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It often isn’t planned to have twins or to deliver one child, and then shortly after finding out you are expecting a second. This doesn’t allow much time for the women to heal, but every child is a miracle in God’s eyes.
Some research has shown the risk of Irish Twins (or the second child), as well as the mother. Every situation, though, is unique. You still want to continue to be monitored by your physician.
Table of Contents
What is the definition of Twins?
Twins are having two children born at the same time. However, twins can be further classified as fraternal and identical. Fraternal twins are when there are two different eggs that are fertilized and may not have the same sex or appearance. Identical twins are conceived from a single egg and look exactly alike.
What does Irish Twin’s Mean?
The age difference between Irish twins is classified as having delivered two infants within twelve months (1-year).
My Conclusion on the differences:
- If you have are lucky to have both Irish Twins within the same year as me then you get the same Tax benefit as having twins. Otherwise, you will have one in one year followed by two the next year (one for each child). The tax benefit often lasts until they are 17. At this point, they can then claim themselves as independent and not dependent under the parent.
- With twins, you have one delivery of two children, which results in a quicker recovery time than having Irish twins due to conceiving and delivering another infant before a year. It does not allow your body enough time to recover and replenish some of the necessary nutrients that are lost during pregnancy.
- Often many think that the second child will learn so much from the first. It is true, but it doesn’t mean that there is a shorter time for learning specific material or life lessons.
- Potty Training – If you have twins, you can potty train both children at the same time, however, you will need two of everything and will likely have double the amount of wash all at the same time. For Irish twins, it just takes twice as long, but the positive is you necessarily only need one children’s toilet due to once the oldest is potty trained the youngest can start using the toddler potty.
- Clothing for twins you will need two of everything. With Irish Twins, the best thing is after they are at the toddler stage, the clothes will either go from your oldest to your youngest child’s dresser. However, if they are in the same size at a stage, then you are at a bigger win! Well, maybe in my opinion, because sometimes sorting wash with all the different sizes can become aggravating.
- Newborn Necessities- For twins, you need two of everything, were with Irish Twins you really don’t. You can transfer your oldest to a toddler seat at the dining room table while letting your youngest use the Highchair when they are ready. I wrote a post on this previously and it has even more details of the variations. I recommend you check it out.
- Toys- Often with twins, many will buy two of everything including raddles, teething toys, and play mats. Being so close in age my boys have learned to share their toys. However, you will constantly be buying toys to further challenging your oldest. You do end up maximizing the value of that toy(s) or gadget(s) as your youngest will be learning to play with it too. So, in the end, you get more bang for your buck with Irish twins here. However, you must purchase high-quality toys if you want them to last long enough for both children.
- Bath Time- With twins, you can absolutely use one bathtub and make it an assembly line. No judgment here, especially because twins or Irish twins at bathtime, can be challenging. Honestly, though during the newborn stage it is best to have someone there to help. You don’t take your eyes off the children while in the bathtub even for split second. For Irish twins, you will just be passing the infant tub down to the youngest while upgrading your oldest to a bathtub seat. However, there will come a time when the twins are in the toddler stage that they will both need a bathtub seat for support.
Celebrities that had back to back kids (Irish Twins):
It is a lot harder than you think to have Irish twins unless you have a lot of luck. Below are some fantastic celebrities that had blessings back to back within 12 months or less.
- Britney Spears – September 2006 birth of her second son Jayden James only 12 months after welcoming Sean Preston.
- Tori Spelling – Only ten months after welcoming daughter Hattie in October 2011, Tori Spelling added a fourth child to the mix with the birth of son Finn.
- Kerri Walsh-Jennings – Olympian Volleyball Player – Is a mom to two boys, Joey and Sundance. They are Irish twins, being only 11 months apart in age. She wanted this though and hopes that their close age makes them very close brothers and friends.
Do you know of any more differences between twins and Irish twins? I would love to know! I am currently also working on the similarities too so please stay tuned.
Sincerely,
vanessa says
I did not know about Irish twins, when I first saw this I just thought you were Irish ☺️ my sis is Mexican but has Irish twins! I have 2.5 years between my 3 kids. I definitely rebounded much faster than my sis. However, she was able to get all the baby stuff aka diapers, bottles, baby food, faster than me. I’m still wiping butts! Thanks for the great info. I like learning new things and you surprized me here. I’m gonna tell my sis she has Irish twins. You piqued my curiosity with the taxes.
The Irish Twin's Momma says
YAY! I am so happy you enjoyed it! I was so shocked when I to claim both kids on my taxes in the same year.
Lauren says
Great info! My husband was hoping for twins, but it didn’t happen for us.
