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I'm currently overdue with our first baby, but here is what I've learned and what I know.
Babies, especially newborns, don't need NEARLY as much stuff as the stores like you to believe.
People gave us a lot of clothes (definitely need!), diapers, toys, blankets, a rocking sleeper, and a swing/bouncy. Where we had to spend the money was on his car seats, crib (not 100% necessary so if you're on a budget it can wait imo), stroller, manual breast pump, cloth diapers/wipes, rocking chair, and baby carriers (Sleepy Wrap and Ergo). We re purposed a dresser as the changing table.
If he really needs anything else, we've decided to wait and find out what works best! I wouldn't over buy or stock up on trendy products until you know you'll use them, unless somebody buys them for you. Be prepared in the first year though to probably realize you need more diapers than you ever imagined, new toys/clothes as LO gets bigger, feeding stuff for starting solids, etc.
All that said, I have to say that I KNOW based on my own research a few of the things we bought will be indispensable - things like the baby carriers! Those were important to us. But other things weren't - it depends on your parenting style!
Babies, especially newborns, don't need NEARLY as much stuff as the stores like you to believe.
People gave us a lot of clothes (definitely need!), diapers, toys, blankets, a rocking sleeper, and a swing/bouncy. Where we had to spend the money was on his car seats, crib (not 100% necessary so if you're on a budget it can wait imo), stroller, manual breast pump, cloth diapers/wipes, rocking chair, and baby carriers (Sleepy Wrap and Ergo). We re purposed a dresser as the changing table.
If he really needs anything else, we've decided to wait and find out what works best! I wouldn't over buy or stock up on trendy products until you know you'll use them, unless somebody buys them for you. Be prepared in the first year though to probably realize you need more diapers than you ever imagined, new toys/clothes as LO gets bigger, feeding stuff for starting solids, etc.
All that said, I have to say that I KNOW based on my own research a few of the things we bought will be indispensable - things like the baby carriers! Those were important to us. But other things weren't - it depends on your parenting style!
Your major, major expense is going to be childcare, or the loss of income from staying home. Everything else pales beside that.
You mention hospital fees, so I assume you are in the US. If you are in the US, medical bills are your second greatest expense. If you have insurance, you should look and see if you have a "annual max out of pocket limit" in your policy. That gives you an upper limit (though note when your plan year begins and ends). Note, however, how much your monthly premiums will go up (this could be nothing, could be over a hundred a month) and what your deductible is: remember, the baby will have his own deductible (though he may be covered under yours for 24 or 48 hours). Babies go to the doctor a lot the first year, so pay attention to your office visit co-pay if you have one, and I'd assume you'd be paying that once a month on average for the first year, along with at least one ER trip.
If you do not have insurance, there is no way to predict: a simple, uncomplicated pregnancy handled by a midwife in a birthing center or a home birth can be as little as $3000 including prenatal care. But if you have to have a C-section (which approx. 25% of women do), it would be $20-40K easily before you were done, and if there are complications--like the baby has to spend a week or two in the NICU--the bills could be six figures. That's unlikely, though.
As far as stuff goes: I have gotten a lot of gifts, but even so I suspect that we will end up spending a couple thousand dollars on baby stuff before he's born. Those $100-$300 items add up quickly (high chair, crib, co-sleeper, crib mattress, car seat, stroller, chest of drawers, swing, breast pump). Not each of those things is absolutely required, but, as I said, they do add up. The little stuff adds up more slowly, but there is a lot of it: not just clothes, but sheets and towels and bottles and blankets. There's also diapers and, if you formula feed, formula. I am not sure what those are going to run, but hopefully someone else can chime in.
You mention hospital fees, so I assume you are in the US. If you are in the US, medical bills are your second greatest expense. If you have insurance, you should look and see if you have a "annual max out of pocket limit" in your policy. That gives you an upper limit (though note when your plan year begins and ends). Note, however, how much your monthly premiums will go up (this could be nothing, could be over a hundred a month) and what your deductible is: remember, the baby will have his own deductible (though he may be covered under yours for 24 or 48 hours). Babies go to the doctor a lot the first year, so pay attention to your office visit co-pay if you have one, and I'd assume you'd be paying that once a month on average for the first year, along with at least one ER trip.
