One of the questions I come across again and again with
twins and multiples is whether you should dress your same sex twins the same or
in different clothes. People seem to have some quite strong opinions on this,
many of whom don’t have twins. It comes down to whether you will scar them
mentally by dressing them the same and not letting them have their
individuality. I can understand this but from my own personal experience I tend
to do whatever makes my life easier!
Let me explain.
In a house with twins and twins all things must be fair and
equal. If you buy a pack of t shirts they often come in a pack of three, much
to my annoyance, and you usually find there is one very pretty top, one
slightly less pretty and then one which is just plain and boring. When you get
your twins dressed in the morning how do you choose who gets the prettiest top?
Surely by giving one the pretty top with sequins on you are showing favouritism?
The easiest solution to this is to buy two packs of t shirts and dress them in
the same tops so no one gets preferential treatment. When they are old enough I
will let them choose what they wear and if they happen to choose the same then
so be it. They aren’t quite old enough to do that yet… I do let them choose to
a certain degree but they often argue over a pair of stripy tights, socks with
spots on or knickers with Peppa Pig on. I try and wash everything in pairs so
that I can always give them a choice with two of the same things in the pile.
At the moment they both fight over a tatty pair of faded black leggings which I
only have one of. I hear them discussing
the black leggings over the baby monitor when they wake up; they have been the
cause of some of the most ferocious arguments!
When my identical twins were born I applied the same rule.
However I soon realised by dressing them the same I couldn’t actually tell them
apart! Luckily one had a strawberry birth mark on her back so I could always
check if very tired and confused! So even now when I can (mostly) tell them
apart I do tend to dress them a little differently. That way I can also tell
their big sisters that Molly has hearts on her tights and Nell has stripes etc.
Big twins often ask “which one is that?”
So in conclusion to the big ‘should you dress same sex twins
the same or differently?’ debate my opinion is it should be down to the Mum.
She has gone through a twin pregnancy, given birth to 2 babies, given up sleep
and sanity for good. Let her decide and do whatever she thinks is best for her
twins.
