As a grandmother of four year old twin girls, I often ponder what baby gifts to give them for holidays and birthdays. A lot of the answers I have discovered depend on how the Mother dresses them.

Tip 1. Find out whether the Mother wants to dress the babies alike or different. If she has matching baby boy and baby girl outfits for every occasion or has her two twin sons or daughters dressed identically, then you should send two of whatever you choose. They should be exactly alike. If they are two blankets, it is permissible to buy a pink for the girl and a blue baby blanket for the boy, but make sure they are the same identical baby blanket.

Tip 2. If the Mother is more modern and wants to dress her twins differently, then you have more flexibility in what you choose as the gift. Now you need to find out what the Mother’s favorite color is or what color she has chosen for the nursery. This way you can coordinate the blankets, towels or outfits to the color palette that matches the nursery.

Tip 3. If you are going to buy totally different gifts for twins; they should cost approximately the same amount.

Tip 4. It is a good idea to buy gifts that have something in common. For example, buy two towels that are totally different or buy two security blankets that are different colors and have different animal heads.

Tip 5. Twins love to share. When you gift clothing, try to buy tops and bottoms that are interchangeable so that if one twin wants to wear the top of one outfit; it will match the bottom of the other outfit.

Tip 6. If you want to individualize either identical or totally different gifts, you can always have them embroidered with baby’s three letter monogram, initial or name.

Tip 7. Sometimes, you can find one gift that is meant for two. For example, there are shopping cart covers for twins or strollers designed especially for twins.

Tip 8. Books are a great gift for twins. Make sure that you select a board book so that it will last through sticky fingers and sippy cup spills. In this case, you would usually buy different books that they could share. One caveat, if a twin has a favorite book, make sure to get two of the same because they might not share their favorite book.

When twins are older; it becomes much simpler to find gifts for them. This past holiday season, I asked my two granddaughters who are fraternal twins to help me select their gifts. One wanted a Fancy Nancy purse in purple; the other wanted a telescope. No gifts could be so different as their two choice. I gave them both what they wanted and they were delighted and I was certainly glad I checked with them before I spent a lot of money on gifts they didn’t want.