If you do not have insurance, there is no way to predict: a simple, uncomplicated pregnancy handled by a midwife in a birthing center or a home birth can be as little as $3000 including prenatal care. But if you have to have a C-section (which approx. 25% of women do), it would be $20-40K easily before you were done, and if there are complications--like the baby has to spend a week or two in the NICU--the bills could be six figures. That's unlikely, though.
As far as stuff goes: I have gotten a lot of gifts, but even so I suspect that we will end up spending a couple thousand dollars on baby stuff before he's born. Those $100-$300 items add up quickly (high chair, crib, co-sleeper, crib mattress, car seat, stroller, chest of drawers, swing, breast pump). Not each of those things is absolutely required, but, as I said, they do add up. The little stuff adds up more slowly, but there is a lot of it: not just clothes, but sheets and towels and bottles and blankets. There's also diapers and, if you formula feed, formula. I am not sure what those are going to run, but hopefully someone else can chime in.
lucyb
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I'm also Aussie, so talking in Aussie dollars. I can't really give you an actual figure (I don't even want to know haha!), but here's what I've learned.
I never thought to get a pram that you can build on (for toddler and newborn), so went with what I loved/trendiest, which was the Bugaboo Bee - $1200. While I adore the Bee, we are now expecting our second, and need a new pram! (Granted, the Bee was a gift, but still!)
As a newborn, our bub was wetting through nappies, and some days we were going through 3 to 4 changes of clothes. Don't underestimate how many singlets and onesies you'll need! If you can, don't take tags off clothes until you are ready to use them. They may only be in 0000 clothes for a short amount of time, and even Bonds stuff is pretty expensive these days.
Footless onesies may last you a bit longer than the ones with feet in.
Don't buy a breast pump until you are sure you can breast feed (not being negative, I just know so many women that wanted to but it wasn't for them). Again, I was given a brand new one which went unused (I breast fed for 9 months but didn't have the need to use a pump, and was happy to use formula on the odd occasion I wasn't around).
Everyone told me to get a 'Milk Bar' (a breast feeding pillow) but I wanted to wait and see, and I'm glad I didn't. A cushion sufficed in the beginning and then I didn't need anything as we got faster and more comfortable.
I had Billy at a private hospital in Brisbane with an obstetrician (and private health insurance). For a 5 day stay in a private room with my husband, I *think* we were out of pocket about $1000.
Our babybjorn was an absoloute godsend and living in Tokyo, I could not have done without it, however our son is a tall, solid lad and became too heavy for me to carry much earlier than normal. I think it would have been a different story if I had an Ergo (option to carry on the back) so am probably going to get on of those for our second.
We splashed out with our high chair and got the Stokke Tripp Trapp (about $350), but it's well worth it. Not necessary til 5 - 6 months though.
We went without a change table (no space in Japanese apartments!), and just used a change table mat on a bed/floor/wherever, so I don't see them as a necessity though I'm sure many would disagree.
It's hard with your first as you want everything to be perfect, so I decorated the nursery beautifully with expensive, good quality Kaloo and perfect matching colours. Of course, he never used/noticed any of it, and I would have rather saved the money to decorate his 'big boys' room which he appreciates now!
The babybjorn bouncer we bought was also well worth the money.
Sorry, this is been quite all over the place... you'll have to excuse my random thoughts. I hope it has been of some help! Good luck
I never thought to get a pram that you can build on (for toddler and newborn), so went with what I loved/trendiest, which was the Bugaboo Bee - $1200. While I adore the Bee, we are now expecting our second, and need a new pram! (Granted, the Bee was a gift, but still!)
As a newborn, our bub was wetting through nappies, and some days we were going through 3 to 4 changes of clothes. Don't underestimate how many singlets and onesies you'll need! If you can, don't take tags off clothes until you are ready to use them. They may only be in 0000 clothes for a short amount of time, and even Bonds stuff is pretty expensive these days.
Footless onesies may last you a bit longer than the ones with feet in.
Don't buy a breast pump until you are sure you can breast feed (not being negative, I just know so many women that wanted to but it wasn't for them). Again, I was given a brand new one which went unused (I breast fed for 9 months but didn't have the need to use a pump, and was happy to use formula on the odd occasion I wasn't around).
