identifying the kiddos...

We are looking for an id bracelet or something to id our twins...what do you plan on doing?

 

Honestly, we never had any problems from birth. Other people did, but they looked different enough as soon as they were born, that we didn't need anything to help us. I was so nervous that we would mix them up and I had plans of painting one of their toenails or something - but we never had any problems.

 

do you mean so that others can identify them? like in an emergency? i hadn't thought of that--i don't know!

 

We put a small red dot on one of their toenails with a marker....but really, we didn't have any trouble telling them apart from the beginning - we were anxious about that, but it wasn't a problem. But for others who weren't around them as much, it did take some time for family and friends to tell them apart.

 

They can actually be identical but look quite a bit different from birth. I'm in good company on here as being the mom of identicals who were born looking different. Womb position can effect head shape and head shape does a lot of affect the looks of a person with little or no hair! My girls didn't start to look alike until they had grown out of their newborn look 3 to 6 months. And by then we had learned their different expressions.

Also one of my girls was born with a mole on her thigh, while not visiable most of the time, that assured me I didn't mix them up as babies. And in the strange twin files they both now have a mole in that place, the one who didn't have it at birth developed it at 5 years old!!!

 

This is always a question for parents expecting twins (it certainly was for DH and me!), but once your twins are born, most parents have no problems telling them apart. We had planned to paint one's toenails, but didn't need to.

 

Ours were 1/2 lb different, so if we had any trouble we'd just pick them both up and see who was heavier :lol:. Honestly though we didn't have much trouble. The first few days we had them dressed in separate colours so that we could easily identify who was being fed/changed/burped without even thinking about it. But it was really no trouble telling them apart from day one.

Although; if I look back at baby pictures now I can never tell who is who!

 

I thought about this too when I was expecting .. but like others said .. it was a non-issue once they were here. They looked SO different from each other that we had no problem telling them apart. Others had to ask but once I explained "the bigger one is Jesse" then even they could tell.

 

I painted a toenail on Sebastian- my baby A- who has a flat head from womb positioning. He was 1/2 pound heavier as well.

We didn't refer to the toe often but it made me feel better for the first couple of months.

 

My boys were very easy to tell apart. Nathaniel was big and red, William was tiny and pale/yellow. Their cries were also very distinctive. William's was quite pathetic.

 

Mine were actually different colors as well - big A was yellowish and little B was red. Their cries were also distinctive.

 

I'm another with id's who looked different. My baby b has a narrower face. She also has a scar from surgery and was much more swollen in the weeks following her birth from all the fluids they had her on.

Now they look much more alike but facial expressions that are so distinct! When they're looking mischievous you can tell them apart from across the room.

 

Another ID twin mom that could tell them apart. One has a deep dimple in one earlobe. Also, one was red and one was very pale.

 

Wow - so interesting! We could tell them apart for the first month (K's head was slightly longer than Gs) but from then on we can't tell at all. Most of the time when I think I know who I've got it ends up being his brother. We did the toenail paint in the summer, then once they were a bit older we got them amber teething necklaces. K has a tiny freckle on his arm that G doesn't have, so that's our back-up. But it's not easy to see and most people would have no clue what to look for. So their necklaces are different and it really helps our family (and us!) tell them apart. I swear as they get older they get more and more alike. They laugh the same, cry the same, have the same gestures. I expected them to be more like the girls, who we could always tell apart just by their cries.

 

I always wonder how moms of ID do it!!! I obviously didn't have to worry about it with boy/girl. But one time I woke up and I had changed the babies in the middle of the night and Mitchell was in the pink sleeper and Kenna in the blue one. I kept thinking...would I have noticed I mixed them up if they were identical!!!

 

Looks like I'm in the minority...I could not tell my girls apart until they were about 8 months old! I think part of the reason was that we were told they were frat since they were di/di but when they came out looking EXACTLY the same we were shocked!!! Luckily one of them developed a birthmark around week 2 so that's how we did it (and sometimes still do, lol). Before that I made anklets for them with their names on them and we put nailpolish on one of their toes (DH wanted a failsafe incase the anklets fell off ). Also we had different hats for them that they wore from birth so we could tell who was who in their pictures...I'm thankful for that now since I can't for the life of me tell them apart in the shots we have without the hats! I was honestly so relieved when the DNA rest came back saying they were ID since I was feeling like the world's worst mom for not being able to tell my "fraternal" twins apart .

 

Oh and I must say, I dont know if my boys are actually ID or not.

 

Sorry to hijack, but I had a red baby too! I am glad to hear that others had one red one :lol: What causes that? Our pediatrician in the hospital mentioned something about one stealing from the other and I wondered if it was the beginnings of TTTS or something? (I was in too much of a haze to ask at the time!)

 

I was told it was signs of TTS as mine were mono/di, hence why my OB was convinced they were ID. I, as most you know, have my doubts.

 

That makes sense to me. My guys started showing a bit of discordance in growth toward the end of my pregnancy and although they weren't worried about TTTS officially, we were starting to get some borderline measurements.

And you need to get a conclusive test and put all of our curiosity to rest! :lol:

 

lol I know! My boys had a discordance as well and it got worse at the end of my pregnancy. My OB took them a week earlier then she wanted as William was showing signs of "failure to thrive."

 

Mine were di/di but with my red baby I chalk it up to his placenta not being quite as good. He was smaller at birth by over 1/2 a pound.

 

Yes..my boys were white and red..and they were diagnosed ttts

 

At birth they looked different but within a few weeks very identical..just like other mommas said u will most likely be surprised that you can so tell them apart. At times I can't believe they are ID (and they are sooo id) we had planned on painting one of their toenails.

 

My girls were also born different colors, one pinkish, one darker. Because my husband and I have such different skin tones I had assumed that the single placenta was two fused ones and they had to be frat. It wasn't until they started looking alike at about 3 months that I started to wonder. (BTW, by the time they were 9 months old it became impossible to tell them apart in their sleep, awake no problem their looks and expressions are different but alseep, no way. Absolutely identical!)

ETA: Here is a picture 3 weeks oldthat shows how different they looked in that first month. The size difference easily noticed, but yet they were only born 5 oz. different in weight.

 

Its funny you think they look so different in that pic!! I think they look SO much alike! The one on the right looks a little smaller but otherwise I think they look a lot alike!

 

I agree, they look a lot alike in that pic!

 

Here are my boys at 3 weeks. Nathaniel the "red" one and William the "yellow" one.

 

My girls are di/di and I could not tell them apart at birth. We left their hospital bracelets on for the first 2 week after that it was obvious to us - now I can get them mixed up from behind but from the front never.

 

There was a 9 oz and 2 in difference between my girls, so we could tell them apart. Also, my Baby A's head was not quite as round as her sisters, and Baby B had a stork bite on her eyelid. But, I still painted a toenail on Baby A just in case. Now, I can tell them apart easily. My husband can most of the time, but others have a really hard time. My failsafe incase I go braindead is that Baby A has a funny pointed crease on the bottom of her foot unlike her sister. Figured that out by a professional photo taken at 3 months of the bottom of their feet. After I got the photo back, I wondered how I'd know which feet were who's. I got looking, and saw the crease. My mom wanted me to have one pin-pricked tattooed on their hiney, or heel or something. I thought that was silly.