Calling all american mums - who are in the UK.....

[Katie74]

I am shortly relocating to Chicago with my DH and am desperately looking for information on childcare..eg nursery care for my soon to be 3 yr old DS - however I'm not sure what this is called - is it pre-school, kindergarten, daycare....???
Can anyone help me
We are going to be living in Downtown/gold coast ( are still looking for an Apt) and will be there for at least 9 months. Has anyone got any advice for me as to how best to help get ds settled and what might help us as a family settle in a very new country/city????

Sorry left work and didnt have time to log on last night...Thanks for all your advice - i'll jot down details of gaelic imports . even just until I figure out where to shop....

Just found this thread, we did exactly the same as you are doing (last summer) in CHicago for 6 months due to dh's work and lived right in the hub of things. Try registering with northside parent's association (at www.northsideparents.org), for about $35 for a years membership. It is a bit like nct and has groups in each section of chicago (by zip code) and they organise events have a talk section etc. But not as good as mumsnet of course .

I went with a 31/2 year old dd and a 4 month old ds, and have to say I found it a very welcoming and child friendly place. For organic food go to Whole Foods (fab). The children's museum on navy pier is great, we got an annual membership so it was worth just popping in for an hour or so. In the summer there are loads of events organised by the mayor - a kite festival, "taste of chicago" jazz in the park etc etc.

We sent our dd to a (private) day care centre 3 days a week (Lake Shore Prep) which was superb (they do full and half days and run a summer camp during the summer holidays including activities such as swimming etc).

It really is a great place and I'm sure you'll end up (like us) not wanting to come home. If you want any further info just CAT me.

Chicagomum - thanks for the info -I've been at my folks for the last few days...I am really excited about going but its hectic trying to work through all the stuff, selling our cars etc I had seen lake shore prep on the web and thought it looked good - so thanks for the info on that. I'm heading out for a week at the end of March in advance of going out for good in May so I'm trying to get that sorted...Not sure how to CAT? or what it is.....

CAT is contact another talker, but you have to pay for it. Alternatively email me at chicagomum at hotmail dot co dot uk.

i;ve emailed you

Just noticed on the other thread you started that you mentioned the chicagoan as one of the places you were looking at and funnily enough that was were we lived and would higly recommend it (plus I know of a fabulous babysitter who lives in the block).

Hi

We went to Atlanta for six months last year with dh's job. As ds was 10 weeks old, I found it hard at first to meet people. Having a 3 yr old will help as you will probably meet parents at the nursery.

One thing that really helped me was finding the local Moms Club (www.momsclub.com). The website can tell you the nearest group. I met a lot of really nice mums that way and was going out most days to meet other mums etc. about 3 weeks after arriving.

I second the fact that everyone is really friendly.