How will I tell my twins apart??

[jen80]

I'm 31 weeks pregnant with identical twin boys. They are currently growing at the same rate so hopefully will be a similar size at 37 weeks when they will be delievered.
I am worried that I won't be able to tell them apart!
Am I worrying over nothing? Any advice?
I know I can always dress them in different colours etc but what if I forget?!!
I think I'm probably just getting nervous about their arrival
Going a little crazy in this heat

They will have different personalities, one may have a slightly bigger nose or a miss shapen ear or a different cry. You will recognise them though

you'll learn as they grow. Some ID twin mums paint a toe/fingernail so that they can tell.

You'll be fine, but I know why you're worried. Mine are non-ID g/b twins and today I could have sworn he was she! lol

Congratulations!

When they're born they'll put different name tags around their ankles so you'll be able to work it out from that initially...

And then I think you'll just know... One will have a slight difference that you'll recognise - even if noone else does...

I'm sure it'll be fine...

Thanks for all your quick replies
I like the idea of nail varnish...my husband might need persuading that I can do that to his boys
I always wonder if they will end up switched around at some point and we'll never know!!
I have got myself prepared around the house etc now just using my time to worry about the silly things!

keep their hospital tags on for a while?

i know 2 people with ID twins and both have always said they've been able to tell them apart almost from the moment they were born....

I have non ID DTs but they did look very alike when they were firtst born. We kept their tags on for a while and after a week I could just tell which is which.

All parents of IDs I have ever known can usually reel off a list of differences in the twins, even though no-one else can see them!

I have very different non id girls and it took DH and I weeks and weeks to be able to tell them apart from their cries/noises when we couldn't see them. Hope that helps . Good luck.

Like others have said, leave the tags on for a bit.
Secondly, use different colour clothes. You can't forget, I promise. It's simply a matter of replacing twin 1's clothes with some more of [twin 1's colour] clothes when you change him, and then [twin 2's colour] clothes when you change him. We still have problems telling ours apart immediately (some marks have come up now relatively recently), but thanks to our insistence on colour-coding, we are quite certain they have never been mixed up!

I've got non ID twin boys ( I think though they look very similar). However I can now tell the difference at 4 weeks old. One has a small birthmark on his chest which helps definitely tell them apart. And bizarrely their willies are different . One seems to point up and one points down! I also cheat and one is mostly dressed in stripes. This way I can also tell in pictures who is who. Hopefully will help in the future when I'm looking back!

mine (also ID) were different sizes so it was easy. But one also developed a birth mark which helped too (faded by about 2 years). You will probably find one has fatter cheeks or similar.

I have heard of people who put a bracelet on one. Assuming they hospital born they will have an id bracelet anyway - so just keep those on until you have worked out which is which.

mine are ID - now 6m. Their birth weights were only an ounce different but I've always, from birth, looked at them and seen completely different babies. Don't get me wrong - I can see they are identical and why others can't tell the difference, but to me as their mother I just knew. After a while I could explain some physical differences to others to help them - their head shapes were slightly different (different womb positions) and one has a slight dimple in one ear. Now at 6 months one is lighter but there are also slight personality differences - one looks mostly bemused, the other is more set to a worried frown, one is a complete fidget, the other makes more noise... but still I tell who is who to other people, but honestly, as their mum, it's always been clear.

I've got ID boys now 17 months. I was worried like you. It's strange, you WILL find a small difference and grab on to it. Mine had an ever so slightly different nose, but only for the first few weeks. We did dress ours differently - one in white and one in blue to begin with, and eventually we painted one toenail to be sure, but really I always knew. They actually now look pretty different (to me) as one got a bit of a tight neck in the womb which has effected his facial development, but still others find it hard. To me, they couldn't look more different! Good luck and congrats.

my friend did the toenail paint on one

perhaps it doesn't matter. i once read that a third of parents of identicals can't remember which one had which name first, for sure. Does it matter???
I'm not being dismissive, i genuinely do wonder if it actually matters?

I think you have a point there. I am not sure identical twins develop a separate identity until a later stage. For sure my two both called themselves the same name when they first started talking which confused us but not them !

I kept the hospital tags on mine for a while and while I can nearly always tell the difference I still occasionally get confused, mainly when they're not together for comparison. However one of mine has a birthmark so I can always tell when he's naked.

A good tip I read (I think it was in a book called the Art of Parenting Twins) was not just to dress them differently but to give them completely separate wardrobes. I think this helps you and other people see them as individuals and hopefully when they're old enough to understand they'll like it too (mine will probably put me right by insisting on dressing the same when they're older!!).

Thank you so much for all your replies
I can't wait until they arrive!

How about getting one of their ears pierced.

I have b/g twins, so not too much of a problem , but my husband's an ID twin and although his parents could tell them apart at the time, looking back at photos of them as babies, no-one knows which is which! On most pics my MIL wrote on the back which twin was wearing which colour, but we've got a whole batch of b/w pics that are a total mystery! Therefore, my advice is that you will definitely be able to tell the difference, but make sure you label photos so that future generations will also know who's who!!

I am 28 weeks with g/g twins - we don't know yet if they are identical - but going by my 2 current children I am expecting them to look very similar regardless! We are going down the separate wardrobe route initially. I am knitting blankets for them - 1 is purple and 1 is green and we're using that as a starting point. I've bought some clothes and they are all separated out - purples, yellows, stripes and words in one pile and greens, blues, spots and characters in the other. They are all initialled on the labels too so we can keep right. (and refer back when looking at photos too!) Might do the toe-nail thing too because I am truly terrified about getting them mixed up!