I haven’t known a lot of twins in my lifetime – but I feel like whenever I have known some, it’s been VERY hard for me to tell them apart. There are still some twins that I just cannot tell apart. So, it was slightly disconcerting when I found out we were going to be having identical twins.
Now, I know that it will be different because they’ll be our kids…and not just someone random…but still, if they’re identical…and as babies…it just seems like it’s going to be so easy to mix them up!
And yes, of course, the idea has already run through my mind to switch their clothing sometime while Sarah is out and then not tell her for like a week or so – just a fun little game to play with Sarah and Dwayne & Wayne…but, it would probably backfire, and then I’d forget who was who…
I forgot what book it was that Sarah was reading – but it was one specifically for parents of twins – and she was reading through some of the ideas on how to tell your twins apart. Especially at the beginning – when one is prone to taking uber-cute baby photos every…oh…every minute or so…the book said it was really important to label the photos so you know which is which…And unfortunately, with them being identical twins all all, the “Faces” feature in iPhoto isn’t going to be all that handy.
Some of the ways to tell your twins apart mentioned in the book were:
- Color coding: just pick two colors and dress one of them in all green, the other in all blue – don’t mess up the colors!
- Paint nails: paint 1 toe-nail of each one color and then just remember which one has what color
- Patterned clothing: another suggestion was to have one only wear stripes and polka dots, etc., and the other only wears plain colors
- Hospital Bracelets: just DO NOT take off the hospital bracelets…that should work.
Personally, I think it would just be easiest to tattoo their name on their forehead. Then we wouldn’t have to really give it much thought, we’d just look at them and see their names – it’d be that easy. But I’m guessing if I brought two newborn babies into a tattoo shop, it might not go over all that well…
So – for those of you with experiences with twins – what did YOU do to help tell them apart? Any tips or tricks?
Rob says
We have twins in our church about 15 months old Hunter and Bryce – Hunter’s hair parts down the middle (Hunter – hair) Bryce’s doesn’t. Maybe yours will do something like that!
Peace >
Dan says
I am an identical twin and I know that people had difficulties telling us apart. Our folks used the colours idea when we were little (which we absolutely hated). But the other thing that can be easy to find some sort of blemish or something that one has and the other doesn’t. For us my sister had a freckle on her forehead which people used when they were otherwise stumped.
FWIW we did look different even as babies even though most outside the family couldn’t see it. My sister and I, my mother and another of our sisters can pick us in baby photos, though I wouldn’t be confident that my dad could. Mostly people had a different problem, they could tell that we looked different but couldn’t remember which name went with which face!
Deborah Arca says
THIS IS HILARIOUS! i am just laughing out loud, reading this. I’m sure you & Sarah will come up with some totally creative, and uniquely yours, way to keep Dwayne & Wayne apart. I just hope they like it too! 🙂
Chad says
For the first few days, we left the hospital tag on their wrist. We were fortunate, because Nora had a small strawberry birthmark on her back (that disappeared around 18months), but otherwise it would have been tough to tell them apart. In fact, for the first few years, I labeled the filename of EACH PHOTOGRAPH we took of them, and looking back at them, I’m really glad we did.
Now, because they are in preschool and we want all who work there–not just their teachers–to know which is which in case of a problem, we almost always dress Nora in a pink shirt, and Tessa wears some-other-color. Works pretty well.
Charles Wei says
I don’t know if anyone’s told you this yet or not, but I thought I’d pass it along. With identical twins, you typically have one that’s an “apple” and one that’s a “pear,” meaning that one’s head will be slightly “rounder” than the other’s. You can usually tell them apart this way. Good luck!