.org for the contact info. The women there will be a big help!
Please support our advertisers:
awym
19 yrs ago
I lived in Shanghai for three years. think the organic store in Hongqiao is called the O Store. Western supermarkets like City Super have organic baby food, although limited in variety. It's not difficult to find organic food products, but beware of some of the Chinese "organic" ones as they usually do not meet US standards. I usually stuck to organics from Japan and overseas. A few places carry organic meats.
Vaccinations manufactured from overseas and most US brand medicines can be found at hospitals and clinics catering to Westerners, such as World Link and Shanghai United Family Hospital. As mentioned in other threads, expect your child to get more colds, etc. The air is quite polluted and colds, coughs, etc. seem to last for weeks.
As for places to live, I highly recommend Shanghai Centre. It's a great location and very family-friendly (quite a number of mothers with young children), with lots of amenities in the complex. They have a small preschool within their facilities and an indoor playroom that is monitored and very clean, as well as an outdoor playground, pool, etc. But for better air quality, you should consider living in Pudong or Hongqiao.
Please support our advertisers:
Everyone, Thank you for all of the great information! Patricia (phsu) I am not sure how to email you, but have plenty more questions.... any other advice from others would be great, too!
Please support our advertisers:
phsu
19 yrs ago
i actually don't know how to use e-mail here either. my e-mail address is pwhsu@excite.com.
Please support our advertisers:
You must be logged in to be able to reply.
Login now
Copy Link
Facebook
Gmail
Mail