We have recently experienced some daycare woes as our young toddler has experienced some illnesses, severe falls, and encountered biting classmates. For me, it has been an ordeal. We started her in day care after she turned one. I thought it was too soon but the tax advantages were there - moderate to none, but nonetheless, present. Needless to say, I have learned some lessons from this that I plan to apply to future child(ren). First, it is far better to pay taxes and suck it up and leave kids with family or home care situations where the ratios are better. Second, if you are craving social interaction for the kid, go to the parks in the evenings, and/or join some mommy/daddy plae groups. Third, if you do decide to start the kid in daycare, wait til they are older and can communicate especially considering how hard it is for our child to tell us what happened, how she feels, and what she may have eaten. It would also be nice for her to tattle on who bit her so we can give the parents the evil eye :-)
All in all, she has learned a lot but I have to say, the trade off is not that great. I would rather a kid not learn a lot at an early age than be sick all the time. The time off from work and gas going back and forth has not proven to be an advantage and may offset what little tax advantage we have gained. If you are fortunate enough to find home care with a smaller ratio, don't jump, jump twice at that opportunity. If the home care provider is great, stick to it. If not, find something else. I am even considering the idea of an Au Pair as we plan a second child.
