I have twin boys. Do you think that they should be brought up in a different way to normal siblings? I am often told that I should be treating them more alike, although their personalities, demands and behaviour is different. What do you think?

I think they should be brought up like you would normal siblings, I think it is healthier that way for both kids and will be beneficial to them in the long run. At the time that they will be prone to experiencing these personality crisis that is so popular with adolescents these days, it might help them through that stage a lot, knowing exactly who they are and how they are different.

I am a twin myself and so I do not have any experience of bringing up 'normal siblings'.

When I was little my Mum would treat us identically to the point where sometimes if one of us was naughty she would punish us both (I think this may have been because she just lost her temper and didn't see things clearly). We would be dressed alike and not allowed to do different things - we had the same toys and were in the class at school, same haircuts etc.

Originally Posted by racheldarcy

I am a twin myself and so I do not have any experience of bringing up 'normal siblings'. When I was little my Mum would treat us identically to the point where sometimes if one of us was naughty she would punish us both (I think this may have been because she just lost her temper and didn't see things clearly). We would be dressed alike and not allowed to do different things - we had the same toys and were in the class at school, same haircuts etc.

The way your mom raised you, do you feel as though it did you well or do you feel that you would have wanted to change some things?
If you feel that it had done you some good then maybe your mom was on the right path after all, and that maybe that's how you should be raising your twins as well.
If you feel that you would have had done things differently, then maybe you should, and raise them the opposite way from the way that your mother have raised you.

By the way, that's so great how you have twins. That's something a lot of people can only dream of having.

I hated being dressed the same and being treated as if my sister and I were one. Because we were dressed the same people couldn't tell us apart and it was horrid. I try to treat the boys as differently as possible and have never dressed them the same.

I love having twins - I feel really lucky.

Yes, I think it is healthier as well to raise the boys differently so they will grow up confident with who they are, with no hang-ups whatsoever.
If I had a chance to raise twins, I guess I'll raise them the way you are raising yours right now.

Originally Posted by racheldarcy

I have twin boys. Do you think that they should be brought up in a different way to normal siblings? I am often told that I should be treating them more alike, although their personalities, demands and behaviour is different. What do you think?

No, definitely you should not treat them alike , they share only the same physical appearance-if they - not the same personality traits .Try to discover every of their differences and adjust your behavior to their personal needs.

There is an e-book out actually called "The Secrets to Raising Twins the Right Way", I don't know if whether you'd find it useful or not but it could probably help you with a few things.

At their homepage they listed a few secrets that they are guaranteeing their e-book to have, and one of them made me laugh, specifically this:
10 Secrets to getting your twins to sleep...so YOU can sleep!