How much does a baby cost?

[PrettyFlowers]

As title really!

Me and OH will be TTC in a few months-a year and I just want a general idea. We don't have a mortgage, OH is on 2K a month and I'm on 1K a month. We don't have any debt and live a comfortable lifestyle.

Can someone please give me a rough estimate on what they spend per month on Bubba?

Thank you

 

[Amygdala]

A baby costs as much as you're willing to spend really. Now children, that's another story.
But a baby doesn't really need much in the beginning. In the UK, disposable nappies are about £5 a week, plus wipes. But you can go the cloth nappy route and save tons of money. If you go the cheapest route, you can get nappies and washable wipes for £100 all in.
You can spend money on toiletries but really, all baby needs is water and a few drops of olive or almond oil. You can spend £500-1000 on a travel system, or you can buy a wrap carrier on ebay and pay £20.
One thing I wouldn't personally scrimp on is a car seat, a Maxi Cosi Pebble with Isofix base, which was rated safest when we had LO, will cost you about £200. But there are cheaper ones.
You can spend £1k on nursery furniture, or you go to Ikea and buy it for £200 or ebay and get really high quality used stuff for £100.
Equally, you can spend a few hundred pounds on clothes but can find as-good-as-new (or often new!) stuff on ebay or at baby sales for pennies. Same goes for muslins, blankets, bedding etc.

In my experience, even with the initial big expenses, baby will just slot in with your household and you'll adjust financially. All in, we spent about £2k on initial expenses: equipment, furniture, pram, carrier, clothes etc. I bought lots of stuff but quite a lot second hand. We could have done it a lot cheaper if necessary though but equally could have spend much more.
Couldn't tell you a monthly cost but if you're comfortable now, you won't find it too much of a squeeze. Yeah, you spend money on baby but you also save money on going out.

 

[thayet]

I couldn't tell you the per-month cost of a baby (yet) but I can tell you how much the initial capital expenditures have run us:

- $1500 for furniture (solid wood convertible crib/bed and dresser/change table); you can easily spend less than this if you want to, but we wanted furniture that would grow with baby until he needed more adult-type stuff
- $350 for travel system (with carseat good up to 30 lbs); you will need a bigger carseat later, then a booster seat until they're like six or seven years old
- $200 ish on various decor items (lamp, window valence etc) - again you can go nuts spending money on a nursery or stick to basics

This is in Canadian dollars but you get the idea.. we got TONS of clothes from friends and neighbours so haven't spent a dime on those yet. Hoping my shower fills in the gaps in terms of what's missing (mattress, baby gate for stairs, bedding, breast pump/bottles, diaper bag etc etc etc). Long story short, it will cost you more than you think, initially, but the REAL costs come later (day care, educational savings, decreased mat leave income, stuff like that. And diapers are always expensive, even if you use cloth (think more laundry, using disposable liners, different sizes whatever).

The best advice I got was to live on what your maternity leave income will be for the last six months or so before baby comes, and put the "extra" income towards what baby needs. That way, you get used to living on less, and the baby costs are spread out over time.

Good luck!

 

[x__amour]

Honestly, I don't really think it's that bad, it just depends on how conservative you are. At bare minimum was $150-$200 a month for formula and diapers.

 

[zorak]

It honestly does not have to be expensive. I think we have spent less than $500 so far for essentials. We've been given lots of gently used pieces including the bassinet, infant chair, steriliser and clothes up until 6 months. My Mum is buying our crib as a gift (we are getting one from Ikea so it is on the cheaper end). If you are not afraid to use used stuff it can be extremely cheap. We have been so blessed by the generosity of our friends and family and fully intend on passing everything on to the next pregnant person we know.

