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It depends so much on the cost. In my area, absolutely I would pay for full time, but it’s relatively affordable. I’ve seen costs mentioned on other threads that made my head spin so certainly if you’re in a high cost area it’s harder to justify.

I would probably pay for the full-time care between the two options. Worrying about qualified care probably outweighs the financial stress for me.

Are you or the DCP able to find someone else who needs the other two days so that together you pay for 5 days? I'm not sure how that works, but I know there are parents with kids in DS's class who have that arrangement.

A plus for paying for all five days is that you have those days to use if you want/need them.

@Iced Tea: I did this, but just for a month, as my first month back from mat leave was part-time. We live in a very high COL area. I personally find worrying about the quality of my child's care more stressful than worrying about finances (within reason, I haven't been in a situation where we couldn't put food on the table or afford medical care, etc, which would obviously be different). The first years are really, really important to their development, and because of this I would want to choose the best care feasible, even if it comes at the cost in the short-run of making it harder to save for college, retirement, vacations, etc.

@Iced Tea: Our daycare is like this - there is no part-time option before you hit the toddler room. When I first went back to work, I was at 50% time and we just paid the full-time rate. And yes, your second child will get sick a lot. Luckily DS2 started in May, so he wasn't in the thick of cold and flu season, BUT as soon as fall hit, it was rough. I think he missed about a week in October, he made it to school like 5 days in November, including the Thanksgiving holiday, and then both kids were sick off and on the two weeks leading up to Winter Break in December.

DH works from home, so even though we alternate sick days for childcare, he is the default parent to go grab the kids from school and take them to doctor's appointments. He is also the primary breadwinner so missing work is a big hit financially for him. However, our oldest is 3.5 years old now and DH basically tells me the way he's managed his stress and workload is that he expects one or both kids to be sick for about a week a month and that they will also require at least 1 doctor visit. So if the kids are healthy, he works like a beast - like he's racing the clock. And most nights he puts in another 3-4 hours of work after the kids are in bed.

On my end, I try to streamline our household and build in routines everywhere so that things can go smoothly and since I'm in charge of most of the spending, I work hard to cut where I can. I meal plan and we eat pretty simple, predictable meals with leftovers built in for at least 2 nights. This saves time and money, especially when I do some quick prepping on Sunday nights (chopping things, maybe cooking one of the meals to reheat Monday night, etc). For example, our kids basically don't eat when they are sick, but I can get them to take some pouches, banana, white Gatorade, rice, and McDonald's french fries when they ARE sick, so we basically always have those items on hand and DH has our usual McD's order saved on the app to grab. I always keep us stocked on child meds and we're never having to run out and pay like $9 for children's Advil at Walgreen's late at night.

So yeah, we spend a lot for childcare at the moment, but it just is what it is. We actually decided to keep the kids in full-time care even when it was possible to bring them to part-time because DH felt like he would be way more productive at work that way, it would keep the kids on their routine, and we found we were spending quite a bit more money on days the kids were home with us just taking them out and doing stuff, so we decided it was a wash. It also gives us a chance to get in a lunch date or get some personal appointments in myself or keep up with the house. So we're just rolling with it for now.