Everyone told me to get a 'Milk Bar' (a breast feeding pillow) but I wanted to wait and see, and I'm glad I didn't. A cushion sufficed in the beginning and then I didn't need anything as we got faster and more comfortable.
I had Billy at a private hospital in Brisbane with an obstetrician (and private health insurance). For a 5 day stay in a private room with my husband, I *think* we were out of pocket about $1000.
Our babybjorn was an absoloute godsend and living in Tokyo, I could not have done without it, however our son is a tall, solid lad and became too heavy for me to carry much earlier than normal. I think it would have been a different story if I had an Ergo (option to carry on the back) so am probably going to get on of those for our second.
We splashed out with our high chair and got the Stokke Tripp Trapp (about $350), but it's well worth it. Not necessary til 5 - 6 months though.
We went without a change table (no space in Japanese apartments!), and just used a change table mat on a bed/floor/wherever, so I don't see them as a necessity though I'm sure many would disagree.
It's hard with your first as you want everything to be perfect, so I decorated the nursery beautifully with expensive, good quality Kaloo and perfect matching colours. Of course, he never used/noticed any of it, and I would have rather saved the money to decorate his 'big boys' room which he appreciates now!
The babybjorn bouncer we bought was also well worth the money.
Sorry, this is been quite all over the place... you'll have to excuse my random thoughts. I hope it has been of some help! Good luck
She was BF too.For us, it hasn't been nearly as expensive as people/shops/newspaper articles made out! We didn't buy anything in advance because Sophie was born at 27 weeks and was in neonatal for 12 weeks, so we just bought what we really needed once she was here. We also got a lot of things on loan from my brother and sister-in-law, such as the moses basket, Rainforest swing and bouncer. We used the moses basket till Sophie was a year old (!) and have only just stopped using the swing so much now - it was a godsend though.
I did use a breast pump a lot because of Sophie being in NICU but as someone else advised, I'd wait to see how you get on with BF first. You can always hand express if you're desperate - I had to do that till I got one.
After the initial outlay for the pram, cot, car seat, high chair etc etc it wasn't all that bad at all. We got loads of clothes in presents which lasted Sophie for the first 6 months or so. We did need a lot of clothes at the start because she had reflux so needed lots of outfit changes every day - we needed lots of sleepsuits and vests too. As she's got bigger and grown out of the reflux, we've actually found that it's more stressful having too many clothes because I just get stressed about whether she'll get through them all or waste some of them
Oh and I would say don't buy too many newborn outfits to start with - you will probably get loads in presents, and I know with a lot of fullterm babies, they've not been in newborn for very long. Sophie was in it for months but she was so tiny.
We got a breastfeeding pillow but I didn't find it as comfy as a normal pillow or cushion for feeding.
One thing we couldn't have done without was a large supply of muslins!! A friend bought us two packs of them when Sophie was born and I don't know what we'd have done without them in the early refluxy days!
That's all I can think of for now but if I think of anythign else I'll come back!
ETA at the moment all we seem to be buying is nappies and wipes. She's now eating what we are eating and has been in 6-9 month clothes since April! I have given up work to be a SAHM, DH isn't in a hugely well paid job and we are still managing ok.
I did use a breast pump a lot because of Sophie being in NICU but as someone else advised, I'd wait to see how you get on with BF first. You can always hand express if you're desperate - I had to do that till I got one.
After the initial outlay for the pram, cot, car seat, high chair etc etc it wasn't all that bad at all. We got loads of clothes in presents which lasted Sophie for the first 6 months or so. We did need a lot of clothes at the start because she had reflux so needed lots of outfit changes every day - we needed lots of sleepsuits and vests too. As she's got bigger and grown out of the reflux, we've actually found that it's more stressful having too many clothes because I just get stressed about whether she'll get through them all or waste some of them
Oh and I would say don't buy too many newborn outfits to start with - you will probably get loads in presents, and I know with a lot of fullterm babies, they've not been in newborn for very long. Sophie was in it for months but she was so tiny.
We got a breastfeeding pillow but I didn't find it as comfy as a normal pillow or cushion for feeding.
One thing we couldn't have done without was a large supply of muslins!! A friend bought us two packs of them when Sophie was born and I don't know what we'd have done without them in the early refluxy days!
That's all I can think of for now but if I think of anythign else I'll come back!
