How will I be able to tell them apart?

Lately, I have been thinking that I will not be able to tell the difference between our boys. So, how did you tell between your twins? Did you do something fun? If we were having girls, we could paint their toe nails. But we are having boys and I do not want to call Jonathan, David and David, Jonathan.

Any suggestions?

Jenn

 

My boys were a pound different at birth so that was my clue (plus one was very red and one was very pale from TTTS at the end- another big clue!) From what I read moms are usually the only ones who can tell them apart! Good luck and congrats!

 

So funny Jenn, we had a big problem telling ours apart. We actually kept the bracelets on them until they just got too big and we had to cut them off. Then we painted the toenails of Allison. Since we kept them in the same crib, we always kept the girls on the same side of the crib. I can't remember now, but I believe we kept Sarah on the left and Allison on the right. That's how our family members always knew as well when they came into their room to get them. I know some people who have always kept one in a certain color to tell them apart as well.

 

Just put fingernail polish on one fingernail. Their feet will be covered with socks most of the time anyway, so the nailpolish on the toes wouldn't work so well. Maybe you'll get lucky and one will have a mole or a freckle.

Even with my b/g I still every now and then call Royce "Alice" and Alice "Royce." It comes with not having enough sleep.

 

My boys ended up having very different shaped heads. But, for daycare in the beginning we painted Clay's big toenail blue and Cooper's green.

 

When they were first born we painted Amelia's big toenail red before we even left the hospital. It was for "just in case" we ever mixed them up. I'd say by 1 week old it was no longer an issue, as long as I see both girls together I can easily tell who is who. The only time I might get it wrong is if only 1 baby is in the room and I can't compare the two of them. When they are together they look very different to me.

 

My boys were in the NICU for a month so they never got mixed up then! When we got them home, we realized that Ryan had a "raspberry" birthmark on his back. That was VERY helpful. I only mixed them up once and it was 3am so I don't blame myself! We (like pp) kept them on the same side of the pack n play. Ryan was (and still is) always on the right. His crib, the carseat, most pictures!

 

Mine are really similar looking and I have a hard time telling them apart. We dress one in blue and one in green as often as possible. We did the nail polish thing on the toes at first too. Also, Liam has a birthmark on the back of his neck in case someone comes in and changes their clothes in the middle of the night!

One of my coworkers with IDs told me that we should always photograph them on the same side of the pictures (we do Liam on left, Ryan on right. Get it, L and R? lol) because even if you can tell them apart now, you won't be able to tell them apart when you look at the pictures years from now.

 

My little guys are still wearing their bracelets.

I can tell them apart but nobody else can. Dh can only tell them apart when they are side by side. Therefore bracelets they still wear. :laughing:

 

i use different colour socks - Riley always wears pink & Danika always wears purple. that being said i can tell them apart pretty easily from head shape.

THAT being said, i did get them mixed up for an entire day once. :blush: you can read about it here.

 

Ours were (and still are) about a pound and a half different, so that helps. However, we also dress Andy in the bluer outfit (Andrew rhymes w/ blue, get it ) or with the blue miracle blanket etc. That helps when you can't pick them up, or from across the room. It REALLY helps when looking back in pictures.

They also have different angel kisses on their eyelids, and stork bites on their necks, so that is an indicator as well.

 

I was so worried about telling them apart when i was pregnant. However, we have had no problem telling them apart thanks to a lot of natural difference. They are over a pound apart, Owen has an angel kiss on his eyelid and a birthmark on his back, Sean has a birthmark on his finger, and they have different head shapes. That being said, I do mix them up in photos a lot.

 

Another w/ different head shapes id ‘s here… and now, one is a pound and half heavier… so you just look at the cheeks… DH only had issues if you handed him one… side by side it was easy (to us)… to me, now, they don’t look anything alike, but we go out and people say, aw identical… and I NEVER dress them alike… for grandmas we put blue nail polish on Nate big toe… and I tried to dress Nate in blue and Seth in green to help out family… my older son didn’t know who was who for a good month… then he would just call nate the fat one... and he wasnt that much heavier he just is round headed and Seth is long faced (due to Nate sitting on it in the womb)

 

I don't think you said - are yours ID?

