Given the math that you have worked out it means having one child in care for the full week actually will then work out to more than you make now. With that in mind there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to make a go of the daycare financially. As has been said it is the figuring out how much you need to make to equal what you were making at work that determines what you need to bring in from your daycare. Realize that going with an agency will limit you to only 4 daycare children rather than 5 because your own child will count in that number. However going with an agency can be a great way to get started in daycare because they take you through the steps. Then when you are comfortable you can venture out on your own privately - often happens after the birth of your second child when you realize you will lose one of your daycare children now that you have two of your own but if you were private you could keep them all.