Hi,

I think it depends on how much interaction you would want your child to get with other children during the day and if that will be fulfilled.  Sometimes my daughter's grandma watches her and we always ask her to take her to the park or an indoor playground so she can watch and interact with other kids.  Home care is great b/c there is more individual attention, with a nanny, again you would just have to provide her with information about programs in your area and detailed information about the structure of your baby's day.  We have a nanny that comes on the weekends (sometimes if we are going away for the day)  and It's great, but my daughter doesn't get much interaction with anyone if we are not there for a day.

I'm not sure about daycare since I've not used one, but the one complaint I hear from many moms is that kids get sick more often... not sure how true it is, but it's a common complaint.
Hope that helps,
Alexia

Thank you so much you both on the responses. Any websites you could suggest on where I can find a list of home care/daycare/etc?

Hi Felicia,

I'm a big fan of home-based daycare, since there's fewer kids and more attention from the caregivers.  My daughter Anna started going to a home-based daycare full-time when she was 17 months, and I am very happy with how quickly she started talking and developing.  Also, at our home-based daycare she has a chance to communicate with older kids and learn from them.  My daughter is 2 years and 2 months old right now, and I am very happy with her progress.  Also, she developed strong social skills, thanks to the daycare, and I am very happy about that.

If you are still unsure about daycare, many places allow drop-in visits during playground time or music classes.  As for the info - let me know where you live, I'll be happy to share my contacts with you. 

Well it really depends on your child I think.  My son has quite a lot of energy to say the least and was very 'socialized' from all the classes and Mom & Tot playdates.  He also had very good motor skills.  I went back to work when he was 11 months and decided to put him in daycare.  My parents were against it as they felt he was too young.  Now they are so happy I did that because he absolutely LOVES his school, teachers and classmates.  He is so busy all the time, and loves the structure and all the activities, especially when they go outside to one of their playgrounds (they have many based on the ages) and most of all he loves the gym.  The food is all made there by their onsite chef so it's healthy and a great variety.  The teachers are fantastic and adore him.  They had me come with him every day for 20 - 45 minutes the week before he was scheduled to start full time.  That way he was accustomed to the teachers and the environment.  His development (language/motor and social skills) are all excellent and in some cases advanced.  I've noticed a BIG difference in the social skills of kids who go to Daycare as opposed to those that are simply looked after by one person.  Some examples are biting, roughness, etc. These types of things are not acceptable in daycares and these people are all professionals in their field who know how to deal with these types of things.  My son goes to "MINI-SKOOL".    http://www.mini-skool.ca/
Ultimately it is up to the parent and I would think the decision should be based on your child.