I thought I’d seen many strangest things while commuting with public transport in Lausanne, but yesterday I witnessed the most horrifying scene on the bus. A mother managed to get her double buggy inside the bus (onto the separate trailer on the back of the main bus), but the doors closed before she got in, and the driver somehow refused to open it and drove away! So the poor mother had to run, unfortunately uphill, behind the bus to the next station. Fortunately there was a young lady who immediately took care of the children and the buggy. They got off at the next bus stop and waited for the mother to arrive. I was so stunned…

I really don’t know how it really happened. Most probably the driver didn’t see the buggy and thought that the mother was just too slow to get in. And as we were in the trailer, it was not possible for us to inform the driver. Fortunately it ended up alright.

So, moms, just in case you’re not so used with public transport in Lausanne, here are some tips to avoid this kind of disaster:

• Not all entries of the bus are designed for strollers (The mother in the story above used the right door, btw). The designated doors are clearly labeled and has an extra button to use for people with strollers. If you push this button instead of the regular ones, the door will open longer and the driver will know that you are handling a stroller. The poor mother may have used the “wrong” button so that the driver didn’t know that she had her double buggy inside. Tip: The doors of the bus do bounce open if it touch anything while closing, so in case something like in above story happens to you, it may work better if you hold the door open than pushing the button.

• The doors of the métro, however, do NOT bounce open and will just squeeze anything in between. So, for the métro, do NOT attempt to jump in if the door closing signal already rings! I have seen (too) many big, strong men got squeezed. And to make it worse, it will stop the circulation for around 5-10 minutes. You really don’t want to look like a complete fool and get all the people inside the métro “thanking” you for making them late.

• And of course, when you are commuting with stroller, be extra careful at anytime. Don’t hesitate to ask for help if you need extra hands to bring the stroller inside the bus. I found most people are happy to help, but sometimes they just don’t immediately offer to help. If you don’t ask, you may not get. Sometimes even just by looking straight to the person will do, so don’t worry if you don’t speak French.

• Do buy tickets! They check very often and it’s really not worth the hassle and the embarrassment if caught without a ticket. Strollers and children up to age 6 travel for free. Consider subscribing for Mobilis (available monthly or yearly) if you use the public transport regularly.

Commute safely, Moms!

*Photograph courtesy of vitalyzator, used under Creative Commons

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I was just there yesterday and even though the work hasn’t completely finished, I was surprise how nice it looks now. It used to be “dark” and tired, now it’s really bright and spacious. Definitely a “Bling!”. I also saw that they have new stores, such as GUESS and Carat Bijouterie. And during this soft-opening, many stores offer discounts, like 30% at the Carat Bijouterie or 10% at the Migros’ Outdoor SportXX. But what I like the most should be the new café downstairs. It has the simple chic feeling and as it’s kind of open-spaced, I think it’s even possible to find place to park a dozen strollers So, maybe one day we’ll meet-up there?

Métropole Lausanne
Rue des Terreaux 17
Case postale 7156
1002 Lausanne
Phone +41 (0)21 340 92 00
Fax +41 (0)21 340 92 20

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Find your local mom groups

The Lausanne Mum and Mum-to-be Coffee and Chat Group meets every two weeks on Tuesday at Starbucks St. Laurent. This group was founded by Raksha, and has helped many moms (including myself of course) to meet other moms, talk about problems or just to have adult conversation. Occasionally there are special programs, like book exchange or Q&A with a midwife. Check the Events page for the date of next meeting.

Sign up to online “local” mom groups

There are many Yahoo! Groups that could be useful for moms in Switzerland. I’m in “Lausanne-Kids” and “Expat-Moms in Switzerland” and found these 2 groups to be fantastic. The moms (and dads!) are very helpful and there are often offers for great second-hands!

And, if you can bear another social networking site, join CityMom.ch!

