I believe the kindy v daycare debate is a choice that only the child's parents can make. Everyone's circumstances are different! My two children 4 and 2 have been attending a daycare part-time (2 days a week) for about a year now and they absolutely thrive there and they love it. My younger child has a slight disablility and according to her therapist it was the best thing I could have done for her as it's a stimulating and caring environment. My oldest also attends Kindy 3 morning sessions a week and he hates it and when I asked him which he preferred he replied "daycare".

In my opinion that's what's wrong with society today, children are left all day in daycare, think how you would feel, being left at a noisy place everyday,wondering where mummy has gone,Women before they become mothers should only decide to become a parent if they can stay home with their children until school at least, otherwise why did you bother to become a parent in the first place,if all you were going to do is drop them off for someone else to look after,children are not an accessory.I bet these same children will no doubt in the future be coming home to an empty house after school, no mother there to greet them.I know women have the right to work after we all burnt our bra's but hey i would happily go back to the 50's where it seemed to be more acceptable for mothers to stay home with their children, it always seems strange to me when someone asks me what i "do" & they can see i have young children, I would have thought that was obvious! I bring up the future generation & i'm very proud to be a part of that, I love my children & don't want to miss a thing!

I can't see what the problem is. Leave Kindy for the people who are not juggling study or work schedules. It is a choice whether you send your child to either day care or kindy made on the basis of circumstances. Having sent my sons to Kindy in NZ and working in one in Australia now, I have always maintained my preference for the system in NZ. At my school we now offer 2 full days and 1 half day for children, the general consensus is we are now free day care!

I have had both my girls in at daycare due to me studying my oldest is now 5 and at school. In the next few weeks I'am needing to take my youngest out of daycare that she has been in since 1 1/2 and put her into kindy, I work 9am till 12.30 and can not afford to pay for daycare which charge on a daily basis no half days and minimum 3 days a week. These centers charge an arm and a leg because they can get away with it because their is no option when you are a working parent needing care. I hope kindys do offer longer days to give these rip off centers a run for their money. Iam sick of them telling me how long I can have my child in care and not me telling them what I need as a parent

It's all well and good to say it's not all about money, and we must all be chasing a large house with 2 cars or have taken on a mortgage too big to sustain...but I would love to know how much these people earn? You're able to stay at home and live off one income, is this a high income, or modest? Do you have a family business or farm and can claim tax benefits? I don't have that luxury, and my mortgage is the same as rent would be in my area. Some people are so critical, and I don't think I should have to give up my option of having children just because I couldn't afford to stay home all day every day, my child is happy, loved, there is food on the table and the power is on. Ya do what ya gotta do.

Its all very well for these stay at home Mums to judge and talk about living on one wage, try being Mum and Dad and paying the mortgage by yourself. Sometimes these situations are a need not a want and it doesnt help when others who can afford to judge us that can't. If it wasn't for my home career I wouldn't be able to support my family.

Kindy is really only a place to go for kids to have a bit of fun and let mum have time out and go shopping or whatever!Kindy teachers are just glorified babysitters - I know I was one in the past!!! Left thank goodness for that!

Both my partner and I work full-time. Kindy closes for holidays. That's 12 weeks a year we have to find alternative care for our child. Ultimately for our 4 year-old we went with a pre-school in the mornings and home-based care in the afternoons. She gets the best of both worlds, and has happy loving parents.

It's all very well to say that children shouldn't be in daycare before the age of 2 years old. However, how does this sit with the law on Parental Leave, which entitles women to either 6 months or 12 months off work when they have a baby? I have to go back to work when my baby is 5 months old (I had 6 months leave). If I wanted to look after him for 2 years I would have to quit my job.

That might be ok if I worked in a field where it was easy to come and go, but many women have worked hard to get where they are workwise and don't want to have to quit.

Maybe the government should look at extending Parental Leave to allow us to stay home for 2 years, without having to resign our jobs.

I'm a stay at home mum. I don't think there is anything wrong with staying at home to raise your children if you can and want too. I also think there is nothing wrong with Daycare. It is the quality of the daycare that matters.

Its up to the parents to choose. I don't judge as there are so many different aspects to why or why not. As long as the child can make a connection with an adult in the setting, which is important, and it has a low staff turnover.

Each family has to decide what they believe is the best way to go. Isn't that what the fight was all about? So we have choices?