PP,

I put Charlie into daycare one day a week when he was about 18 months old to secure a place in my childcare centre of choice, and it was terrible, he was miserable, I was miserable and I was sure it wasn't going to work. But the centre director suggested I put him in 2 days a week, and it actually got better. Now he's going 4 days a week and loves going.

Whether he wasn't ready to start with, or whether the increased days made it more 'normal', I don't know, but 1 day a week just didn't seem to work for him.

But I do agree, she probably doesn't need it for socialisation reasons, but if you want some time out, that's fair enough too. FDC didn't work out for me as I didn't have a lot of choice wrt to carers (there was only one in my area with a vacancy, and I didn't take to her) so I'd be reluctant to pay first too. I hope you find a happy solution, but do remember, sometimes it takes a bit of trial and error to find the right 'balance' with daycare.