How much money have I saved by BFing and not giving any formula ?

[iwantitnow]

Wondered how much I have saved, BF DD for nearly 2 years, still feeding DS at 6 months and plan to get to 12 months. Never used bottles, expressing machine a handful to times. I wonder how much I have saved in formula during this time? I'm fantasising about my lingerie allowance once I burn my nursing bras?

do you still need breast pads? makes a big difference

I bf both my DC for 1 year each. I didn't use breast pads apart from straight after the first birth, never had any equipment other than that.

I reckon I saved nothing compared to FF. I ate all the spare money in food as I was so hungry

oo yes, interesting! I would like to know this too.

I never used breastpads after about 2 weeks so I can factor those out. I did spend about £50 on nursing bras.

Unfortunately I would have to factor in the excessive appetite for sugar that I always have for the first 6 months, I reckon I probably notched up at least a quid a day in chocolate and cake consumption in the early days, maybe falling to 50p a day around 3 months. Appetite back to normal after 6 months though.

So x two children, my bfing has probably cost me about £325 in confectionary and underwear.

I now want to learn if I'm in the red or the black

I have breastfedd three children for 4 and a hafl years

would love to know what I saved

only used breast pads for about a month after each one and I was given shitloads of them

not 4 and a half years each I would like to add

I mean altogether....

With the first breastpads until nearly a year, this time only 3 months worth. Lots of nursing bras probably £200 worth. Haven't eaten that much more, especially this time round BFing has not made me hungry, but weight not shifting...why is another matter

200 qiuds worth of nursing!!!!!!

seriously

wow

Unfortunately I don't know anything about bottlefeeding. How much milk does a baby drink?

£200 worth of nursing bras as 3 different sizes, beginning when they are tiny and I'm massive, middle around now at 6 months, and when I lose all the weight and I'm nearly back to my own size was a year last time. Some got holes they were washed so often.

Hmmm...I think its meant to be about £500 a year you save....not sure whether thats just the milk or all the bottles etc. When purchasing nursing bras I always keep this figure in mind.

I ignore the extra money I spent on food, all the different bottles I tried to get them to drink from, my breast pump, pads, the clothes to fit over my enormous boobs, the extra buckets of coffee to keep me awake...

Saying that - you are also meant to save money if you go back to work as need less time off with illness. So, ooooh, perhaps another few hundred there

I would prefer to spend the money on yummy cakes, starbucks coffee and new clothes for me than formula...

Ok, determined to work this out so I just googled...

There are apparently 214 scoops of feed per can of SMA and the can costs £7.25.

Then in the online feeding guide it says the following:

Feeding guide. Birth - 12 months.

Approx age of baby: Birth - 2 weeks: Approx. weight of baby: 3.5 kg/7 3/4 lb, Preparation for single feeds: Level scoops: 3, Cooled, freshly boiled water: 90ml/3 fl. oz. (approx.), Feeds in 24 hours: 6.

so for the period birth - 2 weeks that's 3 scoops x 6 feeds x 14 days = 252 scoops

Approx age of baby: 2 -4 weeks: Approx. weight of baby: 4.2 kg/9 1/4 lb, Preparation for single feeds: Level scoops: 4, Cooled, freshly boiled water: 120ml/4 fl. oz. (approx.), Feeds in 24 hours: 6.

so for 2-4 weeks that's 4 x 6 x 14 = 336 scoops

Approx age of baby: 2 months: Approx. weight of baby: 4.7 kg/10 1/4 lb, Preparation for single feeds: Level scoops: 5, Cooled, freshly boiled water: 150ml/5 fl. oz. (approx.), Feeds in 24 hours: 5.

so for 4 weeks - 2 months that's 5 x 5 x 30 = 750 scoops

Approx age of baby: 4 months: Approx. weight of baby: 6.5 kg/14 1/4 lb, Preparation for single feeds: Level scoops: 7, Cooled, freshly boiled water: 210ml/7 fl. oz. (approx.), Feeds in 24 hours: 5.

so for 2 months - 4 months that's 7 x 5 x 60 = 2100

Approx age of baby: 6 months: Approx. weight of baby: 7.5 kg/16 1/2 lb, Preparation for single feeds: Level scoops: 8, Cooled, freshly boiled water: 240ml/8 fl. oz. (approx.), Feeds in 24 hours: 4.

so for 4 months - 6 months that's 8 x 4 x 60 = 1920

Approx age of baby: 7-12 months: Preparation for single feeds: Level scoops: 7, Cooled, freshly boiled water: 210ml/7 fl. oz. (approx.), Feeds in 24 hours: 3.

so for the remaining 6 months + that's 7 x 3 x 182 = 3822

so that's a total of 9180 scoops, and if there are 214 scoops in a can that's 43 cans.

let's allow a couple of cans for wasted feeds and say 45 cans.