ETA at the moment all we seem to be buying is nappies and wipes. She's now eating what we are eating and has been in 6-9 month clothes since April! I have given up work to be a SAHM, DH isn't in a hugely well paid job and we are still managing ok.
I completely agree with the other posters - that first year doesn't have to be nearly as expensive as it is made out to be! We were lucky enough to be gifted many items and received a lot of hand me downs that were in excellent shape. That said, the biggest expenses in the first year in the US were (as previously mentioned I think - and warning super long!):
1. Insurance/Medical care - our first was covered under my insurance initially and we had to pay her premiums, which was about $150/paycheck, or $300 a month! The actual prenatal care, labor, delivery, and recovery costs ran about $2k (we used a payment plan for the prenatal care), and the co-pay for office visits was $25, and she went at least 12 times that first year - happily no ER visits for us though! During my second pregnancy, I was double covered by my insurance and my husband's. My company pays my premium, and on his it was part of a family deal so all four of us were covered for about the same cost as just covering my first daughter on my insurance. We had zero out of pocket for pre-natal, and I believe labor/delivery/recovery was something pretty comparatively too - under $500. No co-pays because of the dbl coverage.
2. Carseat/stroller/bassinette: I recommend spending money on a new carseat. Used carseats can be ok, but that and cribs are the iffiest used item you can get for a baby. The good news is, if you don't plan on driving you don't actually need the carseat. We were able to use the same carseat/stroller/bassinette for both girls - but combined that ran about $500, especially if you include the sheets for the bassinette and the carseat cover for winter.
3. Crib/mattress - we were blessed to receive a gorgeous second hand crib from my in-laws, AND they bought a brand new mattress. If we were buying both new, it would have been ~$500+ for the crib, and $120 for the mattress. We also received sheets from my family - I was shocked at how many sheets you can go through!
4. Diapers - whether you are doing your own cloth, using a cloth diaper service, or using disposables, this will be one of the primary expenses. We used a combination of diaper service (first 6 weeks were gifted both babies, we paid for the next 6 months but I cannot remember how much it was, probably around $120/month...). We also used disposables - figure out what brand you like, estimate that your newborn will go through 12 a day for the first 6 weeks, 10 a day for the next 6 weeks, and then probably steady off at 8 a day for the rest of the year... and that's how many diapers you'll need.
5. Formula and/or breastpump - I breastfed with my first, and bought a mid-line bump a few weeks in. With my second, my supply could not keep up by 4 months (too much stress), even though I had bought a high-end pump ($300+), so we ended up supplementing with formula, which was more expensive than I had guessed - probably added $50 every two weeks, and that was only for a bottle or so a day as I was still breastfeeding.
6. Clothes - we got a TON of hand me downs, and a ton of gifts. We probably only spent $200 the entire first year on clothes, and none of it was really necessary. You can get great deals on gently used clothes at a lot of places, and there are good discount places for new items as well. If you avoid name-brand, trendy spots you can save a bundle. Even if your baby has reflux or excessive drooling, buying a bunch of inexpensive bibs can cut down on how many outfit changes you need in a day and was a lifesaver for us.
7. Towels, washcloths, blankets, burp cloths, changing pads - this depends on whether you want to spend a lot of time doing laundry frequently, in which case you can get away with fewer, or if you are ok with buying several of each of these and doing laundry less frequently (i.e. daily versus twice a week or once a week). We went through ~8 burp cloths a day, but we got most of ours second hand from relatives. We'd go through ~4 blankets a day as well, and at least 3 changing pads. You can easily spend $100 and have enough of these to last, or spend twice that and do laundry less often.
8. Toys - Newborns don't need much, but as the baby gets older toys and books become handy. Slightly used toys are *great* ways to save money, but you have to be a bit choosier with the toys than the clothes, as some toys are hard/impossible to get properly clean. A good rule of thumb that we went by is to bring the baby with us when we went to buy diapers, and only buy 1 toy max each trip - so if she showed interest in an item, that would be the toy we bought that trip. We went a bit overboard, and between the hand me downs and new toys we are overloaded! Even so, the main 'toy' expense is the exersaucer and the bouncer - $40 for the bouncer, $75 for the exersaucer. Plan on about $250 total for toys & books in the first year. You can easily spend more, but it isn't necessary, especially if you are comfortable converting normal household items into toys - tupperware, pots/pans, stuff like that.
