To ask if a newborn baby is expensive

[brownpaperbag1]

I’m pregnant with DC1 and due to give birth next year. I was wondering how much it costs to buy everything you need for a newborn - is it a lot? How much should I be aiming to save to ensure I can afford everything the baby will need?

I’m not talking about childcare here - just all the basic stuff, food, clothes, nappies, pram and any other essentials.

TIA

Oops tagged the wrong person @taytosandwich

Taken from The Money Advice Service

DoubtingMyPatience That's approximately £1800

Breast feed and use cloth nappies. Keeps the cost of newborns right down! And dont be fooled into thinking babies need to be wearing miniature outfits. Babygros and cardis all the way!

We were blessed enough to get everything from friends and family. Mostly second hand stuff, and gifts at the baby shower. If you're not fussed about having new stuff, I'd recommend shpock, gumtree, fb market etc. I've given away lots of stuff on there that our LO has outgrown. Some of it brand new that he never got around to wearing/using. I've got a whole load more stuff about to go, depending on where you are, if you're interested.
Congratulations on your bundle of joy

Babies don't have to be expensive at all. You can buy a pram secondhand, mine was £40!
Nappies you can also buy secondhand just make sure you do a strip&sanistise first. Or muslins and newborn wraps are a very inexpensive way to do newborns nappies new. (I always bought mine new but you absolutely don't have too!)
Breastfeeding is the only free way to feed your baby, although if you're formula feeding I think Aldi formula is only £5 a tub!
You'll get child benefit once they're born, and most likely child tax credits too. Which covers all the costs(besides childcare if you need it). You'll just need to buy things you'll need straight away, so pram, car seat, nappies, wipes, clothes (newborn clothes can be picked up very cheaply secondhand), somewhere for them to sleep unless you're co-sleeping, sheets, blankets. Bottles, steriliser & formula if bottle feeding.

All you have to buy new is mattress, car seat and new bottle teats.

Well... putting it all down on paper it’s a lot more than I thought I’d spent

I thought I’d done really well getting things second hand.

Don’t be like me OP 😂

Thanks for the responses - I’m completely clueless about what I need, so this has been super helpful.

I’m amazed that some people say they don’t need a pram - how does that work?!

Does the baby start in a Moses basket and then move to a cot?

If you are I need the North west and want some baby things I have lots about to go to the charity shop unless you want them.

I was determined to be as sensible as possible with money with my DD. I bought second and in sales. She then ended up on medication and specialist hypoallergenic formula that combined cost me the best part of £40 a week until she started solids and about £25 a week after that until she reached 1.
Guess what I'm saying is you can plan to do it very cheaply but try and be prepared for the unforeseen (I hadn't factored in bottles or formula at all, was certain I would be breastfeeding her!)

Also, I’m self employed and it looks like I’m entitled to £140 per week maternity pay for 39 weeks. Do I get £80 a month child benefit on top of that?

@brownpaperbag1 you can use a sling instead of a pram. I have to say I'd struggle NEVER using a pram, DS2 is a heavy one and sometimes I need to put him down! Plus the basket underneath is handy to keep change bag etc on.

@GameSetMatch that’s really kind of you but I’m down south sadly!

@brownpaperbag1 some people just babywear (slings), but I would say most people do at least a mix, there’s not many people who manage completely without a pram of some variety

I wouldn’t bother with a Moses basket. They outgrow them sooo quickly!

My aunts uses a small travel cot in her living room which is fab for her, I think I may just have the Pram in the living room with the carry cot on it to save a bit of money, but if not I’m definitely getting a travel cot and not a Moses basket.

@SockQueen Hmm... I think I will probably need a pram as DH and I do a lot of walking.

I remember being pregnant with my first and crying cos I had zero money to spend and a list as long as my arm to buy
My wise dad told me to start raiding the charity shops-and write a list of what was needed not what I thought I needed
The list once I’d been through it with a friend who was older than me was a lot shorter than I thought
I then raided every single charity shop I could find and apart from my £180 (was £600 new) pram the whole lot came in at around £150
You’d be amazed at what you can pick up for pennies

I live quite rurally and the walks here are long and mostly in the forest so we needed a good Pram for walks. I couldn’t survive without one I know that.

There’s lots of things we’re going to need still

Like what?! I’ve had three babies (third is currently 8 months) and I can’t think of anything we needed that’s not already on your list (and you also have things on your list that we’ve never owned!)

Depends on so many things...

