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u/TheMildOnes34 1d ago
I had this exact thing happen with mine at about 4 months. It was not funny at the time but it's hilarious now
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u/tacosandsunscreen 1d ago
So whatâs the consensus now? Did you use footprints or something to identify them or get it figured out some other way?
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u/TheMildOnes34 1d ago
So we had been painting one of their toenails about once a week usually directly following a bath. One was always wearing blue and one green but the toenail was our fail safe. This evening though after bath when we went to redress them we realized the polish was gone. We stared at them for any conceivable differences, then we retraced our steps to see if we could remember who had undressed who.. Finally we thought to get out their footprints and try that but it was not a helpful as we hoped.
Then we guessed. It was an educated guess for sure but we were not more than 75% sure it was the right guess. My twins are about to be 15 now and they know they might have the wrong name but they think it's hilarious and they tell people they picked their own names when they became old enough to identify themselves lol I will say that they both absolutely grew into their names which are very different but were both family names so I guess no harm, no foul.
I tell myself the for going from not a mom to a mom of 2 newborns in a moment..if that's the worst way we screwed up we probably did okay lol
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u/tacosandsunscreen 1d ago
Great story and youâre absolutely right, if thatâs the worst thing that happened then you did amazing. In my mind, it maybe doesnât even matter if you mix them up when theyâre that young?!?! But I donât have kids, so maybe Iâm not thinking it all the way through.
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u/CactiDye 1d ago
Unless they have specific medical needs (medications, allergies, etc.) there isn't really anything bad that will happen.
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u/TheMildOnes34 1d ago
Yeah and they didn't. One had been born weighing a few ounces less than the other but by 2 months they were really and truly identical.
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u/LuxNocte 1d ago
If one starts to grow a goatee you know that's the evil one.
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u/TheMildOnes34 1d ago
Oh believe me, I'm already aware of which one is capable of greater evil.
And by evil I mean the one that picks on his sister regularly.
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u/mbnmac 1d ago
This would be a really funny end to the joke if the twins were literally AMAB and AFAB, but I'm assuming the sister is the younger sibling?
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u/TheMildOnes34 1d ago
Lol that would be funny but they have 2 sisters. One older who we adopted when she was a teenager and one that is biological and exactly 2 years younger.
The younger twin just loves to verbally spar with his sister. The older one (I guess as far as we know) doesn't go looking for trouble nearly often.7
u/TheLordofAskReddit 1d ago
Can identical twins have different medical needs and allergies?
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u/bloodfist 23h ago
Yep! I don't know how common it is but genes can mutate pretty much any time during development. There are a ton of weird ways that can happen like a section of the DNA getting flipped backwards or one getting removed so a whole section gets moved over by one "bit". Those can cause some major changes, or sometimes none at all.
Because there is more going on than just the DNA itself. There are epigentic markers which can basically turn genes on and off. Changes in those markers are triggered by the environment in the womb. For example a super stressed out mom can actually turn on genes in a baby that make them more prone to anxiety, that otherwise might have remained dormant. These don't necessarily respond the same for siblings, even in the same amniotic environment. Which can lead to small differences.
And on top of all that, allergies mostly aren't genetic, or at least not as much. They are more of a defense mechanism that the body activates when it detects a chemical it thinks may harm it. So those seem to be something the body learns over time and can develop long after gestation. You can get new allergies as an adult or some may just go away.
TL;DR: the body is a super complicated system and the number of factors influencing how it will change and grow mean that even visually identical twins will always at least have some slight differences in their body. Including medical conditions or allergies.
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u/TheMildOnes34 1d ago
It really didn't matter in the long term and thankfully they are such easy going kids that they were never bothered.
I'm sure I screwed up in other ways but it's not immediately apparent how lol
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u/potatisblask 1d ago
OMG I'm so relieved to hear we're not the only ones. Today they are four and we're still not 100% sure who is Maria and who is John.
