I used FSA before tax money to pay my son's preschool expense every year. I have read a lot of documents about that also. I am so FSA can be use for dependent care. I never use child care credit, so I can not compare them.

To use FSA to pay dependent care, both parents must have income, or actively look for jobs, or be full time students for part of the year. The FSA amount can not be large than the smaller income of the parents. There is a formula to calculate the "income" for full time student also.