Is this really true about cost of having a child?

[Childcostss]

Me and dh want a baby in the next year and have started to ttc. We have saved 10k to pay for childcare costs and felt pretty confident that given the new funding, this would cover it all before school starts. We’ve estimated we will need around 600 a month for clothes, food, trips out etc when he or she starts school. We thought this was a high estimate… but, chatting with friends over the weekend some were saying age 1 to 5 is the worst (all the costs of car seats and furniture etc and childcare)… others said they felt it got FAR worse when school started.

This has worried me a bit as I want to go part time after maternity leave but dh doesn’t earn well (less than 30k) and no prospect of earning more in the role he is in. It’s just made me apprehensive… I don’t want to be permanently skint but I’m also 34 and don’t want to wait too long either!

lol no, kids eat a lot of blueberries and raspberries if you let them! They’re expensive!

You'll be fine OP. Children cost as much or as little as you want them to cost.

Regarding childcare, you said you're planning to return part time so won't be spending anywhere near as much on childcare as some people on here. I went back three days a week and never paid more than £400 a month for a childminder. You'll also benefit from the new funding which will cover a significant chunk of that. My 3 year old is now at a term time only playgroup four days a week and we only pay £1 a day extra for sundries (80p with the tax free childcare).

My eldest is at primary school and also costs virtually nothing. Our school does second hand uniform sales so I got all of her uniform and book bag for £5, plus Clarks shoes off Vinted for £5. Supermarket stuff is cheap and good quality. She does two extra curricular clubs that cost less than £10 total per week. Normal clothes and toys all from charity shops/Facebook/Vinted, don't think I've spent more than £20 on clothes in the past year.

£10k for childcare until they're in school seems low - we have calculated that for 3 days a week once the 30 hours kicks in, it will be around £450 a month, which is at the current rates, sure to increase as they do every year! So at least £20k from 10 months to school age. Which is the age at which we put our child into nursery. (and reminder, that's only 3 days a week!)
We got our pram second hand for less than £100. Have spent almost £1k across 4 car seats so far, as all new. We get all clothes, books, toys etc second hand other than those as presents from family.
Kids food/snacks are expensive, as others say, soft fruits, specific items that are all they'll eat. All the organic good for kids snacks are so expensive.
I am not anticipating things getting much cheaper once they are in school - the summer/after school clubs will certainly add up a lot. I imagine it will be harder once they care about what they wear as well! They'll eat more as well..

I think that you were extremely lucky, everywhere I looked they give the first hours in the morning free and the last hours in the afternoon to ensure you have to pay for the ones in the middle to make sure you don’t just use the free hours, plus you pay extra for nappies, meals plus a ‘supplement’ for the free hours and you don’t have the option of term time only (which would be no good for us anyway!)

🙄

You have to work out what is right for you and what priorities are overall. I paid more in childcare than salary for the first few months of job (thinking this would be the case for up to 2 years) because I really wanted to re establish the career I loved. Absolutely worth it for the short term sacrifice to be doing a job I love and the longer term financial/pension benefits etc. It turned out I was able to apply for hours which gave us a much better work life balance and flexibility so our childcare costs came down much sooner than I had anticipated. I wouldn’t increase my hours whatever the financial incentive in the short or long term as the work life balance and a decent balance between my career and children is what is my priority. If the OP wanted to work full time rather than 3 days I’m sure she would

I liken the cost of a child to a U graph. They are expensive when in nursery, cheaper for the first 6 years of education, then costs rise in the teenage years to peak again at University!
If you can at all, but money away during those primary years to cover the Uni years..the student loan rarely covers the cost of accommodation, let alone living expenses. DC's rent (not London) is £900 per child, plus living expenses and bills comes to £1200 a month. Student loan is £4500 a year. Parents are expected to make up the shortfall.