[eduardordm]

We decided one of us would stay at home or we would hire a nanny. After A LOT of research we found that daycare services does not replace focused attention. I'm a strong advocate against putting less than 2 years old in childcare unless you absolutely need to. They need focused attention and the cognitive difference between kids that used childcare and had focused attention (at 2 years old) is very visible. Does that causes long term IQ disparity? Probably not, but it's something to consider. Specially if you feel that your child is developing fast and in need of stimulus. (this is visible at 6 months old).

We hired a full time nanny. Yes, it's expensive and takes a substantial part of one of our incomes but by doing that we had both a focused attention of a human and could keep our both jobs as we wanted. My wife only went back to work 6 months after the baby was born. This is our daily schedule:

7:00) Nanny arrives starts working on baby things (food, etc), me and my wife play with our daughter until 9, she usually wakes up somewhere between 6 and 7.

9:00) We both leave to work, nanny takes the wheel, at this point baby is tired and takes a nap

12:00) I come home to play with her a little bit and unwind for 30 min, then head back to the office

17:00) We both arrive, nanny leaves (I usually get earlier) we spend time with her until 9

21:00) Baby sleeps, I get back to work until 00:00, my wife is either studying or working

When the nanny is taking care of the baby she is doing a list of activities we both discussed (since the nanny is a pro), the baby also is always in contact with other kids, we pay a child care to let our daughter stay there for a couple of hours with our own nanny.

This is how we are doing, there isn't a right or wrong way since children are usually so unique in the way they develop.

[tacoman]

Childcare is a thing people feel really strongly about and there is clearly no right answer. It's all about what's best for the kid(s).

"They need focused attention and the cognitive difference between kids that used childcare and had focused attention (at 2 years old) is very visible."

I think this is true for some kids, but not mine. My kids both started daycare at 13 months. The caregiver to child ratio was 1:2 until about 20 months, then it was 1:4.

My kids at 3 and 5 are more verbal and handle social situations better than any other kids I know. The have the ability to focus on tasks like no other kids I've spent any amount of time with. Maybe this is genetic or was a result of being home full time with their parents for the first year of their lives. (The norm in Canada)

We decided against a nanny because of what we saw in the neighbourhood. The nannies we saw were most of the time detached from the situation and not paying attention to the kids. The interactions were generally not positive. It was rather sad to see.

An accredited daycare on the other hand is staffed by professionals where non-positive interactions are not tolerated. Staff can take breaks and get help when they need it.

It took us a long time to find a daycare we like though.