Whenever identical twins or triplets are born their parents will often be met with a cry of ‘how do you tell them apart?’ Well, one family has come up with their own way of making sure they can by colour coding their triplets’ toenails to tell them apart.

Mom and dad are very proud of their children. Karen and Ian Gilbert of Pontypool, South Wales, had to purchase bright nail polish to distinguish between their two little daughters.

Baby Ffion has Fuschia polish on her toenails, Maddison has mint green and Paige wears purple.

Mother Karen, 33, said: ‘It’s not a fashion statement we really struggle to tell them apart.’We came up with the nail varnish idea and it works a treat.’It makes life a lot easier when it comes to our daily routine of feeding, bathing, and nappy changing.’The colour coding helps us to know who has had what!’

‘We came up with the nail varnish idea and it works a treat.

‘It makes life a lot easier when it comes to our daily routine of feeding, bathing, and nappy changing.

‘The colour coding helps us to know who has had what!’

Karen and company director Ian matched the first letter of the baby’s name with the first letter of the shade of nail polish just to make sure they always get it right.

They hope as the little girls get older they will develop individual looks and personalities to help them tell one from another.

The triplets were 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 naturally from one egg – defying odds of 160,000-1, according to the Multiple Births Foundation.

Ffion weighed 3lbs 8oz, Maddison scaled 3lbs 5oz and Paige was just 3lb 4oz when they were born two months early after an emergency 𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.

The triplets celebrated their first birthday at the weekend after a ‘fun-filled year’ where everything had to be done in triplicate.

The family from Pontypool, South Wales, gets through more than 120 nappies and 84 bottles of formula milk a week.

Karen and company director dad Ian are hoping their daughters will develop individual looks and character traits as they get older – making it easier to tell them apart.

TV producers have used the triplets to play the same baby on screen because their identical looks mean they can be rotated during filming – to prevent a single baby from getting too tired.

Full-time mum Karen, from Pontypool, South Wales, said: “They are all TV stars before they reached the age of one.

“They are lovely little girls who have already brought us so much joy – in triplicate.

“It has been a frantic but fun-filled year.

“Going out is a military operation which we call ‘Operation Triplets’.

“We can’t just think, ‘Oh, shall we go out?’ We need at least 24 hours’ notice. It’s like packing to go on holiday every time we leave the house.

Their local Morrisons supermarket has ordered a treble baby seat shopping trolley to help the family.

And the triplets elder sister Faye, four, help out with the painting of their toenails.

Mum Karen said: “We have treble trouble – but we would not have it any other way.”