My DD was born in the Feb and started at Child Care the second week of the July for 3 days a week. She had a week at child care with me still at home to help her settle in - we did shorter days and I was available if she was unsettled and needed Mummy (or if Mummy needed her! ).
A friend of mine is going back to work in June and had her name down at a child care centre since he was 2 weeks old (he was born Nov '07). She received a phone call in Jan stating that if she wanted to secure the days for when she needed them, she needed to start paying for the days now (as in Jan) but couldn't use them!!! She had a week to decide what she wanted to do. She ended up agreeing to their terms as she absolutely needed the spot. SO, don't feel bad about grabbing the spot whilst you can - child care places can be very very hard to secure. If you want to pay for the days but not send your child, then that is ok. But if you want to send them for that one day and help them ease into it - that is fine as well. Good luck with your decision, it isn't easy!

MG