to think £5200 is a ludicrous amount to spend on a DC's first year?

[dustbunniesmakegreatpets]

According to this article, it's the average amount. Does that seem crazy/incredibly unlikely to anyone else?

I know we spent nothing like it but then we've always been very cheap careful.

It includes a grand on baby food and formula fgs, which surely must be a maximum, rather than an average, given all those who bf and don't buy bespoke jars? And 800 quid on toys (not including bouncers - they're in a separate section) - surely this is unusual?

Nowhere near that for us. £600 maybe max? Inc pram, car seat system, clothes etc.

Of course that's ridiculous! Nappies and formula were about a tenner a week, lots of things were gifts, free cycle, friends, eBay. I probably spent about £1k at most.

On what?! Does that include childcare? [Off to read article]

I easily spent that with DC1.

With DC4 I have spent next to nothing. I didn't even keep that much for first time round it is just that I have accepted all offers of used items very gratefully and I realise what a lot of nonsense so much of the stuff I bought previously was.

Yeah I have never know anyone spend anywhere near that

I think we spent about £3k, but used no formula and our nappy cost was front loaded because we used cloth.

In comparison we have spent about £200 with DS2 because everything we bought for DS1 was good quality and we've used it all again.

There was an awful lot we didn't buy, like walkers, those jumperoo things and heaps of toys so I can easily see how people could reach £5k.

Yes it does seem too high I would put it at about half that cost even with £1000 for milk and food (which I think sounds about right if you exclusively FF and feed jars).
I've included cost of clothing, cot, wardrobe, bedding, pram, car seat, high chair, bath stuff, feeding equipment i.e. bibs, spoons, bowls etc., towels, nappies, bottles and dummies so it's quite a comprehensive list and have come out at less than £3k.
Admittedly I did have a cheap pram and travel seat combo which only cost £300 but I don't think I've excessively either scrimped or spent.

Depends what they include surely. My actual outlay on baby stuff was under £100 initially. For a newborn. I did do as it suggested though and not purchase a buggy or cot. I did use cloth nappies but got the lot for £30, certainly not £400.

The cost over the year probably hit £500-600 for washing costs, formula, a birthday gift, some toys and clothes and extra bits, most second hand.

did they do the survey in Notting Hill mayhap?

Hmmm - will try to work out my spend on DS (first child). Am over estimating if anything, and including childcare - was that included in the 5K?

cot and bedding - £250
pram - £300
playpen £100
clothes - £200?
food - BF exclusively to six months and then just bits of ours mushed or chopped. Formula as well - £250 tops from six months to a year
childcare from eight to twelve months, this was pricey as in nursery then £2,400
toys including bouncy chair, playmat etc £200

So I make it about 4k including very expensive childcare. It would only be £1,600 without it, and we didn't really hold back in the spending, I bought whatever I felt necessary.

DD we have bought virtually nothing, reused all previous equipment, given masses of clothes and I won't be going back to work until she is a year so no childcare.

Does that include birthday and christening/naming ceremony? Those can bump the cost right up!

there's a link to the survey in the guardian article linked. It doesn't include childcare or a christening ceremony. So I will take off my £2,400 for chilcare and add in the 150 I forgot I spent on nappies. £1,750 for me then.

I dont think I have spent that on DD yet and she is 3.

The article bugged me - I don't think their outlay is particularly frugal. I also think buggies are underrated - you certainly don't have to spend hundreds.

I have a cheap Toys R Us buggy that was 17 quid which is a damn sight cheaper than a branded sling and I can carry several shopping bags on the handles and cart the knackered toddler about without wrecking my back.

Also unless they're planning on sharing the bed with a teenager at some point another bed will have to be purchased so its just putting off the investment not avoiding it.

Don't remotely have issues with other people taking the AP route, none of my biz - just that it really isn't a money saver in itself. You can fritter money on slings far in excess of the cost of a top end pram if you try hard enough!!

i thought the title meant for a first xmas and i was about to combust with shock.

i know i spent nowhere near that in either first year for my two. i borrowed quite alot. my buggy was £50, my carseat £70. those were my 2 big expenses. most other stuff was bought or given as gifts or as i said, borrowed. formula for ds1 was i think around £8 a tin. not sure how much nappies were. ds2 was EBF til 7 months and BLW with BF after that so no jars or formula. he was also in cloth nappies, second hand ones.

here is the survey breakdown of the spend

£746 on baby clothes?