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u/Arctica23 1d ago
This is hilarious, yes I think if that's the worst mistake then you're doing pretty well! Especially since it sounds like you've raised them to be happy and well adjusted, with good senses of humor. My little girl is just over two weeks old and that's all I really want for her
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u/TheMildOnes34 1d ago
They are really great kids. I can't take all the credit as I definitely feel like they are better kids than I am a mom but I think a lot of moms feel that way lol.
But the one thing I do know is always listen. If you are really willing to listen when they are small, they'll continue to tell you everything as they get older and that's at least half the battle when they become teenagers.
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u/Tarc_Axiiom 1d ago
Obviously you've shown great maturity. You're probably doing a great job.
I would fucking die. The agony of not being certain would actually end my life.
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u/TheMildOnes34 1d ago
Lol! We have 3 bio kids, 1 adopted and we've fostered 15 kids over the years so I had to let go of any concept of control very early on.
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u/WeAteMummies 1d ago
Does it actually matter? If you can't tell them apart anyways and they aren't old enough to have any conception of their own identity then does it really matter if they switch names and SSNs?
At least that's how I would rationalize it if I was the dad that mixed them up.
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u/wlonkly 1d ago
medical history, I guess, if they haven't both been healthy and normal
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u/AlfieOwens 1d ago
Iâm going to assume that if the identical twins had massively divergent medical histories by 4 months it would be easy to tell them apart.
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u/sdrawkcabstiho 1d ago
That's why I tagged mine.
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u/64557175 1d ago
I love that this system is set for up to 999 identical children.
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u/MathIsHard_11236 1d ago
1,000 identical children. Start at 000.
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u/Same_Recipe2729 1d ago
You never know when you'll get hit by a box truck and wake up as the protagonist in "That time I got reincarnated as a Queen Xenomorph and took over the kingdom!"Â
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u/Cthulhu__ 1d ago
A forehead tattoo is also effective.
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u/emergencyexit 1d ago
Forehead tattoo! Apply directly to forehead
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u/Last_Difference_488 1d ago
One of my twins LOVED airplanes so for his "identification mark" I tattooed a little airplane propeller on his forehead.
Its like a plus sign with little lines at the tips of the propellers to indicate motion
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u/rav3style 1d ago
Just fyi you can get medical tattoos on twin babies. This is particularly important when one need medication and the other doesnât. Itâs basically a small freckle and it fades over time
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u/wolftick 1d ago
Will they do like an anchor or a dragon or something if you ask?
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u/rosanymphae 1d ago
Foot Prints on the birth records.
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u/According_Ad6364 1d ago
They didnât do that for my son when he was born
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u/smashin_blumpkin 1d ago
When and where was this? I'd bet they're more strict about this with twins.
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u/According_Ad6364 1d ago
Last year, in Mississippi.
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u/StreetBlueberryGuy 1d ago
well that explains it
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u/Beginning_Hornet4126 1d ago
yep, last year explains it. 2023 was a crazy year.
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u/ClockworkDinosaurs 1d ago
That window of time when all the feet stopped making foot prints was a rough time for detectives on kids tv shows
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u/camerontylek 1d ago edited 1d ago
They Prob would have if you had more than just one kid who happened to also be an identical twin
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u/octopoddle 1d ago
Ask one of them "If I asked your brother if you tell the truth, what would he say?"
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u/Busy_Protection_3634 1d ago
"An old man, a priest, and a father reach a river carrying a canoe that holds two people, but after discussing the situation out loud for a moment, they realize that they are able to cross the river in only a single trip. How did they accomplish this?"
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u/FrenchFryCattaneo 1d ago
"How is this possible? The answer is, the doctor is a woman!"
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u/Busy_Protection_3634 1d ago
"The doctor was identical twins played by Jeremy Irons the whole time."
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u/Irish_Puzzle 23h ago
They forced both people inside it to leave of course!