I am sure I am missing something - like babysitting/childcare costs if you go back to work, or the lost income if you don't go back to work - those can range so vastly depending on whether you have friends/family to watch the baby or a nanny or a daycare. Our expenses on that front ranged from 0/month to $1200/month when we had two in daycare at once.
Hope that helps!
1. Insurance/Medical care - our first was covered under my insurance initially and we had to pay her premiums, which was about $150/paycheck, or $300 a month! The actual prenatal care, labor, delivery, and recovery costs ran about $2k (we used a payment plan for the prenatal care), and the co-pay for office visits was $25, and she went at least 12 times that first year - happily no ER visits for us though! During my second pregnancy, I was double covered by my insurance and my husband's. My company pays my premium, and on his it was part of a family deal so all four of us were covered for about the same cost as just covering my first daughter on my insurance. We had zero out of pocket for pre-natal, and I believe labor/delivery/recovery was something pretty comparatively too - under $500. No co-pays because of the dbl coverage.
2. Carseat/stroller/bassinette: I recommend spending money on a new carseat. Used carseats can be ok, but that and cribs are the iffiest used item you can get for a baby. The good news is, if you don't plan on driving you don't actually need the carseat. We were able to use the same carseat/stroller/bassinette for both girls - but combined that ran about $500, especially if you include the sheets for the bassinette and the carseat cover for winter.
3. Crib/mattress - we were blessed to receive a gorgeous second hand crib from my in-laws, AND they bought a brand new mattress. If we were buying both new, it would have been ~$500+ for the crib, and $120 for the mattress. We also received sheets from my family - I was shocked at how many sheets you can go through!
4. Diapers - whether you are doing your own cloth, using a cloth diaper service, or using disposables, this will be one of the primary expenses. We used a combination of diaper service (first 6 weeks were gifted both babies, we paid for the next 6 months but I cannot remember how much it was, probably around $120/month...). We also used disposables - figure out what brand you like, estimate that your newborn will go through 12 a day for the first 6 weeks, 10 a day for the next 6 weeks, and then probably steady off at 8 a day for the rest of the year... and that's how many diapers you'll need.
5. Formula and/or breastpump - I breastfed with my first, and bought a mid-line bump a few weeks in. With my second, my supply could not keep up by 4 months (too much stress), even though I had bought a high-end pump ($300+), so we ended up supplementing with formula, which was more expensive than I had guessed - probably added $50 every two weeks, and that was only for a bottle or so a day as I was still breastfeeding.
6. Clothes - we got a TON of hand me downs, and a ton of gifts. We probably only spent $200 the entire first year on clothes, and none of it was really necessary. You can get great deals on gently used clothes at a lot of places, and there are good discount places for new items as well. If you avoid name-brand, trendy spots you can save a bundle. Even if your baby has reflux or excessive drooling, buying a bunch of inexpensive bibs can cut down on how many outfit changes you need in a day and was a lifesaver for us.
7. Towels, washcloths, blankets, burp cloths, changing pads - this depends on whether you want to spend a lot of time doing laundry frequently, in which case you can get away with fewer, or if you are ok with buying several of each of these and doing laundry less frequently (i.e. daily versus twice a week or once a week). We went through ~8 burp cloths a day, but we got most of ours second hand from relatives. We'd go through ~4 blankets a day as well, and at least 3 changing pads. You can easily spend $100 and have enough of these to last, or spend twice that and do laundry less often.
8. Toys - Newborns don't need much, but as the baby gets older toys and books become handy. Slightly used toys are *great* ways to save money, but you have to be a bit choosier with the toys than the clothes, as some toys are hard/impossible to get properly clean. A good rule of thumb that we went by is to bring the baby with us when we went to buy diapers, and only buy 1 toy max each trip - so if she showed interest in an item, that would be the toy we bought that trip. We went a bit overboard, and between the hand me downs and new toys we are overloaded! Even so, the main 'toy' expense is the exersaucer and the bouncer - $40 for the bouncer, $75 for the exersaucer. Plan on about $250 total for toys & books in the first year. You can easily spend more, but it isn't necessary, especially if you are comfortable converting normal household items into toys - tupperware, pots/pans, stuff like that.
