Hi all, I'm thinking of starting ds in day care when he turns 3 in August but i have no idea where to start so im hoping other mum's who's kiddies are in care can offer some direction.
There are 3 reasons why i want to start ds in day care-
1. To socialise with other kids and gain more social skills- atm we go to a playgroup once a week and the park every now and then but i feel he needs more social interaction with kids his age.
2. Ds was a little late to talk (he's vocabulary is steadily improving yay ) so the speech pathologist he saw thought it would be a good idea to get him into a day care that has a pre school like structure eg set learning areas etc (does that make sense?) by age 3
3. I'm getting back into my study and so having a day a week when ds is in care would give me a chance to get some much needed work done.

so i have a few questions, bare with me this is all new to me so they may be a bit silly

1. Do i just ring around at the different day care places in my area and request some info on enrolment/requirements etc?
2. Is there a waiting list? Should i try and enrol ds now?
3. How do i help ds adjust to going to day care? I was thinking i'd start him off with maybe an hour or two a week with me there with him and then progress to 1-2 hours without me, then maybe half a day then work up to a full day or even possibly 2 full days a week does this sound right? Ds is really mummy obsessed at the moment so i worry about him getting upset without me there but he does love playing with other kids and i've noticed he's quite happy to run off and play with the other kids at playgroup.
4. Can someone explain the whole child care rebate thingy to me in simple terms? From what i gather the government re-enburses (sp) the parents at tax time??? My DH and i recieve parenting payments and family tax benefits A and B.

Thanks guys, this is all new to me