just wondering how hard it is to find daycare providers. any experiences or thoughts or things to watch out for? any comments on this subject would be appreciated.thanks

Depends upon how young your infant is and the time of year you enroll the child. DS started going to a center at 3 months old in the Fall. His doctor insisted that he get synagis shots October through April that first year which helps prevent/decrease the symptoms of RSV, which is a nasty upper respiratory virus that can cause lung damage. We had to get an attorney to write a letter to our insurance company to get the once a month shot. It's intended for preemies and children with heart defects, but some areas, don't consider CF to be a risk, too. Our doctor explained that our child WILL get colds, he will get sick, he most likely will get RSV, but it's better he NOT get it when he's an tiny infant. The other biggy is to make sure your child gets vaccinated for everything -- flu shot every fall, you should also get flu shots as should anyone who is around your child for any amount of time. Chicken pox vaccine is also a biggy -- virus can get into the lungs and cause problems.

When I first looked for day cares and didn't know DS had CF, I tried to find a small family day care, but could only get him into a center. It was a blessing in disguise. He's in a room with children his own age -- not with a bunch of kids who also may go to school. They let us know if there are any sicknessess going around -- a couple months ago there was a case of RSV another time Rotavirus (stomach bug).

DS needs extra calories - they give him snacks that are higher in calories, he gets whole milk with carnation instant breakfast, peanut butter, sometimes they sneak him malts! They add butter to his veggies, etc.

Our fear when DS was first diagnosed was that he'd be the sickly child no one would play with. That he wouldn't have any friends. But we treat him like a normal child because he is a normal child.

Sorry this is so long. If you have any questions, please post them and I'll try to answer them.