just curious.....whats the average "start-up cost" (!) for a newborn?

[IsawPussycatmommakissingsanta]

Thats it really, just pondering. Have been looking at a variety of sources from ebay to designer end......what do you really need?? how much would you say is essential? If you do stuff normally and not go completely OTT then what would you say cost is? i know will vary enourmously on what you choose etc but come on play along. we are ttc at moment, and these things crop up along the way! I know once youve got kids you never have any money according to the world and his wife, but what do our mumsnet experts have to say??? All comments welcome!

well, there i s no upper limit to what you can spend on a pushchair apparently.
what you need to do is decide what your lifestyle is going to be, and then buy something for that. so for example for me, the sling was completely useless.
and i also think that monitors are a waste of money too.
matching accessories are fine, if you can afford it. you need to decide what you are willing to spend on.

munz are you ttc at moment? do you buy things as you go along in your pregnancy? i somehow thought it might be "bad luck"to buy before the baby got here

See I also didn't bother with a baby bath but forgot I bought a bath beanbag thing to go in the big bath. Also replaced this with DD. Travel system cost about £160 - so thats pram and car seat.

do you walk a lot?
if so, get something with the bicycle wheels. something the baby can lie flat in. and preferably something that lasts a while.
i am a huge huge fan of the mothercare urban detour. 160 when i bought it. i think its 200 now. depending on colours etc.

i bought a first stage car seat almost nine years ago for 60 from mothercare. all three of mine have used it, as has their cousin. i dont know if sil has passed it on or not.

oh, i also found a little rocker shair to be very useful for the 2-4 month age. mine was 12 in mothercare. fantastic value

walk as in go for walks out in the dales and also to parks, country estates etc, plus my parents live on a farm, so something rugged would be ideal. Also may possibly go down to one car as oppposed to two, so would need it to be town/shopping friendly too. Gosh theres so much to think about even before you get the little blue line on the pee stick isnt there!

ooh glad u girls said tyhat, we've just brought the urban detour.

puss - i'm due beg of march we brought little bits as we went along, but have only just brought the big stuff - althou the big stuff isn't in the house - i've been lucky enough to store it in work. clothes etc I only started to get once we'd had the 5 month check - in fact most of it was 5 months prior to that it was toiletrys and little teddys etc/saving the money aside.

you don't have to have a travel system - you can get a from birth pushchair and a separate car seat. if you travel a lot by car it is useful for it to be a travel system as that will allow you to leave baby in car seat, and then clip the car seat on to the buggy when you get out of the car. You could get a perfectly adequate Mothercare or Mamas and Papas travel system for under £200.

lets have a look at this urban detour then,,,,,anyone any good at doing links?

You'll probably want some sort of 3-Wheel pushchair then - they are meant to be better for country walks etc. There will be ones available that aren't massively expensive.

yup, puss, you definitly need something like the urban detour. you could get something from landrover for about five or six hundred if you want to though
its fantastic in shopping malls as well, as you can push it one handed with a heavy toddler in it.
at 2.10 my dd is too big for her little cheapy pin k mothercare stroller. but in the urban detour, she can lie flat still for a good sleep, and when ds2, who is 4.5 , gets tired, they can both sit in it one in front of the other!
its perfect imo, [except when you get a puncture!

but mothercare is fantastic. when dd was 6 weeks old, went to school to pick up ds1. on the way back home, got a puncture. ds2 then 20 months old was asleep as was dd. couldnt push the double urban detour, had to carry them back home one by one, then carry the pushchair back. phoned them up, they said i should go to a store to get it fixed. i pointed out that with two kids that yound, i couldnt physically get to the store, despite having access to a car. they posted me a wheel free of charge express delivery, i got it the next day. fantastic sevice or what?

gosh im so excited, makes it all the more real when you get to the "planning ahead" stage doesnt it? ive been wanting a baby since we practically came off our honeymoon, but only now is dh ready. its been a long wait! but im glad we have waited, i wouldnt have wanted it if he didnt want it as much iyswim. so now we ttc, and all the exciting stuff is chasing round my head, but dh just on about cost! i so cant wait

i personally dont like mama's and papa's as i feel the extr money is more for the style of the thing rather than the quality iyswim

i thought mothercare was on the homepage but i cant find it.......hang on im gonna have a look at this urban thingymajig...........back in a sec!

urbandetour
is that a link? sorry am not techno.....

yep, its a link. well done.
just follow it throught to the pushchairs.

ooooooh i like it! like it alot. just asked dh to come and look, he says, nah im watching Die hard....huh! p'raps its a man thing .

just re-reading thread then, we're prob looking at between £300 to £700 for the nuts and bolts basics?

Here's how I'd do it next time:

No pushchair but a great sling (say £50 or cheaper if second hand)
Private b/f counsellor (£500 to get us over all our many problems? Maybe more)
Lansinoh (£9)
Moses basket or similar (£50?)
Car seat (no idea)
Washable nappies (say £100)
Breast pump (£25 - £60)

We got given everything else.

Needless to say, that lot's with the benefit of hindsight. In reality we (I) bought loads of clothes, didn't really need a pushchair really for quite a while, and ended up spending on bottles and formula.

whats lansinoh Pruni? and can they go in a sling when they are teeny tiny?

its all lifestyle though isnt it.
i found a sling to be utterly uselss. i just couldnt get comfortable with it. for me the pushchair was the essential
lansinoh is a cream for your nipple that you dont have to remove before feeding baby. and it actually works. i was given three sachets in the hospital, and that was enoguh for me, so didnt have to buy any.
breastpumps and me just dont get on. so again, useless for me.
its all how you decide to live your life.

ooo, most important thing as mentioned by pruni.
someone to encourage you to breastfeed..
in my case mom who took care of entire household for a couple of months and sisters who took care of ds1.
also particularly useful imo is someone to do the cleaning for the first sixish weeks. very very importaant. worth their weight in gold

youre right clba, when it comes to stuff like this, or most things for that matter, sometimes we have to remind ourselves we actually have a choice. i know babies dont need much else apart from milk, love and somwhere cosy and warm. When you think about it especially at this time of year, we all dont actually NEED anything do we? i always think to myself, "yes, but will it matter if i ever get to 100? " and also when youre old and grey and on your last legs , you arent gonna think about the wallpaper you had in 1997 are you? whats important is who youve loved and whos loved you. .....in my humble opinion anyway!

i think ill be calling on my friends for the cleaning! they are all clean freaks too. glad not just me.

Was given:

Moses basket
Clothes
Toys
Steriliser
new bottles
Toiletries
Large wad cotton wool
Baby bath
Toiletry box
2 chests of drawers

Bought

5 second hand blankets, £10 the lot
1 second hand cotbed + bedding - ds still uses at 2.8, £30
1 changing mat, £3, car boot sale
1 graco travel system, second hand from close friend so knew no car crashes, £50.

So, less than £100. I do find that people who have struggled to fund their own babies are actually more generous when giving second hand items. I offered money for all the second hand gifts, but was refused.

I am not remotely snobbish about second hand stuff. I have a washing machine, I know how to use it.