I am searching for the best/easiest way to keep identities known with the babies when helpers come to feed/change babies as well as what method of bottle labeling worked best for any of you so that the babies aren't sharing bottles.
Identity bracelets: I was looking for a way to identify them from one another other than the hospital bands as they seem uncomfortable. I was looking for a soft bracelet similar to the bottle bands I have seen, but was told that maybe a small anklet with their names engraved on them would be a better route to go. Suggestions?
Bottles: How did you keep their bottles identified?

Thanks!

I personally did not use indentity bracelets because I could alway tell them apart. I have heard that some people painted their toe nails a certain color for a certain child. You could paint a part of the bottle the same color of the baby's toe nail.

For the bottles - I used ponytail holders around the bottles. You could buy the colored ones, but I used the fat black ones because I only had two to mark. One bottle had nothing, the other had a band.

Would those work on an ankle too? It seems like they might be too big and could be a possible choking hazard if they fall off or get taken off.

Allison

Mom to:
Madeline 09/2001
Jack, Evan & ^Alex^ 03/02/2008 @ 26 weeks

We used rubber bands as bottle bands to save money. Each boy had his own color. This worked great and was SO much cheaper than any other option we looked into. We had 30 bottles so that we could make it a full day without having to wash any. Now that we are just using sippy cups, we invested in the nice bands from InchBug that are personalized.

Two of my boys are identical and were basically impossible to tell apart for a very long time. We actually lucked out and one of them had a tiny birthmark on his hand. However, many folks do the nail polish on the toe. I would be concerned about using any kind of anklet or bracelet. It may be fine when they are really little, but after a few months, they will be grabbing at it and then you'll be looking for another method again. I'd go with the toe nail polish.

Erica

Great idea, to use rubber bands that are colored and nail polish for the toes. There is so much to figure out when you are having multiples and there will be so much to do, I just want to structure everything so that it will make things as easy as possible.

Appreciate the feedback both of you.

KG

We color code everything, but with GGB that is maybe a little easier: my son wore whatever, and one G always had pink, and the other girl a different color. My GG are not identical though so it wasn't an issue of regular caregivers not telling them apart... more of knowing which clothes/paci/bottle etc. went with with child.

With anything that could be bought in multiple colors, we always did that, otherwise we found a way to mark things in colors: ribbon tied around a pacifier, stickers on the bottle cap (though I like the rubber bank idea), ribbon around the handle of the carseat, etc. They are now 5 and I still color code a LOT (with toys, school backpacks, shoes, etc.) As they learned to recognize their letters I also began writing their initial with a sharpie on things if they got the same thing (like a happy meal toy, etc.)--luckily my kids' names all start with different letters!

Good luck ~

Mary (41) happily married to Case (45) since 7/2000

Stay-at-home mom to Madelyn Anne, born 10/31/04

and GBG triplets: Laura Catherine (4 lb 8 oz), Andrew William (4 lb 9 oz) and Elise Nicole (4 lb 7 oz) born 3/15/07 at 34w 1d

My kids were color coded. We used used yellow, pink, blue.

It was pretty easy to find those colors in whatever we needed. Each baby had his own color.

mom to:
Ryan 32 The Lawyer
Jason 30 The Chief Meteorologist
Chris 30 The College Student
Tim 30 The college grad

I love hearing their versions of their childhood memories!!

We assigned each kid a color before they left the hospital - Camille was pink, Meredith was purple, Jame was blue. (And baby #4, Elise, was green.)

The kid wearing purple gets the bottle with the purple sharpie writing on it, and she goes in the carseat with the purple ribbon on the handle, and wears diapers from the purple basket. (My kids were vastly different sizes, so diapers & carseats had to be theirs or they didn't fit!) Though at the time it was VERY easy for us to tell who was who b/c they were such different sizes, they are technically identical, and looking back at pictures, it is difficult to tell who was who in pics where the colors aren't obvious.

I realized it was a problem around 9 months old, and after that, every picture had something to make it obvious. Even bath pics - each kid has the correct color washcloth so I know who is who. At the beach, they were in identical swimsuits, but before taking pictures, I would carefully hand each kid a sand bucket or shovel in their color. Even naked baby pics - I had a pretty silver rattle and I would change out a pastel ribbon on the handle so I knew for sure who was in the picture.

My kids are now 7 years old, and they still have backpacks, toothbrushes, hairbrushes, towels, goggles, water bottles, rulers, pillow pets, bikes & helmets, etc. color-coded. Prevents a lot of "THAT'S MINE!" and it's opposite, "I DON'T KNOW WHO LEFT IT OUT - IT'S NOT MINE!"

BGG born 4/25/05 at 31w1d




New baby girl born 9/19/06