Knowing which twin is the older one is usually a no-brainer. The time of birth is recorded, and whichever one is born first is officially the eldest.
As a parent of twins, I'm pretty sure that you know the answer to the question “which twin is older?” It is, of course, the child that was born first.
In the majority of vaginal births, Baby A is born first. But occasionally the twins switch positions at the last minute, and Baby B emerges first, as further noted by the Stanford Medicine News Center. Still, the birth order is relatively straightforward.
There is no right or wrong answer, it's a personal preference. Some chose to be completely open or tell their twins to give a “smaller” twin leverage if he/she is older. Other choose not to tell so that they don't bicker about the subject or the dominate “older” twin doesn't have more leverage.
Classically, the bigger twin is the more physically dominant. It's basic human nature, and particularly applicable to boys as they hit puberty. It happens often with singleton siblings too… the older is bigger and enforces him/herself through physical dominance.
Monoamniotic-monochorionic Twins
This is the rarest type of twin, and it means a riskier pregnancy as the babies can get tangled in their own umbilical cords. If you have monoamniotic-monochorionic twins, your healthcare provider will monitor your pregnancy closely.
Dizygotic (DZ) twins, also called fraternal twins, occur when two egg cells are each fertilized by a different sperm cell in the same menstrual cycle. DZ twins are about twice as common as MZ twins, and they are much more likely to run in families.
This should be pretty obvious, it's the twin born first. Although unless something goes very wrong with the delivery, the time is so close that there really isn't a elder or younger in twins.
Some say that twins are always hard (yet amazing), while others say they truly didn't find them to be difficult. A few said that the first two months with twins are easy (being in the rose-colored glasses phase), then reality hits from months 3-6 (when the sleep deprivation catches up), then it can get easier again.
Nine to 10 months age gap is obviously the smallest gap you can have, and can be quite tough but rewarding at the same time. The children are so close in age they will learn a lot about the world together.
Fraternal twins live longer than singletons and identical twins longer still. Male identical twins on average, saw the most benefit. The rarity of twins has inspired many myths about them.
Most twin, triplet or more babies will be slightly different in size, but sometimes 1 baby is significantly smaller than the other/s. This is called 'selective' fetal growth restriction.
The dominance and submissive behaviour in twins may not be the same under all circumstances. This means, that there is no need for the same twin to be dominant in all scenarios.
The longest interval between the birth of twins is 90 days, in the case of Molly and Benjamin West, dizygotic (fraternal) twins born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA to parents Lesa and David West (all USA) on 1 January and 30 March 1996.
February 3rd is the only day where no one in history has ever been born. Despite much scientific study, there is no explanation for this phenomena. Historically it has been referred to as “the empty day” or “nobody's birthday”.
Babies that are born close to midnight may arrive on different days. For example, Twin A may be born at 11:59 pm on one day while Twin B doesn't make an appearance until 12:01 am, which would be the next day.
You shouldn't share the same bed with your twins because it increases the risk of SIDS. But the AAP does recommend that you room-share — having your twins sleep in your room, each in their own bassinet or crib — ideally for the first six months.
A third milestone in a twin pregnancy is 32 weeks to 34 weeks. Babies born then generally have an excellent chance of survival, without any major long-term complications, though they might not have full lung maturity and will need to spend time in the NICU.
Identical twins reported similar levels of happiness, while fraternal twins exhibited greater variation in their reported sense of well-being. These results were found in families of twins raised together and extended with twins reared apart.
It is shown that weight and birth order can affect not only personality and the way in which twins interact with each other, but can also affect family interaction.
Yes, you read that right. Twins (non-identical) can be born at completely different times, sometimes even years apart.
Nobody knows what causes identical (monozygotic) twins. Everyone has the same chance of having identical twins: about 1 in 250. Identical twins do not run in families.
The notion that twins always skip a generation is also a myth. The illusion may have arisen because men who inherit the gene from their mothers are unaffected by it ( they do not ovulate), but can still pass it on to their daughters, who, in turn, will have an increased likelihood of conceiving twins.
They come from the same fertilized egg and share the same genetic blueprint. To a standard DNA test, they are indistinguishable. But any forensics expert will tell you that there is at least one surefire way to tell them apart: identical twins do not have matching fingerprints.
Fraternal twins, in which each of two eggs is fertilized by a different sperm cell, occur in about four of every 1000 births. About half of those result in male-female twin pairs.