How much have you spent on baby?

[ElleDubloo]

Babies are notoriously expensive, and we've certainly felt like we've spent a lot of money recently. So I decided to sit down and add up all our baby-related spending and see how much it came to in reality. I was pleasantly surprised the grand total was just less than £1200 - not nearly as much as we'd expected, and about half the cost of our new bathroom !! (new baby is so much more exciting than new bathroom, btw). We've pretty much bought everything we need.

How much have you spent on the baby? Did you expect to spend more, or less? What are some savings you've made that you're especially proud of?

Here's my list if anyone's interested:

Bugaboo Bee, Maxi Cosi seat, adaptors, easyfix base... Peppermint £564.95 (online promotion)
Furniture set 3-piece... Homebase £212.49 (£75 discount in sale)
Cube shelves x 2... Homebase £19.98
Cotbed... John Lewis £99.00
Mattress... John Lewis £60.00
Playmat... Gumtree £15.00 (second hand, RRP >£45)
Moby wrap... Ebay £25.00 (second hand)
Changing bag... Ebay £22.20 (second hand, RRP >£100)
Clothes (0-3 months)... Mothercare £35.00 (half price sale)
Medela Swing pump... Ebay £33.75 (second hand, RRP >£130)
Tommee Tippee bottles... Tesco £12.99 (half price in baby event)
Bowl and spoons... Tesco £2.00 (half price in baby event)
Turtle costume... Amazon £3.93
Cloth nappies x 6 and 12 inserts (littlebloom)... Ebay £29.04 (second hand)
Cloth nappies x11 (bambino mio)... Ebay £10.00 (second hand)
Nappy liners x 2 packets... Amazon £10.96
Nappy bin... Amazon £6.03
Changing mat... Amazon £3.39
Muslins x 6... Amazon £9.98
Baby shampoo... Tesco £1.50 (half price in baby event)
Baby bath lotion... Tesco £1.47 (half price in baby event)
Baby wipes x 10... Tesco £8.00 (half price in baby event)

Gifts:
Babygros x 2
Newborn clothing set with hat and mittens x 1
Ellaroo sling wrap x 1
Moses basket x 1

Left to buy:
Cotbed linen
Nursing bras
A few disposable nappies as backup
Cot mobile (on our gift list)
Clothes for 3 months onwards (on our gift list)

[Droflove]

I have stuff from the last baby so I think about £100. That was for glass bottles and 3 babygros for the hospital. Borrowing everything else I don't have. Sorry, I also spent £250 on adorable reusable nappies as I wasn't brave enough to do it with my firstborn. I dont think I spent much on my firstborn either though, a few 100 I guess. He got so many gifts!

[ElleDubloo]

Oh OK For some reason I was expecting to spend so much more.

[FoodieMum3]

I don't even want to add it up because it's our third

I bought
A double buggy
Breast pump
Bottles
Containers for breast milk
2 new mattresses
New sheets
2 blankets
Some new newborn and 0-3 when I found out the gender
Changing mat
I've stocked up on various size nappies already
Nursing bras & vest tops

[HygieneFreak]

I ve got one child. Everything was bought from new

Total cost..... £3000!

This included clothing for upto 0-3 months

[ffallada]

1 * soft toy dog in blue (as I had just found out its a boy) = £12

I have a feeling I'm a little underprepared

[Vicky5910]

Errr £40 on cloth nappies so far. Second baby, 26 weeks, not finding out gender :)

[ffallada]

.....now I'm thinking about it my list is longer

1 * DAP collar for dog = £18 (didn't make any difference)
1 * DAP plug in scent = £15 (dog much calmer in house, judged a success)
1 * extra extra large crate = £60 (as dog will need a super lovely place for himself when baby is here, the two large crates we already have wouldn't do )
1 * book, 'how to tell your dog your pregnant' + real life baby sounds cd = £25
1 * year of dog training classes = £50 (to help stimulate dog so he is not pushed out by baby)
1 * plush harness = £30 (so dog is secure and does not slip his collar when baby and I are walking him. Its funny when it happens now, not sure it will be funny then)

So I'm 24 weeks and I've actually spend quite a lot on preparing for the baby, I just haven't anything actually FOR the baby....