 

[Mrs Doddy]

It's as long as a piece of string question really , formula would last a week, nappies maybe 4 or 5 days , clothes were long lasting as she was prem and small - her clothes last a whole season now so approx £150 spring/summer then autumn winter

 

[Mummy Bean]

As much as u want them to. We got 90% of our stuff from ebay/facebook/ bootsales or from friends family...so maybe £500 for initial out lay. Then depends if u cloth bum, breast feed, make ur own food ect ect.

the biggest expense is maternity leave and then child care. So if u have family to help out that saves 0000's

 

[jenniferttc1]

Everyone is different. The huge payment was actually carrying him and giving birth. I had to pay about 2k out of pocket in the US for my first. This baby, different insurance and will have to pay 6k out of pocket to the hospital.
Now once baby is here.
I nursed, so didn't have to pay a TON of money for formula. It's about 15.00 a can and last about 2 days, I've heard.
I grew my own garden in my back yard, and made his baby food at 6 months, so again, no paying ridiculous amount of money for jarred food that tasted like poop.
Diapers-They go through ALOT as newborns. I would say around 10-12 diapers a day. So probably around 80.00 a month in expensive diapers, or you can cut that almost in half going with cheap brands (they didn't work for my son as a tiny baby, but after 1 years old they did)
I had a baby shower so I didn't buy anything.
Crib-200.00
playpen-100.00
Swing/bouncer combo- 120.00
car seat 100.00
stroller- 130.00
They go through clothes so fast, and it mostly gets stained with vomit and poop, newborns tend to leak poop up their backs ALOT! So try getting hand me downs, or gently used in the beginning.
Now as a 19 month old I spend
Toys (not something he needs, you just can't help it!!) around 10-50.00 a month
Food, he eats what we eat
Diapers- he poops once a day, and holds his pee a lot longer now, we go through about 4 diapers sooo with the cheap LUVS brand I'd say around 35.00
Clothes- his grammie is a clothes fanatic, and I have tons of handme downs I was given by a family member so I never had to buy any.
Milk- he goes through about 1 gallon a week so about 14.00 a month
I buy lots of fresh fruits for him to snack on, probably about 50.00 a month.
Veggies I grew myself, and he loves them. I grew them all from seeds, so practically nothing at cost
I am a stay at home mom so no cost in childcare.
Here in the South US, where it's much cheaper than the north, It's around 900-1200 a month for full time child care for 1 baby

 

[lozzy21]

After the initial set up costs I'd say we spent around £100-150 a month extra on her, not including childcare. It's gone right down now were not paying for formula or nappys.

 

[catty]

Initial start up costs aside id say our 8 week old costs roughly £100 on an average month. He uses 5 boxes of formula -£50
Nappies £20ish
Wipes £5 ish
Anything I find any baby sales that will come in useful at sone point like dummies or feeding things, teething things etc £15

You must be prepared for having to spend more at some points eg. I had 12 tommee tippee bottles ready, he hated them so I had to go buy more as it wasnt an option not too.

We have an income of £1900 inc mat pay and manage just fine!!

Ul find ul get so many pressies, your aunties- cousins - neighbours dog will even appear with somethin.

I even got about 15 bottles of wine afterwards aswell as bath stuff for myself etc etc

Id say its not the baby that costs alot its the drop in income but if your oh is on £2000 and u dont have a mortgage then uv no worries... chikdren on the other hand.

 

[Larkspur]

If you're in Britain, the average cost of raising a child to the age of 21 is about 222,000 pounds, or something over 10,000 pounds a year.

Yes, there are set-up costs for nurseries, travel systems, etc for a baby, and there is the cost of nappies and formula if you FF, but it's actually the later years where you start getting into childcare and education costs when it really starts getting expensive.

Kids grow like weeds... the cot becomes a toddler bed, the toddler bed becomes a single bed, toys become more and more expensive, there are hobbies and outings and pocket money and family holidays and the food bill goes up and up, they want iPads and new clothes and so on and so on!

The baby stage is the cheap bit in my opinion!!

 

[PrettyFlowers]

Thank you everybody! You've all been a big help into giving me some idea.

I plan to breastfeed so hopefully I'll save some money there, and I also want to make baby's own food myself (not a fan of processed junk!) so I won't be spending loads on jared stuff either.

