Summary.Patterns among the nine temperament variables from the New York Longitudinal Study (NYLS) were studied by means of factor analyses of data from a demographically representative sample of 160 children at 6 months, 1 and 2 years of age. While no firm, interpretable factor structure was obtained at 6 months, analyses identified two factors which were identical at 1 and 2 years: one factor included Mood, Approach, Adaptability and Distractibility, and the other factor included Activity, Approach and Intensity. The factors were similar but not identical to the NYLS Easy‐Difficult Child and the Slow‐to‐Warm‐Up Child patterns. Furthermore, the current results corroborated the findings of several other factor analytic studies, which in total suggests two temperament patterns to be generally relevant during early childhood: one pattern consisting of Mood, Approach and Adaptability, and the other of Activity and In