But the survey was carried out by a company that makes one of the most useless piece of baby equipment I have seen in a long time, so their customers are always going to be spending alot more than average on all the extra bumpf you dont need.

I bet most of them purchased a top and tail bowl!

Does sound a lot. Especially if theyre saying it's an average amount. I BF my first for 8mths then food and formula but no idea how much 4mths of formula would cost.

Pram-£500
Cot and nursery furniture-1k
moses basket-£100
car seat-£200
clothes-£400 max
swing-£100
Mat-£60
Nappies? -Are they about £10pw? so about £500
Toys-£200-£300 max

So what's that? About 3k and I think we were quite extravagant with DS1. Thhe poor DDs had to put up with all the same stuff especially DD2 who even used her sister's knickers.

pushchair
cot/mattress/sheets
bednest/mattress/sheets
moses basket/mattress/sheets
car seat
bumbo
high chair
clothes
nappies/wipes/changing mat
food
toys
bouncer
gro-bag
baby monitor
breast pump/bottles/steriliser
baby carrier
smart trike

Probably coming close, but I don't think quite £5k

Nappies 52X10 = £520
Wipes 52X2= £104
Formula 52x10= £520
Pram/ Car seat £250
Second Pram £30
Cot (IKEA) £50
2nd Stage Car seat £200
Bedding £40
Wardrobe £120
Toys/ Books £100
Clothes £150
Bath stuff £20
Thermometer stuff £30
Sling £20
Food £26 X 10= £260
Steriliser £25
Travel cot and mattress = £50
Bottles £20

Total of £1809 and I think I've been over-generous with some of the calculations of what we've spent. I guess if you start adding childcare and the cost of maternity leave then you're looking at more.

Oh just remembered about the baby carrier so another £70. But still!

at top and tail bowl. That has got to be the most useless and unnecessary piece of equipment ever invented.

It would totally depend on where the average came from, and I would imagine the sample tended towards the higher end of the income bracket. Besides it was just an unreliable internet poll. It annoys me more when Channel 4 news and the like (seems to be them most often for some reason) go on about "how much a baby costs" as though it's a set in stone figure that you have to stump up to the stork. We spent very very little as I bf and DS has two very overenthusiastic grandmothers who bought just about every stitch of clothing he owns. We got his buggy and carseat for about £70 on ebay and spent maybe a further £50 on toys, if that. Basically as long as the baby's mother is there with a willing pair of breasts a baby can be reared on nothing except a few cloth nappies and a soft place to sleep for the first six months. The idea that babies are very expensive is one that's upheld by the retailers who like to make parents feel they need heaps of tat to survive.

I spent less than £50 on baby clothes for dd1 because we got loads as presents and the rest were second hand.
I don't think I bought any new toys in the first year, again we got given a lot. (first dc, first gdc both sides, even first ggdc, we got presents from everyone!)
I did buy some cloth nappies at about £100 total. We got given some as well.
The only equipmwnt we bought was 1 foldable buggy (£80) and... no that's it, I was about to say high chair, but that was a gift. I correct myself again, 2x stairgates @ £5 each (second hand).

I shall tell dh that I obviously have nearly £5000 I am owed to spend

I don't think dd1 was too traumatised by the second hand stuff...

Ps we didn't have a car, and someone lent us a car seat whenever we needed one

That is an insane amount of money! I got cloth nappies from free cycle so only had to pay out for liners and laundry costs, I have some disposables in store for trips out and the like, I stocked up when Asda had their own brand ones for £1 a pack. I was given all the gadgets like bouncy chair, Moses basket and travel system by my SIL and by my mate, so had 2 lots to cherry pick the best bits from, same with clothes and of course there was the inevitable gifts of outfits and cute sleep suits.

The only thing we bought from new was the nursery furniture and flooring and since we avoided the changing station and the like (third child, I know what crap is unnecessary by now) all of that bar the cot will last DS for many a year yet. I'd say including the furniture, we have spent maybe £900 and have enough clothes in store to last him until he hits a year so I can't see that going up by much more.

So, if i only spent £900, who the hell spent £9,500 on their bairn to make the average over £5k?