ID twins starting "school" in September:

I've never had to worry much about this because they've never been anywhere where someone HAD TO be able to tell them apart before.

They are starting preschool Sept 14th for 6 hours every Monday.

I am FREAKING out now because I NEED a way for the teachers and everyone else to tell who is who.

I'm not doing the color thing cuz I dress them the same usually.

So.. have any of you put a necklace or bracelet on your boys? I was thinking of getting a green one so that is always "Gabe" G for green and G for Gabe.. Does that make sense?

But what kind of bracelet or necklace? where do I get it?

What else could I do?

What did you do??

Thanks in advance

 

I would just dress them differently. It is much easier to spot a shirt than to have to look for a bracelet. Remember, it isn't only the adults you want to be able to tell them apart, it is the other kids as well. I know some people will say, "well, others just need to pay attention to them to tell them apart". I don't think that that is fair, especially, if they are only there once a week. I have friend with twins who I can always tell the differences between the two, but for the life of me have trouble attaching the right name to the right child. I also have twins that don't look anything alike, and still were called "Marcjon" by their friends because kids really aren't concerned with telling the difference. I say make it as easy as possible for the others around them to tell them apart.

 

Yeah I too would dress them differently.

 

I would do different haircuts or sneakers, shoe laces, etc.

Bracelets/necklaces could be a choking hazard at that age.

You could even do 'matching' but different if you are determined to dress the same (stripes--but different colors).


Although, I second the 'no dress alike' at school it will make it easier in an emergency to recall if you saw 2 boys in diferent shirts versus 2 boys in x colored shirts --- if they are dressed the same, they could be seeing the same boy twice.

 

But how would dressing them different help them know who is who?? That's my point. That won't help them know their name.

I need something that is always there on the same kid every time.

Thanks guys

 

If you do what you said initially by always dressing Gabe in green. There are ID kids in my boys grade, and I was so proud that for the first time at M&J's birthday party, I could tell them apart. By having Gabe in green, that is an easy initial identifier. Then as time goes on, they will learn personalities and be able to tell the difference regardless of the clothes. BTW, my MIL is and ID twin and HATED that she was forced to dress identically every day, and was never allowed to branch out into her own likes and dislikes.

 

Different coloured sneakers would work for me as well - then it wouldn't matter how you decided to dress them. You could also do Grey for Gabe or Navy Blue for Nicholas

 

They tell our girls apart by their difference in height and weight

 

Mine aren't identical, but due to the whole "twin phenomenon", people swear they can't tell them apart. When they were super little, in daycare, the teachers always wrote on their sheet something to differentiate them. For example, if Conner was in a green outfit one day, they'd write green on his sheet (or somewhere where they could easily look & see it). One day I had them dressed the same & Aiden only had 1 sock on when I picked them up. They said they took a sock off to tell them apart . Too funny.

Even now, people still seem to believe they look alike, so I have to be careful. We're starting a new daycare next week & I always wait until the teachers are totally comfortable in telling them apart before I dress them identically. I do a lot of dressing the same in different colors (in fact, I either dress them coordinating or matching) & they've never had an issue with that (again, they do above or mentally make a note).

Now that the boys are older, there's a size difference (Aiden's bigger) & I have different haircuts on them, which has made a HUGE difference for everyone else. Even still, I'll dress them differently for the first few weeks at our new daycare.

Since your boys only go once a week, you could easily find coordinating outfits in which Gabe could wear some sort of green (ie green khacki pants, green shoes, green shirt, etc). Or stick with Navy Nicholas, or whichever works for whatever outfit combo you have. Hopefully the teachers & their little friends will quickly learn to tell them apart & this won't be an issue for long. Maybe ask the teachers what they think?!?!

On a side note, I never thought of the safety issue of them being dressed alike. I could see if a teacher saw an outfit & just assumed both kids were there when they were in fact seeing the same kid over & over again. Interesting. Guess I'm lucky in that my boys have different haircuts!

Good luck starting 'school'! Yippee for a few hours of peace & quiet for you! Keep us posted on how they do!

