The monthly costs of a baby - your thoughts!

[FsMummy]

its not as exp-ensive as people make out at all. even for the twins its pretty cheap. we buy in bulk so its hard to give a weekly estimate so ill try monthly, it really isnt that much;

pampers nappies: £40
pampers wipes: £12 (for a box of 12 that will last over a month)
sma formula: £14
sudocrem: £6
food: they eat what we eat so really couldnt say

thats without clothes etc and the cost of formula has only just gone up as i bf until over 9mos. all of those figures are just rough estimates it also depends what offers atre on. those figures are all for brand names as well so could probably knock off quite a bit if we used cheaper wipes and nappies. even clothes arent that expensive as atm we still pretty much keep them in vests and babygrows all the time so get a few packs of new ones when they grow out of them every few months. we get a lot of clothes given to us by my sister for our 3 year old as she has a 4 and 6 year old so that helps a bit.

 

[FsMummy]

the most expensive thing is the cot/buggy/highchairs etc

 

[wanting2010]

I think my DH is finally starting to realize that having a baby is not as expensive as he originally thought.

I plan on breastfeeding, using cloth diapers and cloth wipes, and making my own baby food, all of which will drastically cut down on the costs of having a baby. I don't plan on buying any baby gear except for a car seat new and am going to use places like yard sales and craigslist instead. I will be going back to work after maternity leave, but thankfully won't have to use daycare because the grandmas to be will be more than happy to babysit during the day, and I only work three days a week anyway.

 

[Jenba]

I'm eternally grateful not to have to worry about the cost of medical care or giving birth in the UK. For all its faults, you've got to love the NHS!

I agree!! When I read it cost $2500 to give birth in the states I nearly died!!

As to answering to the original post I fully believe that most things can be bought second hand or accepting anything people want to give to you! I had 3 bin liners of baby clothes given to me by my mum's work colleague ... I didnt have to buy Jack anything for 9 months!! And it was all really good stuff!

My mum always said: "If you wait until you believe you are financially able to have a child you will never have one"

 

[Marlarky]

Oh yeah, it's expensive here but in Chicago (Cook County) you get medical paid for if you;re pregnant as long as you are under a certain income bar. Thankfully, my husband and I are under that bar so my delivery will be taken care of, as well as my prenatal appointments.

Can I just ask how exactly do you cloth diaper? I know about the pinning and all of that, but do you throw them in the pail with the poo or do you empty the poo first? And do you use detergent or just baking soda in the wash and vinegar in the rinse? I really want to do this because I really don't want to use disposables except for like at night and out, so I hope that I dont al of a sudden get a weak stomach when I have the wash the cloth diapers. I'm sure it's not as bad as I imagine?

 

[tasha41]

Poo you at least rinse out right away, eventually even in disposables, poos get firm and well-formed, and you typically flush them if you have access to a toilet (or at least I do!) ...

You can get detergents with fewer additives etc for cloth diapers too

 

[libbymarks198]

i would say set up cost, would be around $2000 NZL
that is for cot, matrice, pram, car seat, bouncer, some nappies, some clothes, bassinate, play gym, toys, linnen, nappy bin, art for the bedroom,books, nappy cream, and shampoo and what not..., breast pump and bottles

then i would say for the first month they would not cost a sent, as you would have enough to last you that long and i would breast feed... once they are about 2 months old you would start buying more nappies and the odd item of clothing only cheap stuff though...

untill they are walking they would not cost to much really i would say $30 a week while breast feeding, and if you want to buy them stuff thats your choice but not neccesary... and then once they start eating i would add that up to about $50 a week i would make all my own food...

my family would buy me some stuff and we would get a cot from my family, but would buy our own matrice and linnen, i may even use the bassinate i used when i was born, and everything else would be form the cheap shops untill they are old enough

 

[cleckner04]

I honestly don't pay much at all for Emma. We bought cloth diapers so there is the up front cost. I don't have to worry about paying for each load though so it's not any more expensive really. We just have one extra load a week because we have enough diapers for a week. I breastfeed so we had no costs for formula,etc. And even now that she is being weaned she is BLWed so she just eats what we eat with a few modifications as far as salt intake and that doesn't cost extra either. So really the only costs we've had with her are the up front things with car seats, strollers, etc. The big items. And I do spend money on clothes. It's my one weakness with her. There are just so many cute girl clothes out there it's hard to resist.

 

[HippieJess]

My biggest cost issue for having a baby is childcare. DH & I both have to work full time and full time childcare is about $1000 - $1300 a month where I live. I'm actually thinking of putting off TTC until I figure out how we can afford that (we can on paper, just not in practice). Unfortunately my MIL already watches my niece & nephew 3 days a week so she won't watch our baby.

 

[Katie Mc]

I think with your first child you always spend more then any others, my 2nd I went for a cheaper pram etc and when i'm pregnant again I dont want all fancy stuff.My sister has already offered her cot and other bits. If I have a girl I have my pram from my 1st pregnancy. Its really what you want to spend. You'll get used to buying nappies and stuff in with your shopping weekly.

 

[Lilly12]

I am so glad you ignored them too!! Your baby was a blessing

I think its just as expensive as you want to make it. If you want to go around and buy every little thing they come out with and the most expensive diapers and all that, then yea it will be expensive. But if you know what to do to make it cheaper and give your baby the same healthy and happy childhood that he would anyways, then why not!?!?

I cant wait for my time to be a mommy because I also am going to breastfeed and make my own baby food at home with the food that we eat. I researched that a lot already.

Cloth diapering I am not so familiar with but I want to try it so I will probably just have disposables for when we go to "grandmas" or something like that.


@Lilly- does your county have a public aid that will cover the birth and delivery and doctors visits? In Cook County we do, so maybe you do too??

No I don't think we do, and if we did it'd probably only cover hospital births.
And I want a midwife, I'd want to do it the natural way, plus it's more personal too.
But thanks for telling me!