We worried about it before the boys arrived, too. We knew they were frats, but all babies look alike right? The joke was on us. They were a pound apart at birth and even then had radically different features. Despite that early on even DH wasn't sure who was who if only one baby was in the room, but side by side it was super easy.

FWIW... we had decided on either the nail polish, or to beg the nurses for extra bands to tide us over until we could figure it out on our own.

 

We can tell ours apart now, but had difficulty at the beginning, even with them being a few ounces apart in weight. Even their hair swirl patters on the backs of their heads were exactly the same.. As they've grown their personalities and facial expressions make it easier to tell them apart. Just at 12 weeks they look like totally different to me now- I have a hard time seeing them as ID though others have trouble telling them apart. However, we have noted small physical differences before... yours will probably have some similar stuff too:

In our boys, their left ears look slightly different. I've heard ears are often different in ID twins.
One has a blue vein that is visible under his skin on the bridge of his nose.
The other has a dimple on his chest? Yes, chest... doctors have asked if it was due to a surgical procedure, but just a weird birthmark dimple.

Of course, we will be careful discussing their physical differences, we don't want to in front of them because it may give them complexes or feel compared, etc. I've heard of too many twins in which this happens.

For others
we constantly paint one of their thumbnails blue. It is a less girly color.
WHEN we have one dressed in green or blue, blue is always the same twin, green the other twin. But not all of our clothes are green or blue, thus the thumbnail color.
We may do different haircuts when they grow hair

What we joked about: Tattooing a star on one belly, so we would have one star-belly sneech and one without
or
circumcising one and not the other (this actually almost happened, but not on purpose!)

 

QUOTE(Jenn Bland @ Jan 27 2009, 12:06 PM) [snapback]1164115[/snapback]
If we were having girls, we could paint their toe nails. But we are having boys and I do not want to call Jonathan, David and David, Jonathan.

why can't you paint boys' toenails? it's not going to scar them for life or turn them into future girly-men.

we painted one big toe on each of our boys. one was green, the other was blue. i did my research to find a nail polish without formaldehyde, pthalates or toluene.

 

I've never had any trouble telling them apart. They have VERY different head shapes (see my avatar) - and while others have trouble, to me they look totally different. Now, I've noticed when I look at pictures of them from when they were tiny - I have to look really closely to tell who is who - but at the time, I thought they looked NOTHING alike. It's funny how that happens. But I think you might just be surprised once they arrive - it seems like most moms of IDs do not really have any trouble telling them apart!

 

My sister & I are identical twins... I can tell twins apart instantly... Most of the time one twin has more of an oval face and the other has a rounder face.... See if you can see that when looking at them! Good Luck!! :unsure:

 

Mine are fraternal and look nothing alike. I did have difficulty telling them apart sometimes for about the first 24 hours, but fortunately Amy has a birthmark on her leg. Now, even in newborn pictures, I can always tell who is who.

 

QUOTE(e mauro @ Jan 27 2009, 11:06 PM) [snapback]1165153[/snapback]
I tried to dress Nate in blue and Seth in green to help out family… my older son didn’t know who was who for a good month… then he would just call nate the fat one... and he wasnt that much heavier he just is round headed and Seth is long faced (due to Nate sitting on it in the womb)

:rotflmbo: :rotflmbo:

 

Well we have a hard time with our boys. I think they may be identical. We still have to check. Thier placenta was fused and there is a 30% chance. So.....we put a blue dot a finger nail polish on Bbay A's foot. BUT one morning bug sister was playing this little piggy picked it of proclaiming the baby stepped in paint! Well she was only 5 so....................... I freaked out when I figured I could not tell who was who. So off to the doctor to weigh them as Tatum is a few ounces and and an inch smaller. Then we found a small red birth mark and now we know who is who.

I called them my whos whos!

 

My girls are nine months and weigh exactly the same, right to the ounce. We have mixed them up many times. In the beginning they had nail polish on their big toes, but now they wear bracelets. I used embroidery floss and made a pink and white one for Cassidy and a purple and white one for Chloe. They have them on at all times. They help, and look so very cute too!

 

Mine were in the nicu for so long thatI was clearly able to tell them apart when they were both home. There's been about a half pound to a pound difference between them and imo, they look very different from each other.