 

I agree with the previous post about necklace being a choking hazard at this age. And bracelets may be easily visible in fall/winter time when they wear long sleeves. If you don't want to do different color clothing (I can see how they'll be sick of wearing the same color everyday.), different color sneakers are a good idea. It'll be easily visible for the teachers and you just need one or two pairs for the whole school year.

 

Thanks for the input. My boys are dressing the same now and that works for us If I try to put them in different clothing they fuss at me and pt to each other cuz they want to wear the other thing. So.. for now.. it stays I have MANY close friends who ARE ID twins and have ID twins so.. I'm not worried about ruining their lives by dressing them alike at this point. When they can tell me they don't want to.. I'm cool w/ it. And I would NEVER dress one baby in green all of the time. That would be hideous. Poor Gabe always in green, no thanks! I spend way too much time and $ on their clothes to do that

Andrea, thanks for the detailed info. I never thought of that and taht might work.


The shoe idea is good too. Or I'll put a sticker on their back w/ their name on it.

Thanks guys! I love the input

 

When my boys started preschool I tried the different color outfit and the teachers still got confused/couldn't remember and my little stinkers wouldn't give her the right name So I got small plastic beads to put on their shoelaces. I put them in the very front so they could be visable with jeans on and the teachers and kids both knew which "color" they were. I did do the name thing with the color (Brody=Blue). It was actually nice because they knew which shoes were theirs when it was time to get dressed and we eliminated some fighting over shoes I was thinking about the different color shoe thing, but like with your boys there would be a fight over not matching.

 

When my boys started I put a small strip of masking tape on the back of their shirt with their name written on it. I dress mine differently but I didn't expect the teachers to remember who was in blue and who was in green, etc. every day. So the name tags worked well. I also taught the boys to tell the teachers who they were. We practiced... "if someone says you're Ben, what do you say?" "I'm Jake!". The teacher knew she could always ask them which one they were if she got really confused. I would say after about one or two months their main teacher could tell them apart most of the time.


Carrie

 

Depending on their shoes, you can put a big G and a big N on the heal in black marker. We do that with their tennis shoes, mainly so they know which pair is theirs, But I found people will look down and use that to keep them straight.
Also, at the moment, Bianca has bangs, Gabby does not. But people still get confused who the bangs one is! (It doesn't start with a B in Spanish).

 

Thanks ID mommmies I knew you'd have good btdt advice for me. I'm diggin the beads on the shoe or tape on the shoe thing. too bad we don't wear laces. I'll figure something out with by combining the great ideas I got from you guys with my own.

It's funny cuz I never thought about it till now. Also, there are soo many ways you can make them look different but THAT in and of itself, does not tell you who is who.

THANKS!!

 

My girls are ID too and starting school next Tuesday! :faint: I too dress my girls alike for a couple reasons. One, a lot of their clothes are bought by my MIL and she buys matching, I like it, and since she's so generous to do that, I'm not going to complain. Also, they ASK to be dressed alike. We go through it every morning, they actually pick out their clothes. Once when we experienced a potty accident and one had to change clothes, there was a melt down b/c she was no longer dressed like sister. It works for us and them so no biggie. Fortunately at our preschool they wear aprons all day with their names on them. That makes it easier for EVERYONE in the school to be able to identify every child and direct them by name. If they didn't, I'd try the different shoes, I say "try" b/c again, they might not like it. If not, then I'd probably do the beads on the shoe. Hope you get it figured out, and let us know what you decide!

 

I see no problem with putting their names on them at least for the first few weeks until the teachers get to know them. I know several sets of ID twins & honestly, even though I can usually tell them apart, I still can't seem to get the right name with the right twin.

I also totally understand them wanting to dress the same. I think it's their age. My two are b/g & they still dig through the dresser everyday looking for shirts in the same color or pants that are similar. I've never even dressed them in coordinating outfits really, but they want to be the same. It's kind of cute & I don't expect it will last long. Funny, I've never thought of the safety aspect of dressing ID twins the same, but I can totally see how that could be a problem.