The study investigated the relationship between family stress and child characteristics in families with motor impaired toddlers. Families of 20 children between 2 1/2 and 5 years old with motor impairments, who visit a therapeutic toddler class in a rehabilitation centre, participated. The study was carried out in the Netherlands. Family stress was investigated through the Nijmegen Questionnaire for the pedagogical situation (NVOS) (a Dutch family stress inventory) and child characteristics were obtained from the KinderRAP. Factors which appear to have a significant correlation with subjective family stress are: the level of adaptive functioning of the child, problem behaviour of the child, the level of communication of the child, age of the child and whether or not an etiological diagnosis had been established. Complementary research on a larger scale is needed to increase knowledge of the risk factors associated with family stress to contribute to the support of children with motor impairments and their families. (Contains 1 figure and 5 tables.)