I recommend Mannington's laminate over Pergo. Without seeing your house, I can only guess, but it sounds like a good quality laminate would be great for your entire main floor, and a sturdy carpet in the bedrooms and on the stairs.

Just be thorough when choosing a laminate floor. Water can easily damage laminate flooring and cause swelling in the flooring. With pets AND children, this could be a major concern. Hardwood looking tile, would definitely wear better, but it will be a hard surface with having children around. You would definitely need to make sure there are plenty of area rugs to prevent injury. The hardwood tile would give you a consistent look throughout the house (i.e. kitchens, bathrooms, and main floor areas) while being durable against traffic, spills, doggie accidents, etc.

If you decide to work with a vinyl plank (Karndean is the THE name in vinyl) you will want to look at a glue in place product. Because this is a day care...you will ONLY receive the limited "Commercial" warranty (much shorter warranty with a different form of install/requirements). A glue down vinyl plank will do everything a ceramic tile can do...but a little softer on the feet. It will still be loud, but not as loud as the wood-look tile.

The glue in place vinyl = all over the entire house (kitchen, bath, entrance, daycare, bedrooms, etc). The cost of install is more than a floating laminate...but cheaper than a ceramic tile install. It would be a "middle of the road" compromise (more expensive than laminate but less expensive than ceramic tile). All with the same look.

Watch your warranties. The daycare puts you into the 'commercial' space requirements. Start with a commercial product and you will be happier with the performance.

Thank you so much for your thoughts! It is a small family size daycare... but still.... lots of wear and tear! I do worry about little feet slipping on the tile, but I am trying to look long term, as I will not do daycare forever, but will have my own family/pets around!!! Hard decision!!!