I interviewed a ton of daycare facilities. Not sure what type you are going with, we selected a home based one. Obviously hours are very important but for us I wanted to understand how the day went, what was typical, would my son be allowed to nap at his own schedule or would he be expected to conform to a schedule. Even though he is still breast fed I wanted to understand how they go about menu planning. Visiting policies. I can drop in whenever I want which was important to me. I was also able to look up on a state website any violations etc. It was really a gut feel for me and the place we selected is awesome. Jay, our provider is a wonderful and loves Holden. Honestly she has given me some of the best advice and knows more about children than I do. Meet with a bunch, get a feel for them, make sure they have all of their certifications (CPR etc), check their state records, understand their policies for feeding, napping, late fees and go with who makes you comfortable. It is sooo hard.

The first thing is you need to know what you want... what are the most important things that you want to see as a part of your daughters day. Write yourself a letter or list like the adverstisement Jane & Michael Banks write in Mary Poppins!

I know your LO is much younger so your situtation will be different, but the first time I had to look for a center for my oldest he was 18 months old. I looked at many places and just didn't get a feel for one, so I kept my school schedule to nights only.
When he was two I looked around again. I checked out many nice places that had educated staff, nice rooms, nice equipment, and all the rights answers about the day's schedule, discipline, activities, etc. They just weren't right... you have to trust your instinct.
We went to a small church run preschool and it was so cozy, and friendly, and I could see the loving care oozing from the walls! My son asked to be put down right away, he was comfortable there in 2 seconds! The children were all happy and busy and the staff didn't focus so much on "the visitors" but they continued to interact with the children. They loved their job and loved their students. (awwwww I miss them, I am going to have to take my older boys by to say hi!)
Infant care is a little different.
In a center: You want to know the baby to adult ratio. Look at the babies that are there... are they all in cribs, or does it look like the staff is interacting with them and giving them tummy time and time to stretch out on a blanket on th floor? Do the bbies "look" happy? cared for? clean? or bored? Do the floors look clean? (many infant rooms do not allow shoes to be worn in so babies can roam all over when they start crawling) Meet the head teacher in the room... do you like her? Does she seem genuine or a little fake?
At a home child care:
How many other children are there? what ages? How will safe floor time be provided with older children roaming around? What happens if the provider is sick?

When I picked a center for my 2nd son he was 6 months when we started looking, but we ended up with a family member watching him until he was 1. The center we chose from 1-2 was not the fanciest. the room was small and the play yard was small, but the toys were clean, the floors were clean, and the staff was wonderful. He was a talker really early on and they carried on full conversations with him which was what he needed. They didn't just try to get him involved in some busy activity to make their life easier (he was a serious talker! LOL) BUT I absolutely did not like the two year old room at the same center. I didn't like the way the teachers talked to the kids, they barked orders and kinda herded them like little animals... luckily, we already knew at two he would move to the preschol we loved so much.

I hope this helps you some. Kilmawife had great advice too.

For us, it was more about how we felt when we were in the center/ home. We interviewed several daycare centers and also a couple of at-home sitters. We ended up going with an at-home sitter for several reasons. 1) the sitter is only watching 2 other children 2) We know the sitter personally and feel that she will give more complete care for the first 9-12 months.

But we do have a daycare center on reserve and some of the things that were important to us were their communications with parents about feedings, diapers, etc. Also, the care givers - we want our child to be stimulated as he would be at home - not just 'taken care of' as they do at certain centers. We were looking for infant care, but if you are planning to stay at the same center until your kids go to school, I would recommend asking about food and learning activities for older kids. Also, what kind of interaction do the babies have with the older children? That's one of the reasons babies get sick is because they are exposed to older kids and their germs.

http://www.godaycare.com/childcarearticles/9

this article is about finding the right daycare. i hope this helps.

I always ensured that my son was able to interact with the staff and other kids there so he how he likes it. my son will tell me if he doesnt like someone in the first 5 mins so that is really important.

Also I am not sure where you live, but I live in ontario canada. i was able to look on the ministry of children and youth services website and was able to find out what the centers license agreements are like, maybe you can find a website in your local area where you can find this info out