Pennies and babies

[Julieb85]

Dh and I are quite broody at the moment and considering our finances for baby no2! Obv with DS1 there were a lot of outgoings on cots/prams and all the usual start up costs! Given that we have most things now (except for clothing) I'm interested in others experiences...

Was 2nd child just as expensive? Or did you feel it was a bit more manageable cost wise?

I'm a bit of a worrier so if we wait until I thought we had enough savings...DS would be an only child!

My DS is now 16 and an only child, I have a DSS(2). It depends on your expectations and what you want. Anymore we would struggle even though dh has well paid job.
Children don't get cheaper as they get older, at 6ft3 he costs tonnes to clothe & feed. He'll be with us for a good few years yet.

I guess I'm more worried about the cost whilst off work really. We both earn ok wages (although I'm Part-time) at the moment. I'm happy to just not struggle! We've waited till DS is almost to before even having the discussion as he's in nursery so that costs a lot! He should get some funding when he turns 3 so could us the savings to cover nursery for another child.

I fully expect it to be difficult u til they are in school (at least) then we'll get a break for excessive childcare costs!!

I always try and remind myself that people have done it with a lot less - it just means sacrificing that house move/new car/nights out and I'm totally fine with that.

We've just had dd (8 weeks) and already have ds (21 months).I'd say it depends entirely on your personal circumstances. I'm a SAHM so child care is no different- we took that "hit" with ds. In terms of "stuff" I bought a few bits second hand but she's mainly in ds's old baby grows, bouncy chair, baby gym etc so minimal extra cost. We've bought a double buggy and a sling. The main cost has been a bigger house (£350 more a month)- we could have managed, just about, in our old house for a while longer if we only had one. Also I need to learn how to drive and get a car- again we would have probably done this eventually but I really need a car now with two. We're more time-poor so buy more convenience foods.Obviously these won't effect you if you already have enough room and a car that will accommodate them!

I think that the costs are much, much higher when they get older. My sister has 3 teenagers and they eat a lot and grow a lot. three sets of uniforms, holidays for three, meals out for three, music lessons for three (at one point she was paying £45 per week on music lessons)......It's those things that are making us think very seriously about a third.

my DC2 was a boy following a girl, and I did give a lot (14 bags) of clothes to the charity shop. Luckily though a friend had a son 12m before me and has passed on a lot of clothes to me... We have similar tastes so I've saved £100s! Play at, sterilisers etc get reused and my son has a lot of pink bowls and sleeping bags etc that I can't be bothered to change!

Nursery I guess is the Big Crunch for us, £9k a year for 3 days a week! Painful for 2 of them, I haven't found a job yet and aware I'll be working for about £50 a month when I do!