 

[Dream.dream]

Don't think any one has mentioned but your biggest expense will actually probably be child care or the drop in your income if you stay home .

I'm in Canada but my sons daycare a month was almost as much as my rent until this year when he started kindergarten.

 

[britt1986]

The baby will cost you as much or as little as you want.

If you buy used it will be a lot less expensive.
For example: I bought used for this baby.

$75 for a very nice crib and mattress
$15 for a swing and bouncer (bought from a friend so much more cheaper)
I have been given a good amount of clothing from a friend.
$50 for a like new travel system that is only a year old and doesn't expire until 2016.
I was given tons of diapers from a friend. Won a couple packs of diapers off of a barter site.

If you bought all new items, you are looking at $1,500 - $2,500 depending on what you buy.

Of course you will have your necessity expenses, formula, diapers, wipes, etc.

I will be having a baby shower, so I'm sure I will be getting more clothes, blankets, bottles, the necessities, etc.

My mom is buying me a pack n play and my sister in law has bought the baby bedding.

 

[Justagirlxx]

Where do you live? It costs so much differently in different parts of the country. If you end up formula feeding I pay upwards of 250 a month just for formula. A box of diapers costs around 20 which lasts me two weeks or more, and extra food when they get older isn't that much. You dont have to go all out and spend thousands on all the big starter stuff (crib, swing, bassinet, carseat, stroller, etc) if you buy it all used. They have some awesome consignment stores around my area where you can get really gently used practically new looking things. It all depends on how much you choose to spend. But I'd say per kid when they are on formula and in diapers and other random things I spend 400-500 a month on one not including what it costs to go on special trips like the zoo, pool, restaurants, bounce play places, etc. I live in New England

 

[AC1987]

Depends on where you live, whether you have maternity insurance or not(if you're in the US that is) etc...
For us its cost us in hospital bills about $20k+
Other stuff we pretty much got given or it was 2nd hand so it didn't cost us much.
Formula and diapers cost us a lot... if you plan to breastfeed that saves on formula but that's up to you, diapers you could always go cloth route or do both
I've always heard that you can never afford kids... unless you're loaded. LOL

 

[sojourn]

I made a google spreadsheet while we were trying to conceive. I talked to other moms and read a lot about things you'd need/want vs. things that were wasteful.

With breastfeeding (including pump accessories) and cloth diapering (including the utilities of extra laundry) and all of the other stuff, mostly purchasing second hand at upscale consignment shops. I got $2951.38 for the first year.

So far I am coming in under budget with every item. It helps that I research obsessively! I only work part time, so I always make it another part time job to save us enough money to make it worth it.

 

[samlee08]

I'm not being mean but this question I've heard so many times and is my biggest pet hate, (to how its worded) just because a baby/child costs only as much as you make it!

But honestly if you stock up on what your essential needs are I.e nappies wipes milk/powder (if you don't BF) baby wash shampoo neutral clothes for a newborn.

From about 22 weeks pregnant I bought nappies & wet wipes (when on sale too) every other time I did a food shop! So it don't cost loads at once and you barely notice a difference to the shopping bill! Plus when baby is here family & friends will more than likely buy the baby clothes & toys when it's born/birthdays/Xmas!

Someone mentioned about childcare and when you'd take maternity as your pay will decrease. This will have an impact on your lifestyle but you'd just have to adapt to it! Like cutting down on buying unnecessary items of food or clothes that you usually won't bat an eyelid too!

Just remember there's NEVER a right time to have a baby/child -- timing of your age and financially!! x

 

[PrettyFlowers]

Thank you everyone - you are all wonderful!

 

[Pearls18]

I don't find DS costs us a lot in our monthly budget (APART FROM CHILDCARE!!!! If you want to talk childcare that's a whole other matter) babies are more the initial payout for pushchair etc, food and nappies just absorb into food budgets for us. Then it's shoes, clothes, birthday and Christmas but these can be done as cheap/expensive as you want. For DS2 we saved £1000 for the initial payout as we had pushchair etc.