Hello, I'm a die hard FDC fan! DD was in FDC from the time she was 9 months old and I just loved that she was being cared for by a special person in a family environment rather than in a centre, which I personally feel to have a very institutional feel to them.

Having said that, we have occasionally resorted to long day care when the FDC took leave due to a family bereavement, and that was ok, for short periods. Also, I would say you do need to be picky when you are screening your carers, I often will go through meeting half a dozen before I find one that I feel is right for my daughter. I once terminated care because we had accepted a carer that I had reservations about (we were told there were no places and I needed care in order to start studying full time). It wasn't anything concrete, she took good physical care, but DD wasn't happy and this became more and more apparent over several months. The office was very good when we terminated and took special care to find another (excellent) carer who was better suited, based on my comments at the time.

Good luck with your decision, if you follow your intuition I'm sure you'll find a good care arrangement, whatever is right for you and your family.
:-)