The Irish Twin's Momma says
Mine was too and it didn’t happen, but then again we did have Irish Twins.
Cate says
I have a twin brother! He passed away at birth, and so I’ve always been super interested in anything that has to do with twins and how they grow up. I’m sure twins and Irish twins are both super challenging and tiring, but also, what a blessing!
The Irish Twin's Momma says
I am so sorry to hear that. I do have to agree you are absolutely right about challenging and tiring, but also a blessing. Watching them sleep melts my heart… not in the creepy way just that they grow up so quick.
Janice says
I think Irish twins would be a lot of fun (and work)! I had three in 3.5 years and I don’t have enough hands! Never thought about the tax benefits, great article.
Karissa says
I honestly never knew the difference of this until now! I’ve always heard the phrase but never thought anything of it so that’s really cool to know 🙂 thanks for sharing this info!
The Irish Twin's Momma says
Thank you so much for stopping by and checking it out.
Breanne says
This was fun for me to read because my husband is an Irish twin and he and his (slightly) older brother could not be more opposite! Both identical and fraternal twins run in my family too.
Cynthia says
This was so interesting. I didn’t know that was called Irish twins 🙂 That’s awesome about the tax credit. Thanks for sharing!
Brooke Selb says
My kids maybe two years apart, but we still do a joint bath time. We were separating it, but it was taking entirely too long! We will have to break it up more once this third baby arrives.
The Irish Twin's Momma says
Congratulations! That would take to long separating it. Sometimes I wish they would just shower instead.
Jenny Bhatia says
Mine are exactly two years apart, and that was challenging enough for me physically and mentally. I guess it is what it is and you make it the time of your life and theirs, no matter the age difference. Having them in close age is fun at school and in sports. They can help out each other (and compete, of course).
The Irish Twin's Momma says
Of course, competition is every day it feels like.
Jen Towkaniuk says
I had never heard of Irish Twins before. Interesting about the tax implications and how they learn from each other. Really informative article!
Adriane says
Very insightful! What about three born in one year? I”ve had TWO friends who had one, then before the next year, had a set of twins. The one family’s single child and twins are only 8 months apart because the twins were super early and they got pregnant when their child was 1 month! The girls are all in the same grade!
The Irish Twin's Momma says
WOW! That is absolutely amazing!
Stacy says
Great read about the differences in twins and Irish twins! I know several people that have Irish twins.
Lisa Van Groningen says
I have twin brothers. But I had no idea there was such a thing as Irish twins. Like others said I thought is was because you were Irish. Great info. Learned something new and the tax benefit info was great too.
Lisa Santangelo says
Twin Mom here! I never really thought about it, but I am sure that having Irish Twins is very similar to having actual twins.
The Irish Twin's Momma says
There definitely is a lot of similarities. I am a twin myself. I am working on that post currently and will be out soon!
Jacki says
Yes!!! I’ve been saying this, but I feel shunned by the twin mom community. I can relate to about 75% to what I hear you guys struggle with, but I’m told “You don’t get it. Yours are singletons.” . My oldest is two years older than my middle daughter. My second and third are the Irish twins. I promise the 2 year gap was WAYYY easier to deal with! I never could have imagined how difficult it would be to have kids 1 year apart.
Gina Abernathy says
I did not know about Irish twins. My sister was born in October and I was born the following September. I just called her and told her we were Irish twins. So fun to know! I enjoyed your post.
The Irish Twin's Momma says
🙂 Thank you so much for stopping by and reading! I really appreciate it.
Amanda says
I loved reading this article! I have twin myself, one boy and one girl. I thought when I was pregnant that I would need two of everything, but in reality we really didn’t! Yes, we have 2 high chairs and 2 cribs, but we only have one potty seat, we had one baby bath, one baby swing, one baby jumper, play mat, etc. I think with twins (or Irish twins) they really learn to share quite well, since they grow up being used to having another sibling in the same or relatively same development stage.
Thanks for sharing!
The Irish Twin's Momma says
I definitely agree with the sharing! Also, you really don’t need 2 of everything especially a potty seat. How often are they really going to have to go at the same time? Now the competition is another thing I just haven’t wrapped my head around, but mine do compete who peed the quickest and other crazy things. Thank you so much for stopping by.
Lauren says
I am an Irish twin! Love being so close in age to my sister. We are 20 months apart. We grew up having the same friends and she has always been my best friend.
Sonia Motwani says
I can feel how challenging it becomes dealing with twins. I had twin cousins but one of them died due to the unavailability of his blood group. I don’t know if it’s true but people say that if you have twins, one is weaker and the other is stronger/smarter. I am yet to reach that stage though.