Does anyone know of any real way to stay at home with your child? Or any advice to help. I am a new mom and its killing me to send my 11 month old baby to daycare every day. I feel like im missing out on all the important stuff...

I know exactly what you're feeling. My solution to this was to go back to school full time and live on student loans. Because I did homework late at night, I able to spend way more time during the day with my son. Of course, since I was living on student loans, I tried to counteract that by taking as many credit hours each semester as I possibly could (usually 18-21)in order to get my degree faster.

I ended up with less student loan debt than lots of people who go to school part-time for years (although it still seems overwhleming.)

It worked out great for us...I spent more time with my son when he was little than any of my other single mom friends were able to with their kids and I got a college degree.

I'd go with the above if your local community college has a strong distance learning program.
Live off the living expenses (barely,lol) and take the majority (or all) of your courses online/televised/etc thru the college.

Then you'll discover the joy of learning complex algebra and chemistry with your adorable munchkin going "mommy, mommy, mommy" the whole time.
By the end you'll either be really close to your little one or be waiting in eager anticipation for the day when the school bus comes to pick him/her up

I 2nd (or 3rd) the school option.

When my son was first born, my wife and I were able to always have someone at home with him by enrolling in school and living off of the grants/loans. It took some creative scheduling, but in the end we were able to do without daycare and set ourselves up for good jobs after we graduated (heh...well...I did anyway...don't wanna go into that here, however)...

When I became a single father, I again was able to stay at home with him for a year by going back to school for my MS. It was easy to fit the 12-15 hours of my classes in the time he was at school, I was then with him from when he got home to when he went to sleep, and then my homework was done after he was in bed. It's a great system...

BTW...if you don't already have a degree, you will probably be elligible for grants as opposed to loans. These are like free money...they'll pay your tuition and maybe more. To find out home much you are elligible for, go to the financial aid department at the school you'd like to attend and fill out the "Free Application for Federal Student Aid." You'll need your last year's tax returns, but it's not a hard or long form to fill out. After you fill it out you'll find out how much you can get, but you aren't committed to anything...

There are also lots of scholarships available...I got a lot of money as an undergrad for doing little more than writing some essays...

Let me know if you're interested in any more info...

Later,
Bobby