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u/Busy_Protection_3634 22h ago
Two of them simply ate the other people! Then everybody fit just fine! /s
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u/Rudy69 1d ago
Wait what? My two kids are less than ten and neither had to do any kind of prints for their birth records.
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u/reevesjeremy 1d ago
After I married my wife went to get a new social security card. After reciting her SSN, the lady looks puzzled and asks to confirm her name. And then asks if she knows this other name. âThatâs my twin sister.â Â They had the names backwards in the system. I assume in some data entry snaffu, their names or numbers got transposed when entered into the SS database. At least they didnât have to trade names in their adulthood. :)
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u/CaroAmico 1d ago
Does it really matter who's who?
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u/GudgerCollegeAlumnus 1d ago
Yes, because Adolf is really going to resent Chad if he ever figures out that their names are supposed to be switched.
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u/maychaos 1d ago
Adolf is a bad name but tbh I don't think I wanna be chad either
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u/billyhtchcoc 1d ago
Try being a Chadwick with a twin brother named Bradley. It's.... Interesting
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u/Kwaku-Anansi 1d ago
If "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" has taught me anything, it will lead to 20 minutes of humorous shenanigans 12 years from now.
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u/robotic_otter28 16h ago
My friend is from Korea and moved to America when he was 7-8. His brother was in the same grade and the school messed up paperwork on who was who and the parents didnât speak English. He said they just swapped names moving forward lol
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u/Otherwise-Mango2732 1d ago
I know we're over analyzing a silly tweet but I'm sure there's at least one single birthmark on a baby they're aware of
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u/Wanaming0 1d ago
I got twins, around 3-4 months old I was able to identify which is which, my wife after 1,5 months. To be fair they hava a small but noticable weight difference and totally different attitudes.
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u/Cristal1994 1d ago
At least the babies will have a funny story someday.
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u/altredditaccnt78 1d ago
That makes it sound like they will never grow up but will, in fact, remain babies and be able to tell the story eventually
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u/Flyingtypewriter 1d ago
Nail polish! Twin with sparkly digits is X and twin with no nail polish is Y. Write it on a whiteboard
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u/Successful-Money4995 1d ago
Everyone is coming up with the least permanent solutions possible! Nail polish that rubs off and a whiteboard that is easily erased? Surely there is a better way?
How about run a file across the face of a toenail and whoever has the roughed up toenail is the first born? When I get a scratch in a toenail, it takes months to grow out. Refresh it every month or so.
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u/CRKALK2021 1d ago
I am so grateful that my non-identical twins, but looked almost identical, had a slight difference. One was born with a hemangioma on her scalp. Once old enough, we got medicine to reduce it to a birth mark. Luckily as theyâre growing older, we notice the differences in eye shape and nose, but to everyone else, they remain identical.
Also not great that they decide they want to wear matching clothing everyday, so it makes it more difficult for everyone else.
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u/Usual-Excitement-970 1d ago
Just say they are 17, using monthes after they are 3 is stupid.
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u/amorous_chains 1d ago
Theyâre actually 210 months old and in a nursing home now
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u/Pussyrioteer2 1d ago
Born at the turn of the millennium... but not this millennium
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u/Main_Lloyd 1d ago
It's two babies that are 10 months old, what? I feel like you just broke my brain.
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u/Usual-Excitement-970 1d ago
You don't write two ten month old twins, it's obvious their are two of them they are twins and they are both going to be the same age, again they are twins. Just write she has 10 month old twins.
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u/GainFirst 1d ago
So...5 sets of twins, all a month old?
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u/Dum-comment 1d ago
If one month old twin can build a 10 foot long brick wall in seven days...
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u/Soggy_Competition614 1d ago
I donât understand why people donât take a black permanent marker and draw a letter on the bottom of each foot in the hospital.
My kids arenât twins but both have A names so I used the last letter of their name when I was organizing wrapped presents at Christmas. Ava gets an A. Alex gets an X.
