State nurseries keep parents out at settling-in, children can have two first names, and green doesn't mean drive into a jam
State nursery schools keep parents out during settling-in and take children at the door; some crèches let parents stay
In a chat for mothers of toddlers, someone asked how to get a child into a state nursery school if they turn three in the summer. The answer: you apply online on the Portal das Matrículas, usually in April, and name the school you want; if there is no place there, the child is sent wherever there is one. Private nurseries take applications directly: one mother visited the nurseries in her area, wrote to the head of the one she liked, filled in the forms and paid a deposit for a place the following year.
“You apply on the Portal das Matrículas in April. You list your preferred nursery, and if you're lucky you get it; if not, they send you wherever there are places”
pequenos_PT28.10.2026
The main question was about settling in. At state nursery schools for children aged three and over, parents say, mums and dads are not allowed inside: the child is handed over at the entrance, and at one school children were even passed over through the gate. Crèches can be different: one mother sat with her baby in the room for an hour or an hour and a half on the first day or two, then waited outside the door; another says that for the first few days either she or her husband was with the child the whole time. There are almost no state crèches: they are either private or run under an agreement with the state, offering free places under the Creche Feliz programme.
“At our state nursery (a crèche, to be precise) they let us in. For the first day or two the child can be in the room with mum for an hour or an hour and a half, then they start leaving them, but the parents aren't out on the street, they're just outside the office door.”
pequenos_PT28.10.2026
One family, whose son did not yet speak Portuguese, sent him to a private nursery with a gentler settling-in from the age of two and a half, so that he would not have to be left alone straight away. How to apply and how nurseries differ is explained in our guide How to enrol a child in nursery school in Portugal.
“My experience is with a state nursery school from age three. Parents aren't allowed inside. We handed the kids over at the entrance and bye-bye. But we were ready for it, and from 2.5 we went to a private one with a gentler settling-in.”
pequenos_PT28.10.2026
A child in Portugal can usually have up to two first names and four surnames; mothers debate giving a second first name
In a chat for expectant and new mothers, someone asked whether children should be given two first names, as is the custom among the Portuguese. Most of those who replied had given one name; some gave a double name, and one mother gave a double first name and a triple surname. Another mother passed on what her Portuguese husband says: many people now settle for one name, and those who have two on paper still use just one in everyday life; at nursery, children are called by one name.
“According to my Portuguese husband, they don't have this thing now where you have to give several names. Lots of people give just one. Even if someone has two on their documents, in everyday life they usually use one.”
beremennost_portugal29.10.2026
Almost everyone here has two surnames, people in the chat point out, and a second first name is more often added to very common ones such as Ana and Maria. Someone with one first name and one surname is sometimes asked where the rest is. To the worry that a child with a single name will stand out in a class full of Ana Marias and Ana Sofias, others reply that the child is more likely to stand out because of a Slavic surname anyway, and people get used to that.
“But surnames — everyone here has two, with rare exceptions. Names like Ana and Maria traditionally come with a second name here, because they're too common. As for my own one name and one surname — people here sometimes asked, like, where's the rest?”
beremennost_portugal29.10.2026
“That's true, you'll stand out anyway, if only because of a hard-to-read Slavic surname :) But then people get used to it, though in every new place you'll stand out.”
beremennost_portugal29.10.2026
The limit is set by law. Under the rules for registering a name, a full name can have no more than six words — usually up to two first names and up to four surnames, with ‘de’, ‘da’, ‘do’ and ‘e’ not counted. Surnames can come from the parents and, with proof, from grandparents and great-grandparents too. If at least one parent is a foreigner, the name can be registered in its foreign form. Two children in the same family cannot be given the same name, and a Portuguese birth record has no patronymic at all.
You must not enter a junction you'll get stuck in, even on green: the Highway Code sets a fine of €30 to €150
In a drivers' chat, someone asked whether they would be fined for pulling onto the yellow box markings on the Marquês de Pombal roundabout in Lisbon on an amber light. The answer was that you cannot stop on them whatever the lights show, but nobody in the chat had heard of cameras catching it.
“You can't stop on the yellow box whatever colour the lights are, but I haven't heard of any cameras for it”
autolife_pt28.10.2026
People then pointed to the general rule. Article 69 of the Código da Estrada — the Portuguese Highway Code — forbids entering a junction, even when the lights or right of way allow it, if traffic is so heavy that you can foresee stopping in it and blocking crossing traffic. Some in the chat called this a serious offence carrying a fine of €60 to €300 and two points; the code itself sets a fine of €30 to €150 and does not list it among serious offences.
“If you really want to nitpick, it forbids moving off if the driver can foresee he'll get stuck and block the crossing traffic”
autolife_pt29.10.2026
If there is no room on the other side of the junction, wait before it: a green light does not entitle you to drive into a jam.
Whether the rule is obeyed is disputed: some are sure nobody keeps to it without cameras, while others have seen the opposite more than once. One person recalled how, at a junction on Avenida da Liberdade, a police officer got out of his car and banged on the bonnets of cars blocking the traffic. How to find out about a fine, pay it and appeal it is explained in our guide Traffic fines in Portugal: how you find out, pay and appeal.
“I saw this on Avenida da Liberdade at the junction before the roundabout: a GNR officer got out of his car, started banging on car bonnets with his hand and shouted at them not to block the side traffic 😄”
autolife_pt29.10.2026
Mothers praise Next baby clothes for surviving the wash and H&M for bodysuits and pyjamas, while opinions on Zara are split
A mother of a toddler asked in a chat how Next, H&M and Zara really differ in quality and what stands up to frequent washing. Almost everyone praises Next: clothes can be handed down from child to child, and the pyjamas and bodysuits do not pill. The downsides are that it is more expensive and there is nowhere to see the clothes in person: people buy online or second-hand on Vinted.
