International study results point to potential negative associations of time spent in early childhood education and care (ECEC) centres in the first 3 years of a child's life and socio-emotional outcomes. However, the transferability of international results to the German ECEC system and the impact of characteristics of the home learning environment and the child on these effects remain unclear. Therefore, we investigated (a) whether the duration of ECEC is associated with child's socio-emotional outcomes and (b) whether results differ according to child's temperament and parental sensitivity by using data of the German National Educational Panel Study. Contrary to international study results, we find that, irrespective of parental sensitivity, more years spent in early childcare under the age of 3 significantly relates to lower rates of peer problems. Particularly children with a moderately difficult temperament seem to profit from attending more years in ECEC with regard to their prosocial behaviour.