I think that the biggest advantage a home daycare offers is the smaller sized
co-hort. In a home daycare, there will never be more than 5 children. When you consider that these little babies are coming off of a year where they've been cared for just by Mom or Dad, and (at most) have been around a sibling or two I could see where it would be scary as heck for a little goober to arrive at a daycare centre where you have forty or fifty children buzzing around, and the noise levels are going to be several decibal levels higher than you've ever experienced !

I also think that home daycares have an advantage in their ability to provide that labour intensive, one on one care that babies need. Whether it's a baby who's fussy and needs to be carried for large portions of the day, or a little one who needs a little extra attention in order to bob off to sleep at naptime, as an independant provider I choose who I take on. For me, that means I never have more than two "wee small's" at the same time, since I can rock, cuddle and comfort two at the same time if needed, but I couldn't do it for four - two would have to wait. While daycare centres do have lower ratio's for the younger kids, it's still too high to allow for quality care. (IMO)

The other advantage to bringing baby to a home daycare is a health one. Simply put, your 12 month old will be exposed to fewer children's germs here - where there are only 5 playmates - than they will at the aforementioned daycare where there are 10x the number of rugrats.

Lastly - and not to prey on parents fears here - for at least the first year that your child is in care (assuming that they are starting at 12 months) your little monkey will be non-verbal. This means that they can't tell you if something is not right. I've heard so many horror stories about children who were just plopped in front of the TV, or fed hotdogs and chicken nuggets 5 days a week (as well as the real horror stories where children are abused or left to sit in playpens for 8 out of the nine hours) All the while, parents are happily paying a cheque every week thinking that the "menu" that was sent home is what their child is actually eating, and that their little ones are having lots of fun at daycare. Parents tend to think that if their caregiver wasn't good, they'd know it becuase their children would not want to go to daycare, or they'd fuss at drop off time. Sadly, this simply isn't true. Things could be significantly less rosy than you thought they'd be when you signed that contract. By choosing a home provider, odd's are very good that he/she will have a current clear Police Check, and membership in a professional caregivers association. That's the first step to making sure you're leaving your little 'un somewhere safe. The other advantage is that you're only assessing/taking a risk on one person.

At a centre turnover is frequently high and it may be difficult to get to know all of the people who are involved in caring for your child. When I worked in centres we rotated through the different age groups. (one week with the babies, one week with the 2-3 crew, and then our last week with the 3-4 group) The more people who have contact with your child, the greater the chance that your little one could be coming in contact with someone who (best case scenario) won't share your child rearing philosophies and may be interacting with your child in a way that you don't agree with, or (worst case scenario) might harm them. Choosing a home daycare provider means that you are entrusting one person with your baby. You have a chance to get to know your caregiver really well. Hopefully this makes it easier for you to go to work without worrying about your baby. I have clients who have told me that one reason they are so comfortable leaving their little ones here is (in part) because they know me. They know what I would do in any given situation. I put a great deal of time and effort into building these relationships, and I firmly believe that it's absolutely essential when people are entrusting their babies to you.