Identical twins who continue to insist on a joint identity as adults may well have been brought up by their parents to look and be identical because of their cuteness and the 'film star effect' they create. Nothing is cuter than identical little twins in frilly dresses! Little girl twins may even put pressure on [...]
I was asked by BBC Radio 4 to talk about higher Multiples - 1st programme in series to be aired on 4th December. How to manage to give individual attention came up. It's extremely difficult when they are little but a good start is when they go to nursery by sending them on different days. [...]
One of the main problems I come across in my work with adult twins is dominance. Dominance is usually established in childhood and can arise for various reasons. It may be because one is the physically stronger, or the most articulate. It may be the one who is the more extrovert of the two or [...]
Many people have lost loved ones in the last few months and have been unable to be with them in their last days or hours or say their final goodbyes. They haven't even been able to view them on their final journey to the undertakers or to give them the kind respect and funeral rights [...]
The importance of individual time with twins has been raised with some excellent advice, but what if you are a single parent and having to manage on your own? Regular individual time before bedtime will help your twins to find time to talk and bond with you. Difficult if there is only one of you! [...]
I'm often asked the question 'How do I stop my toddler twin from biting/scratching the other?' Or 'my toddler from biting/scratching the baby?'. Why is it happening. Clearly the Toddler resents the attention the new baby is getting from THEIR Mum and if one of twins they would like ALL the attention instead of just [...]
why do we sometimes find that we simply don't have the skills we need to parent our children successfully? One reason could be that we believe that one or both of our parents simply got it wrong when we were kids and we are trying to put it right when we come to be parents [...]
These twins are often not recognised as twins by the general public who often believe that twins always means children of the same sex. The fact that there may also be differences in growth at all stages may contribute to this, with the larger child assumed to be the older one. When the fetus is [...]
In my edited book TWIN AND TRIPLET PSYCHOLOGY I discuss the factors that may contribute to differences in identical twins which I will summarise here:- Our genes account for approximately half of the development of most psychological traits with non shared environment contributing to the rest. IQ has been shown to be much more gene [...]
Children like to attract their parents' attention. If they find that a piece of behaviour persuades the adult to stop whatever they are doing and concentrate on them, then they will keep repeating it like a squirrel pressing the lever for nuts. They've found out how to press our buttons! It doesn't seem to matter [...]