How do new parents not mix their identical twins up?

[Woody479]

Do they keep their names bands on them? Just thinking back to how tired I was when DS was a newborn, you could easily get them mixed up and then they’d forever not be the baby they were born to be! I wonder if there’s any twins out there who got mixed up and never swopped back again?!

@AudacityOfHope because the varnish needs to dry and babies put their fingers in their mouths.

@AudacityOfHope.. maybe there’s some sneakiness in it too. So you don’t look like you can’t tell them apart and when someone’s shocked you can you can do the “you just know” thing.

I’d forget which colour was who.. I remember babysitting twins (18months old), they came with dummy clips with their names on.. the little shits took them off after 5 minutes. They became nameless wonders for an afternoon.

I can imagine mischieveous older toddler twins saying to each other to swap beds and their parents will never know

I taught identical twins for a year. They were completely identical. Mum admitted to me she still found it hard to tell them apart and had to rely on them being honest. I had zero clue who I was talking to. Bless them. Both adorable !

My partner is an identical twin and he showed me a picture of him and his brother aged about 4. Their mum had written on the back indicating which brother was which. She had subsequently scribbled that out and rewritten it with the names the other way round. Always makes me chuckle

I could tell but also could confirm because the shape of the back of their skulls were slightly different due to their position in the womb.
I can not understand how people confuse them as to me they look different, except in the swimming pool with swimming hats, but when they were small they each had a shoe colour they always wore to make it easier for others.

I could tell the difference between mine from birth. Slightly different noses!

Lots of people, including their dad, still have trouble telling them apart. I do sometimes if it's a quick glance and call a name.

One wears glasses all the time now so that's easier. Except when the other puts his on (he only needs them for watching tv) and then gets called the wrong name.

They never tried to play tricks and swap round, which I thought was very boring of them!

Ahh the sucking their fingers thing! Makes sense now

I’m an identical twin and my mum is convinced she named us differently when registering our births. It’s only now we are 24 and she doesn’t mix us up lol! Due to our different styles, but in our teen years we would dress the same wear our hair identical. Many parents of twins don’t like to admit the fact they confuse one twin with another asif it’s something taboo. It’s never bothered me always been funny actually

@OhMsBeliever They never tried to play tricks and swap round, which I thought was very boring of them!

EIther that or they were very, very good at it

They looked different. They still look different.

And one was significantly bigger than the other, so I had a head start.

I'm not a mother of identical twins but I am a much older sister of identical twins and they always looked totally different to me. My other much younger siblings would often argue which one was which and would come to me for the deciding vote if our mother was busy

I’ve been thinking the same thing! I’m sure there must be twins that have been mixed up.

best friends has identical twins - when they were tiny they were unable to be told apart even by her- so she kept one always in spots and one in stripes (with a little rhyme to remember) One night we were looking after them and they both vomited so explosively that we stripped them off and put them down - and forgot who had who- so we often joke did we mix them up at that point? She then did the nail varnish on toenail thing so they didn't get swapped (again?)

Honestly, I probably did mix mine up. Im not sure how i would ever know if i did, or didnt. They were VERY similar weights when born. as soon as the hospital tags came off we tried to keep a note of which babygrow they were wearing, but the lack of sleep meant i forgot to do this quite often!

My friend accidentally registered her twins the wrong way round and had to give evidence in court to prove which one was actually the eldest and change the time on their birth certificates!

I asked this to identical twin mum at a baby class and she looked at me like I was mad for even thinking it and said she has always easily been able tell the difference even at the newborn stage. But when they’re first born and you haven’t yet learnt them yet iykwim, surely they’d potentially get swapped.

I'm sure there was a story where the parents had a dot tattoo'd onto the sole of the feet of their twins. One black, one red I think

I went to school with identical twins too. I always knew who was who with the boys but think with the girls I only knew when they were together. I think if I'd met them separately I wouldn't have known who was who.

A friend is one of triplets (identical twins and a singleton) and she and her twin look quite different now (to me). But when I look at photos of them when they were younger I wouldn't have a clue. The funny thing is that their respective sons look like (very alike) brothers rather than cousins.

I saw identical twin boys in a shop earlier (aged 2/3) and was wondering the same, mother had dressed them in the same clothes. I guess parents just know and once they are over a year old it’s probably easier to tell as they develop their own personalities.

Great replies! I’d never thought about it before, the nail polish is a great idea.

MotherForkinShirtBalls I listened to that episode just this week! So glad she’d been right the whole time

My grandma and her sister are identical twins and even at 99 years old lots of people still can't tell them apart. I think it took DH about 10 years to spot the differences. They like playing tricks too.
I remember we were on holiday together when they were in their 80s and grandma promised to bring me a cup of tea in the morning.
Early the next morning she knocked on my door, came in the bedroom and without pulling the curtains or uttering a word gently set a cup of tea down on the bedside table. I woke up and said "Aunty, why are you wearing grandma's dressing gown?"
I've grown up with them! I can always tell the difference.

When you're awake and alert it's easy to spot the differences. The problems come on in the middle of the night when you're stumbling around exhausted doing night feeds. My twins are non identical but in my sleepy state I fed the wrong baby and couldn't, for the life of me, work out why the other wouldn't stop crying.

There were identical quads with different medical needs, and they tattooed them on the toe - one dot, two dots etc.

I spent years under the impression that one of my husband's friends was one man I couldn't remember the name of - only saw him a few times a year in a group.

Turned out 'he' was 'they' - twins who kept randomly appearing separately. I only found out on their birthday .

I still wonder if there's a third one knocking around.