In the next two months however we will be buying a bigger new car and moving house. The cost just doesn't bare thinking about

[ElleDubloo]

I should say, I'm 31 weeks pregnant and slightly OCD

[ElleDubloo]

LOL ffallada that's hilarious Sounds like your dog is higher maintenance than your baby!

[magpiegin]

I am 38 weeks with my first baby. We have spent

Travel system £300 (in sale)
Moses basket £8 (eBay)
New Moses basket mattress £20
Blankets, sleeping bags etc £30
Clothes £20
Baby bouncer £10 (eBay)
Nursery decorating etc £40
Nappies, wipes etc £20
Video Monitor £50
Muslins £15

We have been given second hand cot, breast pump, steriliser, bottles, clothes and monitor.

We still need a cot mattress, changing mats, a bath seat thing and probably a few other things.

[magpiegin]

Oh and we still need a sling.

[noor265]

First baby. Not into spending loads on the baby at all. Will try doing it simply and see how it goes.

Expenses (sorry no pound sign on this laptop!) bought everything on sale in Dubai and anything else I need I will try to get second hand.

Push chair with car seat - 50 pounds
Large Crib - 30 pounds
Baby Clothes - 100 pounds
Blankets - 7 pounds
Bras - 50 pounds
Maternity trousers/leggings - 50 pounds

Not bothering with the below:
Changing mat
Baby bath
Monitors
Playmat
Baby chair

Still need to buy nappies etc

[ffallada]

Its a really good scary thread topic Elle

Where did you find such a good promotion for your travel system. I'm putting off buying one until I see a good promo, at this rate I'll run out of time.

I'd like to buy some second hand (in a concession to the environment and my wallet) so its interesting to see what others are picking up as bargains.

[MultipleMama]

We've bought a car seat (cybex pallas) for dd2 so her car seat (cybez sirona) can go to baby but nothing else. This is baby #7 so we already have:

• 5 strollers.
  
• 3 baby carriers (2 bobas)
  
• 3 cotbeds/1 co-sleeper/1 snuggle nest/1 hammock.
  
• 1 bouncer.
  
• 1 twin bf pillow (can be used as a single).
  
• 3 high chairs.
  
• 1 baby bath.
  
• 1 Medela electric pump (in style) double & MAM manual pump.
  
• 2 First aid kids
  
• Loads of burp cloths, swaddle blankets (Aden + Anais), bedding etc.
  
• Loads of clothes (hand my downs from my ID boys & DS4)
  
• More than I can count gdiapers with refills and cloths.
  
• Loads of toys.
  

I don't think I really need anything else!!

[MultipleMama]

Oh and 3 Angelcare Movement and Sound Monitors (2 have video).

[Artandco]

We spent a fair amount before baby was born. However I think it's equalled out to others in the end as we then brought very little the first year, and then ds2 had everything 'free'. Can't remember exact but approx

Pram - £500
Car seat - £200
Sling -£100
Babygrows/ booties/ cardigans from newborn-1 year approx -£300
Reusable nappies -£300
Reusable wipes/ wet bags etc -£60
Cotbed -£100
Matress -£200
Sheepskin rug -£80
Blankets/ muslins - £150

Ds1 is now 4 and still uses virtually all of above relevant ie cot bed now without side, sheepskin rug on his floor, blankets still used etc so

[allduffedup]

We've spent about £1100, and this is our first baby. We've been given a few bits and pieces as well. We still need to buy a cot at some point (have Bednest and Moses Basket for now), and possibly a breast pump at some point, but otherwise I think we're all set.

