ParentingJUN 1, 2024

“Parents Of Identical Twins, How Did You Avoid Getting Them Confused As Babies?” (35 Answers)

Telling identical twins apart can prove to be quite a challenging task, especially when they’re babies. And while their parents might find it easier to do than others, even they need help sometimes distinguishing their little ones.

Members of the ‘Ask Reddit’ community who are parents to identical twins recently shared their methods for telling their kids apart after one user started a thread about it. Ranging from using color-coded socks to marking them with nail polish or a marker, some of their ways were as useful as they were amusing; so scroll down to find the parents’ honest answers on the list below and enjoy.

Below you will also find Bored Panda’s interviews with two experts, educational consultant and author of Twin Dilemmas: Changing Relationships Throughout the Lifespan, Dr. Barbara Klein, and Professor in the department of Psychiatry at The University Of British Columbia and an expert in twin research, Dr. Kerry Jang, who were kind enough to answer a few of our questions about twins.

#1

“Parents Of Identical Twins, How Did You Avoid Getting Them Confused As Babies?” (35 Answers)

One had slightly green eyes, brown hair and would always lay on the right side when asleep.. the other one had a p*nis.

The-truth-hurts1, Emerson Lawson

Report

113points

#2

So this would be 2011, they put a hat with Baby A on my first son and hat with Baby B on my second as well as bracelets. I was with them the whole time for the weighing and vitals check and they take foot prints right away. For my wifes sanity she put a little sharpie dot on Baby A's sole of his foot. Then within a day, you kind of just knew. They're identical, but family and all their friends can tell them apart pretty quickly even if you try and trick them. It's tough to explain unless you have friends that are twins you understand it.

I still call them the wrong name but all parents do that. I called one by the dogs name once. That cost me an apology and a Lego set.

CTnaturist, frank mckenna

Report

102points

#3

Back in the 90s, a tiny drop of nail polish on the toe (careful to be sure they can't put their foot in their mouth. Different color clothing. Most importantly, using their names with them individually is super important. Repetition of their names means they will start to look and respond to their own name early.

MyCouchPulzOut_IDont, Jess Bailey Designs

Report

97points

“Genetics determines whether twins are identical or not. Just like eye color or height are determined by the genetic pattern they are born with,” Dr. Barbara Klein, educational consultant and author of Twin Dilemmas: Changing Relationships Throughout the Lifespan, explained.

While having twins means double the trouble, they also bring double the joy; and in the case of identical twins, likely some confusion as well, as they typically look, well… identical. According to Dr. Klein—a twin herself—it can be difficult even for parents to distinguish between the two of their little ones.

#4

I'm an identical twin, my mum used to put different socks on my feet, stripey socks for me and plain socks for my brother. But as babies do, we kept taking them off so I have no idea if I am the correct baby.

pietromj

Report

89points

#5

When our twins came along, we decided to assign each a color – one was always in blue, the other in green. It started off as a practical thing, but as they got older, they each developed a preference for their own color, it became part of their individual identity. As funny as it sounds, that color coding stuck with them and now as teenagers, their rooms are themed around their colors, their gadgets and even their bikes. It's hilarious looking back at baby pictures trying to figure out who's who, but now, we can tell them apart by the color aura they literally chose to live.

Edda_Housand, behrouz sasani

Report

79points

However, Professor Kerry Jang of the department of Psychiatry at The University Of British Columbia, an expert in twin research, believes that parents are observant enough to notice certain differences in twins, no matter how minor.

“Parents can easily tell them apart. The key is in some small and subtle differences observed, which are often physical,” he told Bored Panda, adding that even identical twins are not always 100% identical, as certain differences can develop in the womb.

#6

Silly story: a long time ago, when I was 12, I think, I learned this really cute girl from my class who I had a crush on had a brother. I met the brother (a year or two younger than us), and started a friendship - in part because he was her brother, in part because he was actually a cool kid. And so, over weeks, we developed a cool friendship, chatting about random things on the courtyard every now and then. Until one day I see this kid… standing next to his identical twin brother. And both of them look at me, smile, and say “Hey, how’s it going, ?” TL;DR: for weeks, I’d developed a friendship and chatted with both of them, unaware there were two of them. But, because I knew they were related to my classmate, we never bothered with names.

Dpscc22, Mas Tio

Report

76points

#7

My parents just…gave up lol they just mash our names into one name and call us both that

30 yrs later we both still get called “JohnJoe” like it’s one name 😂.

Tytrater, Стас Ксензов

Report

68points

#8

Drew a mustache on one with a magic marker.

