This longitudinal study examined the association between communication in the family on the development of empathy in young children. Co-regulation and family expressiveness measured communication in parent-child dyads at age 12 months (N = 186), 24 months (N = 100), and 36 months (N = 78). A follow-up was conducted at 60 months (N = 47) to measure empathy-related responding in children. Co-regulation styles change over time, generally increasing in the most engaged, two-way style of communication (symmetrical) and decreasing in one-sided and less engaged types. Greater family expressiveness predicted higher levels of empathy as observed in an empathy-eliciting experiment, but not as measured by mother interview, questionnaire, or child's response to facial expressions. In addition, empathy was not associated with the change in symmetrical co-regulation. The results of this study indicate that open, emotional family communication may be more important in the development of empathy than the style of dyadic communication.