[Artandco]

Oops

So give or take about £2000

Didn't need to buy anything else really ie no other nappies/ baby milk etc so just one off cost

When ds2 arrived we just brought another cot bed, another car seat and a buggy board for ds1, so about £350. Everything else we had

[LightUpLightUp]

I've spent about 1400, second baby everything from new as had nothing from the first. I have a few things left to get.

I don't think baby's have to be expensive, if you get it all second hand you can easily do it for a few hundred

[PotteringAlong]

This time?

Moses basket and stand (borrowed one last time) £45
New babygro pack so they have something not second hand at least once! £14
Baby gym in sale £15

So £75 in total.

We have cot / car seat / pram from last time but the cot is a £35 ikea one and still going strong, the car seat and isofix was new and the pram was half price sale so that was probably about £500 before DS was born?

[TinyMonkey]

Almost 25 weeks with first baby.

£341 on an Uppababy travel system on eBay (but actually my parents paid)
£5 Polarn o pyret hat
£18 sleepsuits John Lewis
£15 babygro (purely because it has a bicycle printed on it)

Um, and that's it. £38 of my own cash.

We've been given a cot, a money wrap, a tens machine, a gym ball, bouncy chair.

Main things to buy still, car seat, feeding stuff, a monitor, (rent a) bednest, a cot mattress, changing mat, baby gym, a shitload of muslins, baby vests, more hats, a sheepskin, cardigans, reuseable nappies and liners.

No rush.

[KitKat1985]

At a rough estimate I'd say total end cost will be about £1200, but that includes the cost of completely re-decorating the nursery etc (walls were mouldy, needing re-painting, etc). We are very lucky in that we have been given loads of stuff from SIL and BIL and we also went to an NCT nearly new sale where we got a lot of second-hand stuff cheap. Also both sets of grandparents contributed some of the money. Also we've had a few gifts etc from work colleagues. Our personal bargain was wondering into mothercare one day and finding a whole ex-display travel system (car seat, pram and buggy) on sale for £200 because the colour that the travel system is (jade) is no longer available, so they didn't want the display model any more. The whole system was normally £360 so a good buy! We probably could have spent less overall if we had got more second hand, but there were a few things that I found a bit odd / uncomfortable to get second hand (car seats, breast pumps, bottles, etc). I find it bizarre that some people spend about £1200 on a designer pram alone more money than sense in my humble opinion.

[RetroHippy]

Ooh, been meaning to do a bit of a tally. Right-ho; first baby, 17 weeks and a little over prepared

bought

Bundle of vests £6
Sleeping bag and 3 x pj sets £10
(Both preloved)
Maternity jeans £1.99 charity shop
Maternity dress and 2 x work trousers £15 eBay
3 pack super attractive stretchy bras £15
Pair maternity leggings £7.99
Fabric for cloth nappies - probably £20 in total

Total so far: £61

Gifted/lent:

Nursing chair £50 preloved (birthday pressie from mum)

Maxi Cosi car seat and isofix base
Quinny Buzz travel system including carry cot and stand
Jumperoo
Inflatable ring seat thingy
Playmat
All lent free from BIL and SIL

Baby bath and stand
Steriliser and bottles (just in case, intending to bf)
One sleeping bag
Lent from a friend

Box full of baby vests and clothes
Given by another friend

Assorted maternity wear
Given by above two friends

We are incredibly lucky and a little hippyish (mainly me), however DH does want to buy a Bluetooth video baby monitor and a super self-rocking bouncer at £200 each, so that total can still rocket!

[RetroHippy]

Oh, and mum is also giving us a Moses basket and I have a promise of a Moby wrap from a friend who won't be using it by January.

But we also need to redecorate the nursery...

[ohthegoats]

£420

We've borrowed a lot of stuff and only really bought a buggy (ebay), a carrier (only new 'big' thing) and some clothes (total on clothes £30 though). Rest is on faff stuff like new mattresses, sheets etc. I've done all the dispensable stuff too like pads, nappies.