Bringing up Toddlers in Portugal

Everything for parents with young children living in Portugal: with information on health matters, child benefits and childcare.

Infant and Pre-School Care

The great majority of toddlers (90 percent of 0-3-year-olds) are cared for by their families or in informal care arrangements, rather than the regulated services described below.

Crèches (crèches colectivas)

The Ministry of Social Security and Labour (Ministério do Trabalho e Soliedaridade Social) is in charge of the regulation and funding of crèche facilities for children from birth to three years of age.

Centre-based crèches are staffed by educators (educadores) who have a four-year university or polytechnic training, as well as nurses and social workers, all of whom have tertiary-level professional qualifications.

In the crèches, group sizes are twelve in public centres or ten in private centres, with child-staff ratios of 12:2 or 10:2.

Childminders (crèches familiares)

The Lisbon area in particular has many childminders. A childminder takes care of children between the ages of three months and three years in their own home.

To qualify as a childminder, a carer (amas) must be aged between 21 and 54 and live in a house or flat that has a minimum amount of space for children to play and sleep when in their care. The minder will also have to spend some time in a residential crèche, where they will be observed when in charge of children. In addition, they need to declare that other members of their household are happy for them to welcome children to their residence.

Childminders may take care of a maximum of four children, or three if they have a child of their own who is younger than three years of age.

Kindergartens/Nursery Schools (Jardims de Infância)

Attending pre-school (Jardims de Infância) from ages three to five is optional. Such establishments are run by a wide variety of state organisations, charitable institutions, private and cooperative institutions. State-run nursery schools are free of charge, fees are payable for private schools.

The Ministry of Education (Ministério da Educação) defines the educational content for nursery schools and funds their operation, the Ministry of Social Security and Labour (Ministério do Trabalho e Soliedaridade Social, MTSS) provides support to low income families to enable children to attend kindergarten education through the provision of free meals and subsidies.

All kindergartens are inspected by the Ministry of Education, all must have an outside play area (recreio) and respect established safety levels.

Kindergartens are staffed by child educators (educadores de infância) with a four-year university or polytechnic training. The maximum size for a kindergarten class is 25, with child-staff ratio being in general 25:1 and in some cases 25:2.

Toddler Health

Mothers with newborn babies will be visited by a health visitor who will check that the mother is well and that the baby is healthy. After that toddlers are generally looked after by the family doctor, but will also attend a baby clinic for regular development checks of growth, weight, limb and head size, as well as routine immunisations.

A health booklet is issued by the clinic which charts and records the child's growth and developmental progress from birth to five years of age.

Vaccinations

Portugal has a national vaccination policy with the following calendar:

At birth: BCG (against tuberculosis) and VHB (against Hepatitis B)
At 2 months: DTP (against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough), VAP (against poliomyelitis), VHB (against Hepatitis B) and HiB (against Haemophilus influenza type B)
At 4 months: DTP (against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough), VAP (against poliomyelitis) and HiB (against Haemophilus influenza type B)
At 6 months: DTP (against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough), VAP (against poliomyelitis), VHB (against Hepatitis B) and HiB (against Haemophilus influenza type B)
At 15 months: VASPR (against measles, mumps and rubella)
Between 15 and 18 months: HiB (against Haemophilus influenza type B, booster)
At 18 months: DTP (against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough, first booster)

Mother & Toddler Groups

There are international groups in Lisbon and the Algarve, run for and by staff of organisations such as NATO or groups of expatriates.

International Women in Portugal
American Women of Portugal
Tel: 214 663 301

Activities

All Portuguese towns have play areas for children in their public parks (in Lisbon in Monsanto and the Jardim da Estrela, for example). There are activity centres running workshops ranging from circus activities to pottery but these mostly cater for older children, rather than toddlers.