KOMarcus, Edwin Ariel Valladares

Report

58points

According to the NHS, roughly one-third of all twins are identical and two-thirds are not. Since the former kind of pairing results from a single egg that’s fertilized and then divided in two, the kids not only look identical but always are of the same sex as well.

#9

Painted the big toe nail.

It doesn’t take long as a parent of identical to figure out who is who. We had the toe nail painted for maybe a week before it was easy to tell who was who.

FBG-123, Pixabay

Report

55points

#10

My mom had identical triplet boys. One had a little birthmark/soft spot on his head that was easily identifiable, so he was good. The other two look exactly the same. My mom says she always knew, which I’d believe. My dad didn’t know s**t though and wanted to tattoo their initials on to their heels. Obviously everyone vetoed that and settled to painting the big toenail of baby 1 and leaving baby 2 blank.

bitchburrito4125, Jess Bailey Designs

Report

50points

#11

Identical twins stop looking identical when you know them.

Mom said as newborns she color coded my brother's but it wasn't for her benefit it was for everyone else.

My brother's don't even look alike to me anymore.

Hulkemo, Vidar Nordli-Mathisen

Report

46points

Some studies suggest that the number of twins in the world has never been higher: since the 1980s, the global twinning rate has reportedly increased by a third. But even though quite a few people in the world have someone looking exactly alike walking beside them, they might be very different personality-wise.

Both of the experts second the idea that the personality in twins can be very different. According to Dr. Jang, these differences often stem from undergoing different experiences.

#12

Identical twin here, my mom gave us each a gold bracelet with our name engraved on it.

void590, Khabbab Abdelmaqsoud

Report

43points

#13

I’ve known about five sets of twins closely while attending school & university, after you get to know their personalities it’s easy to tell them apart.

As babies i’d recommend temporary tattoos.

jthekoker, Juliane Liebermann

Report

41points

#14

It wasn't that hard; one was always just a bit chunkier than his brother. That one also had a scar on his chest from when liquid was removed from his lung. The freckles are different. They sound different, have different mannerisms.

For my own ease I did dress them in different colors, and I tried to keep bracelets made of embroidery floss on them. That didn't work entirely to plan; one would always rip his off but the other really liked his bracelet and I had to replace it when it got worn for the first four years of his life.

People have a hard time mentally handling twins, especially identical ones, but they're just two brothers who look very related.

lyan-cat, Jep Gambardella

Report

37points

Whether or not they like having a sibling looking just like them might differ from person to person, too, depending on their views and experiences. However, Dr. Jang pointed out that identical twins don’t report anything good or bad about looking like their sibling. “[For them], it is just a state of being.”

#15

Not the parent, but uncle who helped out a lot - color coding. One of them ONLY wore purple and the other one ONLY wore pink until they were old enough to be able to remember their own names. Parents were INCREDIBLY firm that NOBODY change their outfits EVER without express permission to ensure nobody screwed up their system.

Fruitsdog, Alena Darmel

Report

36points

#16

Got some baby toenail polish. Baby A was painted pink, Baby b was purple. After they got a little older I could look at their face and tell. When they learned their names they would let you know if you got them confused.

Also baby b's cry was a little more screechy than her sisters.

BerriesLafontaine, snickclunk

Report

33points

#17

One of mine had a birthmark on his head that his brother didn't have. Once they got enough hair it got harder to tell.

Fitz_2112, Lisa Fotios

Report

31points

#18

Have twin nieces. As an infant, one had something I was told is referred to as a stork bite on her nose; essentially a couple of very small veins on her nose. So was easy to tell as long as she wasn’t screaming as the wrinkles from a screwed up angry baby face would hide the veins.

After a year or two it was easy to tell by their bearing. Had very different attitudes, stances, mannerisms, etc….

OozeNAahz, Vinit Vispute

Report

31points

#19

As a step-mom to fraternal twins and biological mom to identical twins and fraternal twins one thing i did with my identical twins is i always watched their eye color because though identical i was noticing how my identical twin daughters blue eye color would change so one of my twins has her left eye dark sapphire blue and her right eye light sky blue whereas her twin sister has her left eye light sky blue with her right eye being dark sapphire blue.

Goddessviking86, Daniel Hooper 🌊

Report

29points

#20

I babysat identical twins. the parents dressed them the same and gave them names one letter different from each other. so name wise i couldn't. but visually i could. one twin was skinnier and smaller than the other. not by a dramatic amount but enough that you could see it. their father was clueless and just drew on the kids feet with something, so they were literally numbered. the thicker twin was 1 and the skinner twin was 2. also it was weird to see they had a favorite twin.

AvocadoPizzaCat, charlesdeluvio

Report

28points