How much does a baby cost?

[tinkerbelle93]

In the 1st year they don't cost that much in my experience. If you breastfeed then food will cost literally nothing for 6 months and nappies and wipes worked out about £20 for me each month. I also bought his babies clothes in big bundles on Ebay where I'd get a ton of stuff for a fiver.

My son is going on 2 now, doesn't have formula and eats the same as us so only adds a little extra to the food bill. I guess he probably adds a little bit to the monthly bills as any person would but not a lot. His nappies and wipes are around £20 per month still. I spend maybe £100 on clothes every half year for him. We also spend extra money on toys and days out for him now too.

I think the biggest cost is having to either drop one whole income when you choose to stay at home, or footing the childcare bill if you decide to return to work (unless you have family to do it!) xx

 

[Noo]

I've realised babies are relatively cheap if you want them to be... Their 8 year old brother, however, is certainly not

 

[WantingABubba]

This is my first, so not sure, but I guess it just depends on your methods. I'm planning to breastfeed for at least a year or two, then when baby is eating solids, I'll cook the food and puree it. I have wrap carrier that I got free from freecycle, plus lots of clothes that I've been given or bought cheap from charity shops (really nice ones too). I will be co-sleeping and baby is gonna be in with me, plus I am getting given a moses basket. I'm planning to cloth nappy and hopefully EC too. I guess I can give a proper answer in 6 1/2 months though

 

[LoveSanrio]

We are expecting our 5th baby in November, and my DH makes about as much as you and your hubby combined in a month, and we do just fine. I stay home with the kiddos

 

[PrettyFlowers]

We are expecting our 5th baby in November, and my DH makes about as much as you and your hubby combined in a month, and we do just fine. I stay home with the kiddos

Number five - crikey! Kudos! How old are you if you don't mind me asking? You look very youthful!

 

[ShelbyLC]

Initial buys cost us approximately $500 on crib, blankets, sheets, boppy pillows, etc. And $400 on car seats. $100 for our stroller. We were given a swing and a bouncy chair. Monthly, we spend arouns $80 on diapers (Pampers), $20 on wipes (Huggies), and our utilities have gone up a bit with the extra washing and baths. We've overall spent around $500 or so on toys including jumperoo and play mats, and maybe $600 on clothes. Plus $300 for a breast pump.

That's for twins. I buy everything new usually because they were preemies and germs on things like toys and play mats freaked me out for a while. We splurged on car seats (Chicco Keyfits) and I buy them wayyyy too many clothes. It can be very cheap.

I read an article a few weeks ago about a woman in Canada who spent only $1000 during her daughter's first year of life.

 

[ShelbyLC]

Just wanted to add - this baby will add probably an extra $50 per month for diapers and wipes. We'll buy more blankets and if baby is a boy, we'll buy clothes. Otherwise, we're set.

Also, my twins add maybe an extra $60 or so to the monthly grocery bill. They eat what we eat, so I don't have to buy much extra, but I do buy more fresh food now which can cost more.

 

[Yipee]

I think the biggest, unavoidable expenses for most people are maternity leave/ loss of income if you don't go back to work, and childcare if you do. If you can survive on one income and stay home with baby, I think they can be pretty cheap.

My husband and I barely scrape by, and will continue to do so by being very, very thrifty. I'll breastfeed, so won't be buying formula, but buying better-quality food and taking supplements will cost a bit more each month, just like it has throughout this whole pregnancy. I do have a big veggie garden, so that helps a lot, but since getting pregnant I've been trying to eat less non-organic dairy and fruits, and avoid GMOs (which means buying organic corn products, organic canola oil, etc) so that adds up.

I bought cloth diapers, partially to save money and partially because I don't like the chemicals in disposables. I spent $400 on a variety of good-quality new and used ones, which should get me from birth to potty-training, and most will be useable for the next baby as well. Disposables can cost $1500-$3000 from birth to potty. I expect a small increase in my utility bills each month, but as long as I'm able to stick with the cloth I'll still be saving bundles.

We got all of our essentials (clothes, crib, car seat, 2 carriers, etc) 2nd-hand, either hand-me-downs or from yard sales/ thrift stores/ Ebay. Spent less than $150 for everything. They say not to get car seats used, but if you know the person it's coming from and know it hasn't been in an accident and is not expired, I think it's fine. I'd rather get a good-quality car seat 2nd-hand than buy the cheapest one (which is all I could afford) brand-new. Babies grow so fast, you can really get some very nice, barely used stuff for very little money.

