To have another baby despite the current economic climate

[Anonymouscowardycustard]

I have name changed because I don't have the guts to post this under my usual name.

I have one child, I would like one more.
Due to a gynaecological condition my consultant told me to have any children I wanted asap. He said I might struggle to conceive if I left it too late.

Because of this I am planning to try for another child very soon.

However due to the way things are at the moment money is a bit tighter than we anticipated. Our mortgage and bills have gone up and we don't have much disposable income after everything is paid. We aren't struggling but we don't have any luxuries at all really. This doesn't bother me or DH though.

If I had another child though it is possible we may struggle financially. I think we would manage, but I worry that we may not particularly if things got a lot worse.

Despite all this, I think I should still go for it. My reasoning is we have the rest of our lives to enjoy luxuries such as new clothes and nice food, and to work hard to earn the money to pay for this.
But if I put off trying for a another child I may never be able to have one. And I would probably regret this much more

What do you think?

You seem to have answered your own question. You'd regret not having another child. Does your DH not agree?

i think you've already made your mind up

good luck with getting pregnant asap

Thank you I have pretty much made my mind up.
I just wondered if I was being foolish....

I can think of lots and lots of reasons for not having another child (sleep deprivation, attention for other children, illness of anyone, career if important)

but imo as long as you can pay the main bills and are not relaying on anyone else to pay them for you money shouldn't be an issue.

I doubt you will look back in old age and think thank god we only had one child or else we would never have afforded that TV/car/holiday/bigger house etc

Go with your heart
Babies don't cost that much - it's when then get older that they start getting costly. I presume that you have everything already, cot, bedding, baby things etc....

If you can breastfeed and possibly use washable nappies this will be cheaper for you.

Our grandparents managed with far less money than us and far more children. Somethimes its the things that dont cost anything that you treasure most in your life.

Go for it. If you knew that you were going to be in dire straits (eg if a maternity leave would leave you unable to pay mortgage etc) then I would say wait, because the stress of your financial situation would he terrible. But that's not the case, it's going to be more a question of cutting back and managing (which loads of people are currently doing, baby or no baby).

So yes, go for another baby

People don't stop having babies in a recession.

We would be able to pay the bills, mortgage as things stand at the moment (as long as prices don't go up by loads and loads). We would struggle for things like presents, holidays, new clothes and we wouldn't have any savings at all if anything unexpected happened.

Babies are cheap initially - we have all the equipment already and I would BF (hopefully).

But I work part time and would need to continue working - so would have to pay for 2 in childcare. That's why it would be more of a struggle.

2nd babies do not cost very much at all because you can re-use all your stuff from the first, plus you will get an increase in CB and unless your DH earns mega bucks £20 per week extra in CTC for the first year and then £10 extra thereafter.

By the time they are older and costing more (school age ime) we will have climbed out of recession.

Just make sure you are not silly buying maternity and baby stuff you do not need. If you have a diffent sex baby this time around just stick to 2nd hand clothes etc.

Holidays are a luxury that can go!

I agree that holidays can go - or we could just stick to camping in a field

Second hand clothes not a problem - DD already wears a lot of hand me downs from my sister's kids.

The childcare thing is an issue, and was actually the single reason dh and I left a larger than intended gap between our dcs 1 and 2. This was at a time of high interest rates and generally grim economic outlook too. So I can totally understand where you're coming from. We could just manage to survive paying one lot of childcare fees; we would have gone under on two. So we waited until we had only a few months overlap of nusery and then dc1 would start school.

But in your case, with the medical advice, I would move heaven and earth to find a way, as it seems best to try to conceive before too long. The main thing is for you to remain in your job. Could you take out a loan to cover maternity leave and two sets of childcare? As long as you know you have a job to return to, and your DH has a job, tbh THAT'S your security, and I really wouldnt give it up in the current climate. I don't think taking out a loan is unreasonable when a) there's a limited time scale on it (your kids will start school eventually) and
b) you both have jobs.

It's the people who rack up debts without being able to pay in the longer term who are being irresponsible.

Also - have you thought about a nanny/au pair as maybe a better childcare option once you have more than one child?

I'm sure there's a way through it - but you have my sympathy having been in a similar dilemna myself.

I would carefully work out the childcare thing, if you could nanny share that could work out cheaper. Or would you enjoy working as a childminder if there is demand in your area. Do you currently use CM or Nursery do they do sibling discounts? Would you be eligible for any help with childcare through CTC???

If you took a year off work then you would save money if you took your eldest out of childcare for that time rather than keeping htem going IYSWIM.

You'll find a way to make it work. If we waited until we could really "afford" to have a baby, I'd be giving birth at 55 years old.

Good Luck!

I definitely would not give up my job as I love it and it pays well.
And I think I would struggle to find a similar position if I left and then had to look for work later on.

I don't think a nanny share would be possible (in fact I don't even think I would find such I thing where I live). I certainly have NEVER heard of anyone else having one. I couldn't get an au pair as we have no spare room.

I get childcare vouchers as does DH - that saves us some money. Also DD would be 3 by the time I went back to work after mat leave so she would get some hours free.

I would definitely take DD out of nursery whilst on mat leave (no point paying for it if I don't need it).

I am having a baby despite the current ecomnomic climate - quite frankly, there are always going to be issues in the world that go against bringing more people into it. We could be at war this time next year, you could become ill, who knows? Do what you feel is right for you. And good luck!

I'm in a similar position (we can cope but things are tight, and with no2 would only get tighter), but this is your life, you only get one and to me, having 2 children is something I want out of life.
We have similar plans, assuming I get pg fairly soonish we'll stop DS's nursery while I'm on ML and then send him to a pre school nursery when I go back, by which time he'll be at least 3. Will look into nursery or CM for no2.
In the meantime we are cutting back and counting our blessings. The thing that annoys me is that we can easily cope, we have just got used to a certain standard of living and are unwilling to make changes.