This paper contributes to the debate on whether day care is harmful or beneficial to infants by describing some of the realities of child care for infants in Massachusetts circa 1987. Randomly sampled were 750 Massachusetts families with children under 13. Respondents were interviewed by phone about child care arrangements and family demographics. Respondents were statistically representative of all families in the state that had at least one child under the age of 13. Interviewed families had a total of 1,281 children; of these, 252 were infants up to 2 years old. These 252 infants statistically represented the population of infants in the state in 1987. Findings concern: (1) maternal employment and child care; (2) hours of care; (3) the unmet need for infant child care; (4) patterns of infant care; and (5) variations in the use of infant child care. Data revealed that both maternal employment and regular child care were the norm for older infants in Massachusetts in 1987, and were a common occurrence for infants up to 12 months of age. Almost half of infants' mothers were employed in the first year of the infant's life; over half were employed in the second year. Families with employed parents used several techniques to manage employment and child care. Married women were as likely as single mothers to use child care. Social class differences were found in the types of child care used. (RH)