The Hasselquist triplets were welcomed into the world in January 2021. Knowing how difficult it can be to differentiate identical multiples, their family prevented any potential baby mix-ups by implementing a trick they’d learned from the staff at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU.) While in the hospital, Multiple Mom Crystal Hasselquist “talked to the nurses a lot and they [had] shared a lot of the different ways [that] other multiple moms have kind of color-coded their children to make sure they know who is who.” This simple, partial rainbow strategy proved incredibly useful, and the triplets were always dressed in “their colors” for easy identification. Thomas was red, Henrik was blue, and James was green. Having assigned the babies their own trademark color, the family figured they had solved the problem of how to tell their strikingly similar babies apart from one another. However, identical newborns confuse even their parents.
Especially when the three babies first arrived, it was hard to keep the colors apart. Having spent three months in the NICU, the newborns were greeted by a flood of well-wishers once they were finally discharged from the hospital. Once the baby boys got back home to Wisconsin, their Auntie Amy Jo Hasselquist recalled how there were “lots of friends and family in and out of the house…passing babies around.” While in the nursery, “everything has been color-coded – clothes, sleep sacks, cribs, blankets, coats,” there was a chance that in the constant shuffle of dirty diapers and spit-up that the system would get lost. Thankfully, the Hasselquist women added an extra trick in addition to the red-green-blue onesies to ensure that the boys would always be able to be identified.
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Multiple Mama Crystal “had a fear of mixing the babies up when they were young,” so she enlisted the help of the nursing staff. After hearing “a few different options [the nurses] shared with her,” she “landed on just painting one big toe” with nail polish. By coordinating the nail color with the red-green-blue system, she made differentiating the babies a breeze.
Seeing the success of the simple nail polish trick, Auntie Hasselquist, who describes herself as the “world’s okayest aunt,” shared the life (with multiples) hack via her TikTok to the delight of triplets and their families everywhere. On striking a chord with such an unexpected audience, Auntie Hasselquist said, “so many people [are] sharing the same stories about how they were color-coded” or “how they color-coded their kids.”
The task of differentiating the babies also got easier as they grew. Older now, “they have personalities and they have small differences.” Hasselquist explained how Henrik has emerged as “the leader” and the “goofball.” Meanwhile, James became the “sweetheart” who is “always smiling.” And Thomas developed into “the thinker,” who “will look at you and wonder what you’re up to.”
However, one member of the family that never needed nail polish or anything to tell the babies apart is their older brother, Peter, who is three. Auntie Hasselquist relayed how the toddler seemed to instinctively be able to identify his siblings. “He was probably the first one to be able to know who was who without ever having to second guess,” she explained “Even if we change the colors of their clothes and toes, [Peter] would still know.”
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