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Nanny! Who would also cook and clean, lol.

Realistic ideal is daycare for socialization.

Daycare. It's been so great for LO. He's social and getting more independent. We have an awesome relationship with our center/owner as well.

My kid's in an in-home daycare and I freaking LOVE it. It is the best of everything. It's also only 1/4 mile from our house, in our subdivision . I used to think a nanny, but my kid does so well in this group setting, that it would have been a poor choice for us!

Hands down day care. I have never wanted a nanny for R. I think the social aspect is great for her.

I think my DD got the best of both worlds!

From 12 weeks until 15 months she was home with my MIL every day. I don't love DCP for infants. There just aren't enough hands and I hated wondering if it was MY child who was hungry or dirty but had to wait because there were several kids ahead of him =(

Once DD was 15 months we put her in school where my DS goes - I thought that was the prefect age to gain more socialization and start to learn things (My MIL didn't do anything with her but love her - which is fine when little but I wanted more after 12 months)

So I say with 1 single caregiver until 1 then a school based DCP.

LO will be 12months when I go back to work... My mom will watch her 1 day and she will go to daycare the other 4. In an ideal world we would have someone come in to our home one day a week, my mom 1x, so she only went to daycare 3x.

FT nanny. J does best at home because it's where he is comfortable. He doesn't nap at places other than home, so even though eventually he will be in daycare, I appreciate the in-our-home care.

A nanny also can help with keeping up on light housework and meal prep. Most nannies also offer the ability to take them places like the children museum, library, park etc. Whereas those types of activities can be limited in a daycare.

I think I'm a little biased because I have been a FT nanny for several families and I loved it so much and had such amazing relationships (to this day) with all the children I watched and it was such a great situation for the family and for me.

Lastly - their hours tend to be more flexible. Since DH often has to teach night classes, and I work evenings or take evening classes, the ability to have someone stay until 8-9pm is appreciated.

I am not opposed to daycare at all and J will likely be in daycare either this year or next but the only thing keeping us from utilizing it now is the fact that they can't provide evening care.

Nanny for the first year and then daycare

Ideally it would be a nanny (who cooked & cleaned) but also took LO to classes.

realistically it is our in home daycare, she loves the interaction & they teach her lots!

I'm dipping my toes into looking for child care, and I think ideally I'd like to find an in-home daycare. A regular daycare center is my second choice.

Though I would love a nanny who would cook and clean I really want to socialize E more, and I think that would be easiest with a center of some sort.

Originally we were going to put DD in daycare 3 days a week when she was 3 months old. But after seeing what little individual attention she would get and knowing how she is we dropped daycare and are now looking for a nanny for those 3 days a week. She only naps for 20 minutes and she'll scream after only a few minutes of being put down so she needs one-on-one care at this point. I care for her one day and my mom cares for her one day a week. We will reevaluate when she's older and more self-sufficient but for now it's individual care only.

@blackbird: oh wow! 10pm and midnight?! That is late. I have seen a few ads for in-home places that state they're willing to work with parents schedules regarding evening care. However, it would be hard for me to have my child at someone's home until 10pm when he goes to bed at 8pm. My husband's classes always go until 10pm, thankfully the latest my job and/or classes go is 8pm, so I have J go to my parents on one of those days so that he can get to bed by 9-9:30. I still feel bad that he goes to bed so late but he doesn't seem adversely affected by it. The other day that I work late we have a teenager come after school so that he can go to bed on time. And it has worked really well thus far. Hopefully this is the only semester we need to have two evenings covered!

I think part of being a confident parent is convincing ourselves that whatever childcare arrangements we have made for our children is in fact what is best for them. I have done full time daycare, part time daycare, full time nanny, part time nanny and honestly my kids have flourished in all the situations. There are obviously positives and negatives and $$ considerations, but our kids are happiest when mom and dad are happiest. Sometimes that means not having to bundle kids up in the cold, sometimes that means daycare for socialization (and a clean house to return home to) and sometimes it means a bit of both. My kids love the socialization of daycare, but they also like the relaxed pace of being home with a nanny and the more one on one attention. My personal preference is a nanny because I don't have to take time off of work when they are sick and our life feels less hectic (we also have extroverted kids and a proactive nanny who takes them to activities everyday).

Our preferred situation is daycare in an educationally-focused center, which is what we have.

When she was younger, I think I would have preferred a nanny or in home daycare. Now that she is older, I am really leaning towards a daycare center for the socialization and structure. The in home daycares I've visited seemed very relaxed with no set plans for activities with the kids, but were great for the one on one time I'd want for an infant.

I would like a combo of a nanny and a center, so we don't have to take LO out in the morning at 6:30 am.

Since I will be working with the next one I think I will want in-home daycare (cheaper, less germs because less kids!) for the infant, and preschool/center care for our current lo who is sixteen months.

I like a nanny for the first year or two and a daycare with a good curriculum after that.

Probably a phenomenal nanny (who I could never afford).

@mrs. pen, Yeah i think it's because we have a lot of traditional shift type manufacturing jobs here. Just the nature of the game. I also noticed that the centers that are open late tended to be the state funded, inexpensive ones for people who couldn't otherwise afford daycare. I'm sure the sleep situation would be a nightmare, though, getting your kid to nap away from home.