Read Lausanne Mom Blog regularly and sign up for email updates or RSS feed

While I know that this blog doesn’t always have the answer, I always aim to have posts that are complete and useful. There are many information related to pregnancy that I had put on the site and I try to update them regularly, as well as posting new info. You can easily browse the related category (Pregnancy & Baby) or type the keyword (like: midwife, maternity rights) in the search tool. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, email me at info(AT)lausannemom.com

Buy second-hands

For our daughter, we bought all of her newborn stuffs new, and now I know that we could have saved a lot of money by buying second-hands. Check this post about online sites where you can buy second-hands. I now buy second-hands regularly, mostly from the moms that advertise in the Yahoo! Groups I mentioned above. If you sign up early you may be able to get most of the things you will need during the pregnancy and after the birth. And finally I recently joined another one, called “SwissSwapandShop” and currently eagerly waiting for some used children books for our 1 year-old.

Hope these tips help! Happy Pregnancy!

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Today I learned about ASK (All Special Kids), a Geneva-based association aiming to support the families of children with special needs and learning difficulties. The association has many programs that might be of your interest if you have child(ren) with special needs. Please refer to their website for more information about this association and their programs.

And for the ASK Vaud group there will be a coffee morning on March 26th at 10am at the Chalet de Brie (see below for address, directions, and contact detail).

Chalet de Brie
Chemin de Bendes 7
1806 St. Legier La Chiesaz (near Vevey)
Plenty of private parking available. The nearest train stop is St. Legier, then it’s a fifteen minute walk through lovely farmland to Chalet de Brie.

Contact person:
Lynda Heffernan
lynda.heffernan(AT)allspecialkids.org

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The Canton of Vaud recently published free pocket address books (carnet d’adresses) for parents with young children (0-6 y.o.).  The book provides contact details of professionals who can help new parents (or parents-to-be) within the area, such as gynecologists, midwives, counselors, social workers, early childhood nurses (Infirmière Petite Enfance) and pediatricians. There also addresses of nice-to-know places like theatres, ludothéques and fringothéque. It even has a glossary of important terms in 7 different languages! I really like this book, the size is just perfect for my bag so that I can always carry it around.

This guide book is available for all 4 regions of the Canton of Vaud. It is distributed by the professionals as above. I got my copy from the nurse at the Centre médico-social (CMS) Epalinges during one of my visits there to weigh the baby. You can also obtain it from the Espace Prévention in Lausanne (see address below).

Espace Prévention
Pré du Marché 23
1004 Lausanne
Tel: 021 644 04 24
Fax: 021 644 04 26
prevention.Lausanne(AT)omsv.vd.ch

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I hardly believed that I found out about this guide only after I lived in Lausanne for 3 years. I was looking for information about finding baby-sitters in Lausanne when one of the pages I browsed brought me to their website.

Two weeks ago I finally got my copy at Payot. The guide is very thick and quite heavy, and it costs CHF38. Browsing through, I get the feeling of going through a telephone book that has undergone a careful selection to accommodate the need of English-speaking families in Lausanne. Of course, unlike the telephone book, there are more useful information than just addresses and telephone numbers. However, browsing through their day-care center section, I found that many centers are not listed there. So, even with this book, I think sometimes I will still have to go to directories.ch. Click here for the table of contents.

The guide is published every two years and is constantly updated through the website. To buy one, you can order online, or just go to Payot in Lausanne (they have it in their English book section).

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I’m a first-time mom of a 3.5 month-old girl. I have been living in Lausanne area since November 2005. I don’t speak French very well and it is never easy for me to find information about anything in Lausanne. When I got pregnant last year, I learned and found a lot of useful things, but some were not so easy to find for a non-French speaking. Now I think I should share those with my fellow non-French speaking moms in Lausanne. Today I started this blog to share my experience and I hope you will find it useful. I appreciate if you can leave comments or tell me your own experience, so that will improve the blog and help other moms in the area. Cheers!

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