[christinam]

My first set were frats. Easy. This set are identical and while I'm not really worried I kinda wondering how we'll tell them apart. So, for those with identicals did you do the matchy matchy thing or similar looking clothes? Did each kid have their own color for bottles and blankets? It's SO early still (i'm 9 weeks) but it's on my mind. I plan to keep their bracelets on for as long as I can and using nail polish. Any other pointers?

[MusicalAli]

I never dressed my id boys the same. They look enough alike already. They often wore same shirt different colors. It wasn't because I wanted them to "match" but it was just convenient because usually the same thing would be on sale :) When I inherited a bunch of handmedowns, they wore whatever was clean. As far as bottles, cups, etc., they shared all that stuff. I bf-ed primarily and I did have a tricky time remembering who was on what side but in the long run it evened itself out.

[miss_bossy18]

I worried about being able to tell my girls apart as well but there was almost a 1.5 lb difference between them at birth which was very, very noticeable. They've continued to look (to my eye) quite different & easy to tell apart. We do have some colour coding that we do to help others tell them apart. We try to put Riley in Red or failing that Danika in Darker. But it's not a hard & fast rule, especially now that they have an opinion. We have a couple of completely matching outfits that were given as gifts that they wear sometimes but I prefer (especially at their age now) to let them pick what they want to wear (within weather appropriate guidelines).

I think you'll find it's not as scary once they're here, but if you are concerned (especially for those first few sleep deprived weeks) by all means use whatever tricks you can to make it easy for you. :good:

[TwinxesMom]

Mine have different birthmarks plus a good weight difference

[ECUBitzy]

Mine had different head shapes at birth, Sam has a scar from surgery, and they just look so different to you (as mom) so quickly. Definitely do your "cheats" to help you feel more confident at first, but don't worry! You'll know who is who!

[ddancerd1]

mine still wear matching clothes. it's what they want, and it's easier to just pick out one outfit, and my mom is always buying them new clothes, so...
they share everything (except toothbrushes)... but as babies/toddlers i didn't mark anything. when i bought them a set of 2 tinkerbell sippies, they just sort of chose their own (marina chose purple, ivana chose green), and that just sort of stuck.
as for when they were born, they were a pound apart and very easy to tell apart. we were going to get id bracelets, but ended up not needing them.
nowadays, because they still like to dress alike, if we go somehwere, i will either fix their hair differently or put different colors in their hair so that others can tell them apart.

[TwinxesMom]

Mine also still dress alike by their choice. They strip if one is different

[christinam]

Thanks ladies!

[monie rose]

I kept their bands on them till they were too big for them. I'd dress Peyton in Dark blues and greens and Eli in reds and light blues Usually. I only dressed them alike when I wanted to trick someone. We did have a problem once where we didn't know who was who for a bit. It happened when we took them to their 5 day check-up and they only had their diapers on. I had my dh lay the twin he had on the exam table and I layed the other twin down. Good thing Eli had redder skin, was thinner and a bump at the end of his sternum you could visibly see. lol But I still wonder if we are calling them by the right name.
Peyton on left and Eli on right
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t292/monierose/Whoswatchingwho.jpg

[christinam]

I might make little Id bracelets out of some stretchy material. That would be more for middle of the night and family.

[3under2!]

Christina, do you mind if I hack this for a sec and ask all the ID moms a question: How on earth do you decide who to name what if they both look alike?? DH and I were talking about this, our girls are distinctly different, with different coloring and everything, so it was fairly straightforward. But if they both look exactly alike...what cue was there to tell you who should be named what?

[TwinxesMom]

Baby a had the alphabetical first name and it was the name I picked out for a singleton and it fits her better. She was always more jazzy in the womb :p

[miss_bossy18]

DH decided that baby A would be Riley & baby B would be Danika so that if Riley ever got uppity about being born first Danika could always crow about being first alphabetically. :pardon: I told him I was reserving the right to change the names until I saw them but he got it right (even if it was arbitrary to start). :laughing:

[christinam]

We always choose while I am still pregnant When I had my frats I just said baby A is Allie, B is Maddie. This time we have already decided on boys names (hoping for boys. Lol) and A is Joshua and B is Matthew. Why that order? The crazy side of me here. Joshua is an Old Testament name and Matthew is New Testament from the bible. So A would have to be Joshua since A is before B and OT is before NT. Ok I'm crazy I know. Lol

[cheezewhiz24]

TwinxesMom, on 09 May 2012 - 11:20 PM, said:

Baby a had the alphabetical first name and it was the name I picked out for a singleton and it fits her better. She was always more jazzy in the womb :p

This. Sebastian was our boy name. Originally if it was 2 boys Orion would have been Simon. The day of the u/s my DH vetoed Simon and gave me the choice of Orion or Icarruss. No way was I going to name a baby Icky so A was Sebastian and B was Orion.

[NINI H]

I waited until I saw them. As soon as I did I knew which names immediately and just confirmed with DH. The whole rest of the family felt the same way too. It was a bit funny. I also hadn't decided definitely on names particularly middle names. I had 3 first names and a few middle. I wanted to see them first. With my singletons, if one had been born and didn't " match" the name I chose, I would have changed names.

As to how we were able to tell them apart, Jesse was more pale than Joshua. Jesse weighed less also. It was when they got older that it became more difficult. Jesse was born with a deep dimple in his earlobe. That is always the tell tale sign. They are also mirror twins, so their hair sworls go in opposite directions and are on a slightly different part of the head. I can tell them apart from behind due to this, but no one else can including DH. we kept the ankle bands on for a while after we got home just in case. Also Jesse kept having apnea, so he had to be put on a home monitor for a couple of months. That made it quite easy to know.

[monie rose]

3under2!, on 10 May 2012 - 12:00 AM, said:

Christina, do you mind if I hack this for a sec and ask all the ID moms a question: How on earth do you decide who to name what if they both look alike?? DH and I were talking about this, our girls are distinctly different, with different coloring and everything, so it was fairly straightforward. But if they both look exactly alike...what cue was there to tell you who should be named what?

For us it was who ever came first would be named Peyton Brady as Peyton Manning is older than Eli.

[christinam]

monie rose, on 10 May 2012 - 09:58 PM, said:

For us it was who ever came first would be named Peyton Brady as Peyton Manning is older than Eli.

Ok, this is my type of thinking! Lol

[3under2!]

LOL!

[christinam]

Did anyone ever personalize the kid's clothing? I'm thinking of putting their names on a few sleep sacks and wraps so I know easily middle of the night who's who.