Triplets So Identical Parents Have To Paint Their Toenails To Tell Them Apart

1/14 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!'

2/14 They trio was conceived naturally from one egg - against the odds of 160,000-1 according to the Multiple Births Foundation.

3/14 Karen and Ian hope as the little girls get older they will develop individual looks and personalities to help them tell one from another.

4/14 The family from Pontypool, South Wales, gets through more than 120 nappies and 84 bottles of formula milk a week.

5/14 The little girls' nail polish.

6/14 The trio are already earning their keep with appearances on TV's Casualty and the family drama Stella.

7/14 Ffion, Maddison and Paige, weighing 3lb 8oz, 3lb 5oz and 3lb 4oz, were delivered via emergency caesarean section two months early.

8/14 The couple have a four-year-old little girl Faye, pictured here between her parents, who tries to help out by painting the babies toe nails.

11/14 The family's local supermarket even ordered a treble baby seat shopping trolley to help the family.

12/14 Karen said: '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. 'We have a triple pushchair and we've had to get a bigger car, a seven seater Ford Galaxy.'

13/14 The couple have a four-year-old little girl Faye who tries to help out by painting the babies toe nails. Karen said: 'We have treble trouble - but we would not have it any other way.'