Cost of can £7.25

Total cost of formula per baby- £326.25

x 2 chrildren = £652.50.

So I am in the black! By about £325.

There is another thread about this somewhere, and I remember one breastfeeding mumsnetter memorably saying that she'd spent that much on Hobnobs.

Well so far I have spent £180 on nursing bras

Plus 2 expressing machines (£50 and £85) and endless pots, bags, an expressing bra and bottles for DS1 as I had to express and bottle feed him. Oh, and a nursing supplementer and various other kit I tried to get him to BF direct. Luckily I have never needed breast pads.

So it hasn't been cheap but I would gladly have spent twice the cost of formula just to BF DS1 direct, if only I could have. I could be spending £10 a day on feeding DS2 (and I probably am, if vegetable samosas and jaffa cakes are counted) and I would still do it gladly.

(Sorry, that was really gushing wasn't it?)

oh yes, I didn't count the cost of bottles, sterilisers and electricity (for boiling water, heating, sterilising bottles etc)

So let's say, what £400 per baby, by my maths?

I reckon £500 is a bit optimistic according to my maths, but I expect if you also used in a bit of ready-made formula and allowed for more wastage you could get there.

£180 on nursing bras?!!! Are they made of gold and hand-stitched by elves?

[rushes off to buy more bras]

No It is just that I am a bit of a freakish size so can't just buy them from M&S, and then I am always MASSIVE at first, then simply ginormous after that but the first set of bras are too big.

Oh yes and also I just got carried away on the Bravissimo website last week don't tell my -husband.

I don't think I saved any money given the ridiculous cost of bras

Decided to discount cost of nursing bras as I would have brought some bras during the last 3 years.

Bollocks you would have bought nice bras anyway so the nursing bras are no more expensive. Love thy norks I say

Seriously, I've been breastfeeding DD for nearly 3 years (she pretty much self weaned) and DS for 15 months so far, so I haven't bought sterilising stuff, bottles, formula, extra nappies when they get gastroenteritis.

Most people I know who don't breastfeed seem to live on chocolate hobnobs for the first year of parenthood as well!

And my kids are apparently healthier for it so maybe I'll save on hospital car parking fees in 70 years time too!

In all the lists of the "benefits" of breastfeeding, they always seem to quote around £600 for formula in the first year.

I maybe bought 6 or 8 nursing bras, only because my size went up, then down. My sister is using some of them now, and I am still wearing some just now whilst pregnant as ds is still nursing. So, I will just use them again for ds2, providing I have a size that fits!! So, cost per year for nursing bras is very little.

If I'd known what a faff expressing was, I wouldn't have bought a pump either, which would have saved me £30 or whatever I spent on it!

Plus the saving in treatment from the cancers I hopefully won't get now.....

However I would say I probably paid more in nappies than FF babies mums do because of the 'breastfed splatter effect'.

wow, when you take into account the fact that I used reusable nappies that's like... what... £2 grand I've saved?

My children should practically be paying me! Where's it all gone?

I dont get the nursing bra thing

I'm an awkward size 34F

so when not pregnant I have two bras at best and when pregnant and feeding I manage one non wired and even two pregnancies I had the luxury of two non wired bras

so thats three bras caused by pregnancy and feeding in 8 years

I didn't breastfeed for cost reasons anyway

it is the only way to feed my baby

oh and I never bought a pump, hand expressed sometimes

I am a 28GG and I can't do without two at a time. So that is £50 and when my size changes, I need the support and can't manage with one that doesn't fit. I wish I had a more normal size, I really do.

There can't be many folk who BF for cost reasons? Or the poorer members of our society would be more likely to BF than the richer, which doesn't seem to be the case.