“For me Next is definitely better, you could bring up several kids in hand-me-downs, then Zara (the pyjamas there are very thin, the hoodies are worse quality too, but some are fine, the T-shirts and jeans are good); H&M stuff turns into rags really quickly for us.”
pequenos_PT28.10.2026
Opinions on H&M differ: for some, the clothes quickly turn into rags; for others, the bodysuits and pyjamas are soft and do not pill, and H&M is the place for winter fleece pyjamas, which are cheaper there than in many other shops. One mother's H&M tracksuits faded quickly, and people note that H&M sizes come up large. Zara is praised for its styles for children aged one and up and for its trainers, and criticised for thin pyjamas, bodysuits that go ‘like a floorcloth’ after washing, and seams that come apart; such items get returned as faulty.
“At H&M I'd only recommend the fleece pyjamas for winter, they're cheaper than in lots of places (especially Next 🥲) and the quality is good”
pequenos_PT28.10.2026
“Zara bodysuits pill and the fabric goes like a floorcloth pretty quickly. I like H&M bodysuits and pyjamas for how soft the fabric is, and I don't think a single item has turned into a rag.”
pequenos_PT28.10.2026
People also recommend C&A for pretty clothes up to age two and Uniqlo for softness, while Kiabi and Primark are said to come up small. In a separate thread about autumn clothes for a baby who has just started walking, people advise a waterproof fleece-lined snowsuit, wellies only for puddles and shoes with flexible soles the rest of the time; children's shoes can be found in specialist shops such as Little Step or at the Amoreiras shopping centre.
“Outerwear — a waterproof Reima snowsuit. Wellies only for puddles, otherwise barefoot shoes with flexible soles.”
pequenos_PT29.10.2026
You should never get out of the car to confront a driver who has cut you up, people on Reddit say
On Reddit, a Portuguese man told a story about a friend: on the VCI — Porto's ring road — another driver cut him up dangerously; both stopped at a roundabout and got out to have it out, and the friend punched the other man. His wife and child were in the car, and he believes he was protecting his family. The poster asked whether getting out of the car is ever justified. The replies were almost unanimous: no, never.
The arguments are simple. You do not know who you will be facing: they may be stronger, or have a knife, a gun or friends in the car. The person who cut you up will do exactly the same thing 15 minutes later, while you are the one taking the risk; besides, many people cut others up not out of malice but because they drive badly. The only time to get out, people write, is after an accident — to check the other person is all right and sign the necessary papers. If someone comes towards your car making threats, the advice is to keep the door shut and drive off.
“I don't get out of the car. How do I know? Maybe the guy's bigger than me and I get hurt; maybe he's smaller but tougher and I get hurt; maybe he's smaller but a ninja or a boxer and I get hurt; maybe he's got a weapon and then I'm done for. So for my own sake I don't get out of the car.”
r/portugal27.10.2026
“You just want to get where you're going, that's all. Why get angry? The other guy doesn't care about you, and in 15 minutes he'll do exactly the same thing again. And you also risk ending up with a knife in you or something like that. And here's something really important: never put down to malice what can be explained by incompetence.”
r/portugal27.10.2026
“Get out of the car only after an accident, to see if the other person is all right and to sign whatever needs signing.”
r/portugal27.10.2026
The replies about the poster's friend are harsh: if anger ‘blinds’ him behind the wheel, he is dangerous on the road, and having his wife and child in the car is no excuse but one more argument against him: the child sees their father getting into a fight.
“No, it's unacceptable in any form. Road rage is escalation. Your friend is a dangerous person. If anger blinds him behind the wheel, he isn't fit to drive.”
r/portugal27.10.2026
Gambling addiction is treated free at a centre in Lisbon, a second is promised in Porto, and Reddit slams betting adverts
The first state centre for treating gambling addiction opened in June in Lisbon, in the Marvila district, in the Espaço Lisboa Jovem building. According to ICAD — the state institute for addictions — it has already held 300 appointments and is now treating 50 people, while the number of people seeking help has doubled in two years, to 782. The centre has a psychiatrist, four psychologists, social workers and an adviser who helps people sort out their debts; sessions for families began in October. A second such centre is promised in Porto, and the treatment programme for video game addiction that already runs in Matosinhos is to be replicated in Lisbon; there are no dates yet.
On Reddit the news got a lukewarm reception: the centres are welcome, people say, but they are ‘a plaster on a broken arm’ while betting adverts are everywhere in the metro, on the ticket barriers and on club shirts. People suggest banning gambling advertising and moving raspadinha scratch cards off the counters into a closed cabinet, like tobacco.
“What's the point, when even on public transport there are dozens of betting adverts? Treating more people without tackling the cause does no good in the long run.”
r/portugal26.10.2026
“Reading this while going through a metro ticket barrier with a Betano advert on it. It's an epidemic.”
r/portugal26.10.2026
“Ban any mention of gambling: advertising, club shirts, Jogos Santa Casa signs. Hide lottery tickets (and tobacco while we're at it) in an opaque cabinet at points of sale.”
r/portugal26.10.2026
Anyone who needs help, for themselves or someone close to them, can call ICAD's free anonymous line 1414: on weekdays from 10:00 to 18:00 psychologists answer and will tell you where to go; you can also write to 1414@icad.min-saude.pt. How to see a psychologist or psychiatrist is explained in our guide How to find a psychologist or psychiatrist in Portugal.