I am sure I am missing something - like babysitting/childcare costs if you go back to work, or the lost income if you don't go back to work - those can range so vastly depending on whether you have friends/family to watch the baby or a nanny or a daycare. Our expenses on that front ranged from 0/month to $1200/month when we had two in daycare at once.
Hope that helps!
lynnikins
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biggest costs for ds1 in year one were: pram/travel system, cotbed, crib, next stage carseat ( big boy outgrew his infant seat quick ) nappies/diapers, formula. we were given probably 80% of his clothing for his first year good quality stuff too lol so really didnt spend alot on that at all, we did blow £150 on christmas presents for him when he was 6 months old lol.
thankfully for ds2 we were able to reuse most everything from ds1 just had to buy him a new carseat when he got to 6 months as ds1 was still in his. but with BF and co-sleeping with ds2 i brought his cot second hand and got a new mattress made all for less than £50 so biggest costs on him would have probably been the carseat as an individual purchase.
thankfully for ds2 we were able to reuse most everything from ds1 just had to buy him a new carseat when he got to 6 months as ds1 was still in his. but with BF and co-sleeping with ds2 i brought his cot second hand and got a new mattress made all for less than £50 so biggest costs on him would have probably been the carseat as an individual purchase.
gills8752
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I've spent more in the 2nd year than the first. First year all I really bought was a few clothes (say aound £100 worth as so many people buy you things and I got a lot second hand) cloth nappies (£80odd and haven't noticed a difference in my elec bill) and toys around £200. I bf so didn't spend on formula/bottles etc. When we weaned we did BLW so only added £5 or so to the weekly shop. Buggy/car seat was a gift, cot was free, crib was gift. Can't really think of anything we actually bought to be honest!
2nd year is costing more as I'm buying more toys, going to softplay etc etc.
2nd year is costing more as I'm buying more toys, going to softplay etc etc.
tinkerbelle93
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i think the initial outlay of getting everything is more expensive then the things you need to buy every months (nappies etc) but you can do it on a budget! Me and my OH haven't spent a lot on baby stuff at all. My advice would be..
- Write a list of all the things you want for a baby then rule out the 'wants' and 'needs'. for example, do you really *need* a changing unit? Then stick to buying the essentials. Mothercare and babiesrus etc. make out you need a lot more things than you really do.
- Do research online and see what products are a waste of money/have bad reviews which stops you buying things then having to replace them because they're no good!
- Look out for offers in shops.
- Go second-hand! This is the main one, it has saved me and my partner HUNDREDS. On ebay we bought a gorgeous moses basket in excellent condition for £5 (would've been over forty in the shop), a travel system that had barely been used with everything including changing bag etc. for £150 which was 330 new in the shop, tons of clothing bundles at £5 each and loads of other stuff including bath support, play mat etc. all of the stuff has been in excellent condition and a fraction of buying new.
I don't have my baby yet so can't offer that much advice on how to keep costs down then. However, I have heard others advice that..
- You breastfeed (if you can) as this is completely free and saves you buying formula every week.
- Buy nappies in bulk when there are offers on in the supermarkets.
- Don't spend too much on clothes (use e-bay, cheaper shops etc.) as kids grow out of them fast.
That's all I can think of for now! xx
- Write a list of all the things you want for a baby then rule out the 'wants' and 'needs'. for example, do you really *need* a changing unit? Then stick to buying the essentials. Mothercare and babiesrus etc. make out you need a lot more things than you really do.
- Do research online and see what products are a waste of money/have bad reviews which stops you buying things then having to replace them because they're no good!
- Look out for offers in shops.
- Go second-hand! This is the main one, it has saved me and my partner HUNDREDS. On ebay we bought a gorgeous moses basket in excellent condition for £5 (would've been over forty in the shop), a travel system that had barely been used with everything including changing bag etc. for £150 which was 330 new in the shop, tons of clothing bundles at £5 each and loads of other stuff including bath support, play mat etc. all of the stuff has been in excellent condition and a fraction of buying new.
I don't have my baby yet so can't offer that much advice on how to keep costs down then. However, I have heard others advice that..
- You breastfeed (if you can) as this is completely free and saves you buying formula every week.
- Buy nappies in bulk when there are offers on in the supermarkets.
- Don't spend too much on clothes (use e-bay, cheaper shops etc.) as kids grow out of them fast.
That's all I can think of for now! xx
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