Two groups of toddlers and their caregivers were observed at the Margaret S. Mahler Observational Research Nursery on different days. In one group (the caregiver group) the children of full-time employed mothers were cared for at home by paid caregivers. In the other group (the mother group) the children were cared for full-time by their actual mothers. These two groups are compared in terms of the children's expression of affect, interest in peers, identifications, separation protests, signals of communication, and symbolic functioning. Contributions from infant research are used to illustrate how recent conceptualizations about the construction of the maternal representation further understanding about the child's experience of multiple caregivers.