Guidelines to help parents select day care centers are presented in this book. Four aspects (the caregiver, the setting, the quality of the day care activities, and the cost of care) which constitute good quality day care and which parents need to consider before beginning their search are discussed in Part One. Suggestions for the selection of a particular type of day care such as family day care, in-home care, and the day care center, are included in Part Two. This section also includes a checklist designed to help parents determine whether their selection is the best arrangement for their children. Some common day care problems (such as the caregiver who does not talk with parents about their children, or the child who continues to be unhappy about the day care after time has gone by) and some suggested ways to handle these problems are discussed in Part Three. People, national organizations, government agencies, and publications that can be of use to parents in the process of selecting day care are listed in Part Four. (Author/MP)