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Yes, it is tough. I think parents should spend as much time with their children as possible, but most families need both parents to work now. Obviously, I am not saying that no one can take advantage of a daycare or anything, I think this case just sounds like it might be pushing it a little. There's certainly a gray area; there's no cut off point where I can say, "X amount of time with your child is too little, Y is just fine," but our original poster is spending time at school right now. After graduation, that is time that she could be spending with the baby. I think babies should get as much as we can give. I am unbelievably fortunate right now to have a boyfriend who can take care of three people (him, me, and a baby) without a problem, so I would actually be lucky enough to stay home with my baby if we conceive anytime soon. I was lucky enough to have been raised at home, without a daycare too. I worked in a daycare once. I have fairly mixed feelings about it seeing it from the inside like that, but I am thinking that I would not want my baby in one. I think they can be good, especially for developing more social skills, but I think I am going to be guilty of spoiling my first baby rotten with my time and attention to be honest. So....to make a long story short, xp I am not necessarily badmouthing daycares, I just think if the OP waits, the time she spends in school now could be spent on Baby. heart Also, she could even take some child development classes in college to learn some more about her future baby. I took a really fascinating Child and Adolescent Psychology class in college. I learned a lot of great ideas that I hope to apply to my own baby at some point.

^ Exactly. It's not to say that she can never use daycare. Maybe the baby would still be in daycare while she works. It's just that if she waits, that school time can be baby time. And regular daycares are one thing, but I kind see the school daycare as something the school provides to mothers who want to go back to school, not to mothers who decide to purposefully have a baby while still in school for some reason. Accidents can also happen too, but it seems odd to plan to conceive in that situation.

I did not keep my text from the class. Those books cost way too much to keep them all. xp So I took the cheap way out. There were other development classes offered too, of course. And eventually the teacher updates the books. In other words, some students can't sell their books back because the school does not want them anymore, making them worthless. So I was able to sell mine back for the money, and pick up a few only slightly older ones (it seemed like my school updated books every other semester, so half the time your books were worthless after the class rolleyes ) for free. I have also picked up books like What To Expect When You're Expecting from garage sales. What made the class great for me wasn't that book anyway (I am actually not even sure that I read that one xp ). The woman who taught it was pretty heavily involved in research, so we got to talk about all kinds of fun baby studies, and watch videos of them, just doing simple things, like trying to see just how much they understand before they can talk and how well they can relate to other people. Oh, we also talked about when they start to hear and see certain colors, so we learned what colors to show them more of at what ages to help develop their eyesight. Ah, I could go on and on, but I won't. xp

When I get pregnant, I will research it more, but at least I know enough to do an educated search. I know what kinds of things to look for in my search. So even if I am a full-time stay at home mom, I will still be putting that degree to use to some extent. xp Obviously I am not saying that the same thing can't be done without a degree, neither of my parents went to college. I am just saying that I think college time is never a waste.

That's true; I also have not heard of any daycares taking babies under six weeks. The one that I worked at wouldn't. Also, colleges often have a policy that you can only miss so many classes before you fail no matter how well you do on the tests and papers.