You can use this color-coding method on both boys and girls.
If you do not want to paint all the toenails, painting just one will do just fine.
Alternatively, you can paint just one twin's toenails and leave the other's unpainted.
Use whatever discreet mark you think appropriate.
One great thing about nail polish is that it can last several weeks on babies without washing off.
Plus, it comes in so many colors that you can have some fun with them.
We have identical twins, and in the first weeks after their birth, nail polish helped set us straight on who was who many times! The day you take your babies home, do not immediately remove their hospital bands.
Keep the bands on until you feel you can easily tell your twins apart or have devised some other system of identification.
These bands can last a couple of weeks at home.
Remove them when you are ready, but before they fit too snugly.
While you acquaint yourself with the subtleties that distinguish your babies from one another, you can dress them in an assigned color.
For us, Faith wore pink clothes, and Hope wore purple.
A special knitted cap for each baby also helped us tell them apart quickly.
Consider keeping a notebook for each baby that lists his or her unique features.
As your babies grow, continue to record any new distinguishing marks or traits.
In our case, we noticed that Faith had a mole on her abdomen and Hope had one on her left foot.
Our relatives quickly adopted this identification method and looked at their feet for the absence or presence of a mole.
Over time, most families do learn to detect subtle differences in their twins, even if they look very much alike.
But I would not count on that 100 percent of the time.
I recently met a twin mother who introduced her children to me and then said to one of them, "you are Betty, right?" The two-year-old nodded.
I do not blame this mother for having to double-check; her twins were extremely similar in appearance! But chances are that you will want a more foolproof system of identification.
Start immediately at birth, and continue to document distinguishing features as your twins mature.