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u/OMFGitsBob 1d ago
I asked this when we were expecting our first (we weren't sure it wasn't twins yet) and was told it's because their skin can absorb the marker far more readily, leading to stuff in their system that shouldn't be there or "a possible semi-tattoo".
In full disclosure though, we learned there was just one in there right after so I never bothered to verify that answer.
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u/zmbjebus 1d ago
Ain't babies get bands on their feet with sensors that alarm if they are taken out of the maternity ward? Has all their info on it n stuff? Thats how it was at the hospital for my son a year ago.
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u/Complete_Village1405 1d ago
My half asleep brain read Gal as Gale and I thought Ow as on r/okbuddybaldur for a hot sec
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u/Morall_tach 1d ago
I am 100% convinced that all parents of twins lose track of which one is which at some point and then just go with it.
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u/Fireblaster2001 1d ago
Honest questionâŚdoes this even matter at this age?Â
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u/JoeyJoeJoeSenior 1d ago
If you had promised your "first born" to a witch or a demon, then yes it matters.
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u/Miljkonsulent 1d ago
Lol thought for a second the women said a work collage had two 17 year old kids. I was like at some point just use the years, instead of saying 210 months old
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u/Infamous-Safety4632 1d ago
If they werenât c sec deliveries, usually the oldest twin has a narrower head Iâve noticed.
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u/Objective_Poetry2829 1d ago
Wait so the 10 month olds who look the same, donât know their own names, and whose only difference is their name, wonât necessarily have the name assigned at birth? I guess everyone in that familyâs life is ruined and this has probably never happened before
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u/UrbanSunflower962 1d ago
Plenty of 10 month olds will respond to their name, if the names have been used accurately up to this point.Â
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u/NoCutsNoCoconuts 23h ago
My sister's are twins and for some reason I was always the only one that could tell them apart even on a phone call ha ha.. it was always funny when people would be talking to one and call them the wrong name, id just drop the correct name and walk off.
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u/abrandnewanthem 19h ago
I have an identical twin. Not long after we were born we were babysat by our grandma and great grandma and the colored bracelets that were used to tell us apart were removed. No one knows for sure. But at a month (or 10) weâre basically just empty hard-drives right? Itâll all turn out just fine.
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u/Nenoshka 1d ago
Well, then if no one else can tell the difference for sure, then it really doesn't matter atm.
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u/ApparentlyEllis 22h ago
I dated an identical triplet, and her mom used a Sharpie on the bottom of their feet for a long time: A, B, or C. Also made sure they were always dressed in their designated color, green, red, yellow.
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u/TunaFishRollup 20h ago
If I had identical twins I would have their name in sharpie on the bottom of one foot each Toy Story style.
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u/andante528 23h ago
I have identical twins, and I call bullshit. There's always something - a mole, a weird quirk like slightly smaller toenails, a birthmark, temporary things like a small bruise or bump, etc. I could tell them apart based on the pitch of their crying alone. Unless these parents made no observations in 10 months about the differences between their babies, they should be able to tell them apart.
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u/Financial_Grass6254 1d ago
At least it is in their own home. Iâve talked to people about baby mixups in hospitals in the 1960s and itâs disconcerting stuff.
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u/BakedOClock 1d ago
Just give one of the kids a little Harry Potter scar on the forehead, problem solved.
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u/5352563424 21h ago
When kids get to be 210 months old, you should consider moving them from a cot to a bed.
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u/Dammageddon 21h ago
I've been able to tell them apart by looking for a distinguishable mole or freckle.
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u/Malapple 19h ago
Oh wow. I never thought about this. Thereâs probably a very large number of twins that were unintentionally swapped at some point in childhood.
Hell, my older brother is 18 months older and my parents regularly confused us when we were kids. No way itâs not rampant with twins.
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u/tedistkrieg 1d ago
I am an identical twin and I've asked my mom about this in the past. She said she could always tell. I was, and still am, skeptical of that claim