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- Guide to Sweden
Guide to Sweden
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Wednesday, October 1 | 2025
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Raising children in Sweden means learning new systems, habits, and expectations. Explore how parental leave works, what to expect from preschool, how to support bilingual development, and how to navigate pregnancy, family benefits, and everyday parenting.
It can be very overwhelming to become pregnant in another country and figure out all that you need to know. Where do I find all of the information that I need? What will happen first? Where do I go? What will my appointments be like? How have others experienced giving birth in Sweden? Where do I go to buy products for baby? Have no fear, this ultimate guide compiles all of the information that you need to know regarding pregnancy and having a baby in Sweden.
In this guide to parental leave in Sweden, we will walk you through what you need to know. Parent leave, maternity, and paternity leave in Sweden can be confusing. What are my rights? What is essential to know for parent leave?
Parental leave in Sweden – the so called föräldrapenning is generous. It is paid out for 480 day (approximately 16 months) for each child. Parents are – because of gender equality aspects – encouraged to share the leave and allowance. That is why 90 days out of the total 480 days are reserved for each parent. Only single custody parents are entitled to take out the 480 days on their own.
A free baby box in Sweden is something most parents to be, are very familiar with. Shopping for your new baby is an exciting and a fun part of being pregnant. Imagine yourself go to a baby shop and see all those cute Scandinavian designs, how can you resist the temptation? Well…
Moving away from home brings a lot of questions to the fore. Once you bring a child into the mix, those questions may change. If education is important to you and your family, you may be wondering how to choose the right school for your child, what the process looks like, how early do you need to begin? What does Swedish preschool look like?
Whether you’ve purchased your plane tickets and started packing, or you’re just thinking about it, moving to Sweden is a big deal. If you have children, it’s an even bigger deal! I know because our family has been there. In August 2019, my husband and I hopped on a plane from New Jersey with a final destination of Malmö, Sweden. We had our 3 children along for the ride: our two daughters, who were 5 and 3, and a 2-month-old baby.
So you are moving to Sweden with your family? A moving house event is stressful, so add to that the fact your children are moving abroad and you have a very stressful event for children to handle. However, there is also no doubt that moving abroad can be beneficial too. Moving your family to Sweden can provide a broader perspective about the world, whilst giving new experiences, and seeing a different culture, language, and way of living.
Expat grief for children is a serious thing: the mourning of the loss of one’s old life. It can happen to the adults who made the decision, but today I want to talk about the children, who moved without having any say in the matter.
Polarn O. Pyret is a Swedish children’s clothing brand with over 40 years in the industry. Polarn O. Pyret designs stylish and functional garments for all children, with quality to be inherited for generations. Garments that last to be loved, washed and worn.
Shopping stuff for kids. Eeeerm? My son is almost three and when I got pregnant I was such a novice to all things pregnancy, baby and kid related. I’ve just not had that many kids around me and it wasn’t until I got pregnant that I realized that there is a whole world of things that babies and kids need that I had no clue about! And so at lot of manic googling started.
It’s time for winter! Lots of children are expecting it enthusiastically as well as parents. They want to go out and play in the snow. But winter is not only about the feeling of snow falling from the sky. I am not trying to diminish your excitement, but in recent years it has been less snow for some cities in Sweden. Instead, you got a whole package of cold, wind and rain.
Do you make a list of essentials you have to take with you before you actually go out with your kid? Moms in Sweden! I’ve realized there are many components you have to consider before you leave the house. Here you can find some suggestions especially if you are living in the capital.
Raising a multilingual child in Sweden, or anywhere for that matter, is a long, but rewarding adventure. Many newbie families in Sweden consider it a challenge, but in lots of regions around the world multilingualism is something natural and common.
English is the language my entire family speaks. Only English. I know a smidgeon of French from high school, but that is it. My husband speaks both his primary language as well as English, which he learned from an early age. He came to the United States for college and in our home, he exclusively speaks English.
Being a parent in Sweden comes with more support and benefits than you may be used to. Sweden has one of the highest number of parental leave days in the world, where the childs caretakers are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave when a child is born or adopted. As a new mum experiencing parenthood in Sweden, I found the culture and benefits here to be interesting and vastly different from where I used to live in Singapore. Here are some other benefits which I find to be enjoyable as a new parent living here in Stockholm.
If you had just moved to Sweden, with small kids, it’s just a matter of time until your kids gushing about Swedish children’s books icons relentlessly. Like me, three years back, you may never have heard some of them. So here I compile the list of Swedish children’s books icons you may need to know to keep up with your kids.
When the clock strikes is a great book for children. You won’t regret buying this book about Halloween for your child this spring. Why? Because, no matter if you like ghosts, pumpkins or dress-ups, your child will learn a lot from When the Clock Strikes on Halloween – especially about learning to tell time.
Moving to Sweden can seem scary and difficult, especially when you’re bringing your littles. But what many people don’t realize is that Sweden offers many free, fun and interactive activities that both you and your children will enjoy! Living as an expat in Stockholm was a lot easier than originally expected. After moving here two years ago I became accustomed to the Swedish ways pretty quickly. Although everyone has a different experience, there are ways to make your move to Sweden a little less bumpy.
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