• We used cloth nappies. I think the initial outlay was about £50. We used clothes wipes etc so that was maybe another £10 in total. We sold these on for almost full price so I guess the overall cost was near £0.
• Pram was second hand and about £30.
• Car seat was about £90 but we had specific requirements. This you must buy new or from a very, very trusted family member/friend.
• "Proper" sling was about £30 (this was almost 10 years ago so they weren't very fashionable and there was very limited choice).
• I breastfed and didn't need any pads, creams etc so that was free. Although I did buy a couple of nursing bras, they wouldn't have been much. I didn't bother specifically with breastfeeding clothes.
• Cot and mattress was probably about £200ish. We got an exoensive matress. Mattress must be new. We didn't bother with a moses basket.
• She was either in the sling or lying on the floor. So we didn't bother with a bouncy seat etc until she was much older.
• We got a wardrobe, chest of drawers etc but didn't use them. We should have waited and/or got adult sized ones. You don't need these for a long time. A couple of boxes will do the same job.
• We spent too much on clothes, sleeping bags etc. I think you need to look at how often you want to wash stuff and if you are happy with your child being in baby grows all the time. Personally, I preferred to keep baby grows for bedtime so that almost doubled how much we needed. Plus, if you have a baby who spits up lots (we didn't), you'll need extas. Supermarkets do some lovely baby clothes. They'll grow out of it in no time so don't get too much.
• Toys - they don't care for ages and even then you can use things you already have for a while. Take a look at treasure baskets.

Honestly, you don't have to spend much, especially if you are happy with second hand.
They need:

• food
• clothes
• nappies
• some way of moving about
• some where to sleep

Don't be drawn in by all the adverts. Most of the stuff they try to sell you will make little difference to your life in reality.

Obviously you'll need pram, cot (ds never settled in a moses basket and went straight to cot), and car seat (if you have a car).

You need to keep their bum clean (nappies, wipes, cream, changing mat) and fed (bf, milk, sterilisers, bottles).

Ds was most comfortable in vests and babygros when young (very cheap), with a snow suit for winter. Lots of bibs!

We were sucked in by all the other stuff, monitors, cameras, bf pillows/covers etc etc and rarely used them. Changing table - used a mat on the floor or my knees after first 2 weeks! If money is tight don't buy things that aren't really needed. We had a little strip temperature thing which did its job, no need for a thermometer. Get want you really need and save the rest until the baby is here and you find out what else you need.

You can get loads secondhand because a lot is over bought and barely used.

You’d be amazed at what you can pick up for pennies

Definitely, charity shops are amazing for second hand barely used baby bits. Also OP don't be afraid to ask for freebies. Sites like freecycle, FB market place and gumtree allow you ask for items, and there's a surprising amount of people who just want to get rid of the baby clutter.

@brownpaperbag1 depending on the type of walking you do, you’ll probably actually find a sling better

NCT sales have everything you need. Although it's a race to get the best stuff.

Our initial outlay was...
Pushchair - off-road running buggy £250 with additional carrycot £80 (on reflection, I would have just bought one of the newborn inserts rather than a whole carrycot, but lesson learned!) It’s still going strong now and he’s one.
Carrier - Tula baby carrier £50 and newborn insert £10 secondhand. An absolute lifesaver and we still use it more than the pushchair now. Wrap sling - £20 didn’t get as much use one he was more mobile.
Cloth nappies and wipes (and other things like laundry basket, wet bags etc) - £300-500 a lot were secondhand and we bought as we went along so it wasn’t one big expensive purchase.
Cot, mattress and a few sheets - £120ish I think? We converted it into a three sided co-sleeper and then turned it back into a normal cot when he was about 8 months old.
Clothes - £50 max. You get LOADS of gifts.
Blankets - Don’t buy blankets! You’ll get 100s!
Bouncy chair - £40. We bought a fairly basic one. If we did it again, I’d probably try a more expensive swinging one but I have no idea if it would actually be any better!
Changing table - £10 secondhand and mat £4 from Aldi. We originally weren’t going to buy one but it was really useful after my c section.
Changing bag - £25 Amazon.
Bottles etc. - Didn’t buy as we figured they’d be easy to pick up if we needed them. Ended up buying a pump when I went back to work a few months ago.
Car seat - £150 Joie Every Stage, hopefully will last until he’s at least a few years old! (In theory lasts until 12!)

It seems really overwhelming and I think it’s easy to be tricked into thinking you need loads of stuff but you really don’t!

I agree that you don’t need all the stuff mentioned.

I got a £2000 pram second hand for £250 which also came with a car seat and different seats so was suitable for my baby from newborn to toddler age. I rarely used it though as I discovered a baby sling which cost about £20 and which both baby and I preferred! So pram wasn’t really necessary (but came in useful on long days out where my back started to ache a bit from the sling!) Could definitely have done without it though.

I co-slept with my baby so didn’t need a cot, baby monitor, or anything like this. Also meant no disruption to sleep which was another bonus.

Bought some great bundles of clothes second hand from EBay and so didn’t spend much on clothes. I breastfed so also free and didn’t spend any money buying the stuff that other people have mentioned - I didn’t even know breast pads or nipple cream existed until reading this post! I also didn’t buy special bras or clothes for nursing and just wore my normal stuff. I have a lot of stretchy and button down tops and dresses so didn’t need anything new. I didn’t think having a baby was anywhere near as expensive as everyone made out and I think a lot of stuff is unnecessary! Used to talk to my mum friends and be so confused when they told me that leaving the house with a baby is a nightmare and always had these enormous bags full of stuff! To this day I don’t know what they were bringing out with them!