Eight per cent of pregnant women in Finland suffer from mild to moderate episodes of depression during pregnancy. 8–15 per cent of mothers suffer from postpartum depression. Maternal depression is an independent risk factor for the developing mother-child interaction and attachment. Also we should not overlook the infant's own contribution to the unwanted development and consider the infant's temperament as an independent risk factor for the developing mother-child interaction. In this study the concept "difficult infant temperament" means excess crying, irregular needs and difficulties in caretaking. In the present study depressive symptoms during pregnancy did not predict the mother's perceptions of a temperamentally difficult child. On the other hand, postpartum depression predicted a more negative experience of the infant's temperament three months postpartum. We also noticed that highly educated depressed mothers postpartum assessed their infants more difficult than depressed mothers with no education. Other socio-demographic factors did not affect the mothers' perception of their infants' temperament. In practice we should consider the possibility of postpartum depression when meeting a mother complaining about her difficult child.