 

[LoveSanrio]

We are expecting our 5th baby in November, and my DH makes about as much as you and your hubby combined in a month, and we do just fine. I stay home with the kiddos

Number five - crikey! Kudos! How old are you if you don't mind me asking? You look very youthful!

Awwww!! Thanks so much!! You totally just made my day. The pic of me in my avatar is from the beginning of this year. I am 30, will be 31 on October 18th

 

[PrettyFlowers]

We are expecting our 5th baby in November, and my DH makes about as much as you and your hubby combined in a month, and we do just fine. I stay home with the kiddos

Number five - crikey! Kudos! How old are you if you don't mind me asking? You look very youthful!

Awwww!! Thanks so much!! You totally just made my day. The pic of me in my avatar is from the beginning of this year. I am 30, will be 31 on October 18th

Holy smokes! No way. I was putting you at 19/20!

 

[LoveSanrio]

We are expecting our 5th baby in November, and my DH makes about as much as you and your hubby combined in a month, and we do just fine. I stay home with the kiddos

Number five - crikey! Kudos! How old are you if you don't mind me asking? You look very youthful!

Awwww!! Thanks so much!! You totally just made my day. The pic of me in my avatar is from the beginning of this year. I am 30, will be 31 on October 18th

Holy smokes! No way. I was putting you at 19/20!

Hahahaha!! OMG I love you right now LOL

 

[skye93]

Per month we spend just on nappies and formula $124 (aud) so 80 pounds.
He eats what we eat now so we don't pay for baby food.

Cot & bedroom furniture- $380
Pram - $150
Carseat - $150

Couldn't give an estimate on clothes, as we get the majority second hand (works out so much cheaper!)

 

[whittnie117]

So far we've bought the following:

4in1 Crib and changer:129.98
bassinet for the first 6 months: 125.00
double breast pump: 85.00
Travel system (car seat and stroller): 249.00
Swing: 150.00
play yard: 79.00
bottles for when I'm unable to breast feed: 25.00 for 6 +2 storage containers
breastmilk storage bags: 8.99 per 25
breast supplies..i.e. lanolin, pads: 8.99 a box/tube
room bedding/decorations: 125.00
diapers: luvs brand is 29.98 per 200-268 mega boxes
clothes to 12 months: 350.00
bathtime accessories: 50.00
bouncer: 19.00
tummy time mat:24.99
books:50.00
All in all the initial cost has been about 1500.00
But we had the extra money to buy a few extras. We still plan to buy a rocking swivel recliner for me and toys.

I also utilized groupon shopping, woot.com, zulily, and signed up for a bunch of e-mail clubs for children stores. I never paid more than 3.99 ( most were 2.00)per item or over 8.99 per outfit for clothes. I was able to buy just about whatever I wanted to clothe him until he is 12 months at a deep discount and I have a bunch of 18 month-24 month items as well. I also got almost everything I bought (except swing and travel system) clearanced or on a flash sale and about half off. A great way to get really nice things cheap. A really good site to use is baby cheapskate. It will tell you when sales are going.

Good luck

 

[sun]

We're on our 3rd and the cost of a baby can be anything from super cheap to very expensive. $1-2K a month is way way above what we spend on both kids. In my experience babies are very cheap - we do cloth diapers so there was a startup cost with my first, but with my second I didn't have to even buy diapers! I BF so haven't ever bought formula either. I would say the baby stage is super affordable.

Once they are older that's when I find it gets more expensive with things like soccer, swimming lessons, camps, memberships, etc!

 

[mommysurpriss]

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

It depends. We used cloth diapers and breast feed so we didn't have those monthly costs for formula or diapers.
When baby weaned, I pureed our food and fed him so we didn't have to buy baby food.
Now that he is two.. I am realizing that we only really spent about 100 a month on fun things like toys, baby gear and clothing. Sometimes more if I hit up a good sale and stocked up, sometimes less.

 

[mommysurpriss]

BUT I do have a 15 year old and twin 10 year olds and I will say that they are EXPENSIVE.
Between the shoes that they wear out quicker than they should, the clothes, the skateboards, the home school activities, the extracurricular sports, etc... omg going out to eat with 4 boys and a husband... super expensive lol

babies= cheap
kids= expensive