What is the minimum weekly budget for a baby?

[DonnaLlyn]

By the time I give birth, I will not be a student any longer, but I will have even less income because I will be without student loans.

I have a part time job, and my partner works, but we really are going to be dirt poor.

I'm trying to budget right now, so I need some help figuring out how much this baby is going to cost. How much do you thnk is the minimum that I ill spend weekly on the baby? Please don't count one-off purchases like cots and prams - that will be taken care of by my mother in law.

I am going to do everything as cheaply as possible, including cloth nappies, and breast feeding at least until 6 months old.

Bread fed not feed!

Oh yes I would bulk but in wipes ... And had to pay for breast pads. You can buy reusable ones of those but they didn't work for me until milk had truly settled in!! It is now that I am going back to work that the costs are setting in!!

Definitely find your local FB buying and selling groups. We have a lot where I live and I have saved a fortune buying second hand. Most stuff gets used for such a short amount of time that you can resell for almost what you paid.
If you can breast feed that saves a fortune on formula and bottles etc. you may find you need to keep going longer than 6 months though.
Meal planning, bulk buying, utilising your freezer and visiting your supermarket when reductions are done has saved us hundreds.
Most churches have playgroups that are free or minimum donation. FB will be your friend for finding out what is going on.
It doesn't have to be expensive.
Good luck!

Ah yes breast pads! Have been told this is a must have for BF. How much are they roughly?

OP slightly different tack - are you sure that you are aware of all the support you can claim as parents who aren't well off? Chid benefit, tax credits, maternity allowance, perhaps housing benefit and income support. Please do be sure, because an extra few quid a week can make all the difference.

Depends on what you use and your baby...

We went through around 120 nappies a week at the start so depending on how you bought them (in bulk) we spent about £15 a week on nappies
But you can save by using reusables.

He had a tin of formula a week (anticolic) too which was about £12 but if you breast feed its free!

The washing costs went upas did the gas/electric as he was a winter baby and we were home more than normal.

Any groupsyou might want to go to etc, c

BF is not free it takes a lot of time, and I definitely ate more extra food than a tin of formula would have cost

Don't let that discourage you OP - just be aware that you may have a much bigger appetite, and do some clear thinking about the trade offs in terms of paid work.

Breastpads are very useful. Lanisoh ones are the best and you will use less of them than the cheaper brands. You should stop leaking after a few months and won't need them. I didn't use a baby bath and just washed mine in the sink. Just make sure the last water through is cold in case the tap drips. Also it's easy to take them in the shower with you once they're a big bigger. Don't buy any equipment until you've tested they like it at a baby group different babies like different things. NCT jumble sales are good for bargains. You can get reusable baby wipes too or you could use a flannel. Definitely baby led wean so much easier and cheaper.

£3.66 for 60 is the cheapest I can find Breast pads at the mo.

Baby bath - from when they are quite tiny, you can lie them on their back in the normal bath, with an inch or two of warm water. They love it and go mad kicking and splashing!

Just to note, we're not using any baby bath products, just water, unless dd hair looks greasy so that saves money. Reusable wipes are great too as they just go in the usual wash so no extra costs.

I strongly recommend eating a bowl of porridge and a piece of fruit for breakfast, as if you're breastfeeding you'll be hungry and easily end up wanting lots of snacks.

I'd also eat one after dinner before bed as I always woke up hungry un the middle of the night.

Alternatively you can make healthy flapjacks without butter or sugar v cheaply.

I agree that babies can be very cheap and so much can be picked up second hand as loads of people (including me) are swept up into buying things which they are told are essential or being given things by friends which they found essential and yet totally don't work for your baby.
Can you try & build up an emergency fund which you can use if you have to? I'm thinking if it turns out that you find bfing a real struggle and decide to do formula or mixed feeding after all, or you have a baby who poos a lot and you decide you have to use disposables for a short while or, worst case scenario, you need a taxi to get to GP or something. Hopefully none of this will happen but a newborn can be relentless and there can be a difference between what happens and what you plan on happening (speaks from bitter experience!). I bf DC1 until she was 15mths in the end but it was ridiculously hard work to get it established involving nipple shields, tubes of lansinoh, a breast pump (and so a means of sterilising, bm storage bags etc) and a lot of chocolate. In anticipation of DC2's arrival, I stocked up on more lansinoh, got new nipple shields (having lost the old ones) only to find feeding him was an absolute breeze and I didn't need any of the equipment. I did finally get to use the giant tub of sudocreme I bought for DC1 & never needed though.

We only use nappy cream rarely but a tube of lansinoh is invaluable. I got mine cheap on amazon, but they were also giving out samples at the children's centre baby breastfeeding cafe. I'd recommend going before baby is born to check it out.

Buy an Eco egg for washing, I bought one before ds was born and haven't bought washing powder since that was 14 months ago and it's been topped up and cleans everything.
Really good investment especially with cloth nappies.

OP we had our first baby in a similar situation, please don't worry, the baby won't notice anything! If, as you say, your MIL is helping with one off purchases there really isn't much more for the first year that you need to spend.
I got some cloth nappies as a gift and others from our local freecycle group. Clothes were given to us or I got them from charity shops (vests and sleepsuits 25 or 50p each). I used cloth nappies in the day and disposables at night. Morrisons have 20 value nappies for 1.41 which are great, I use a pack of those a week at the most, they also sell wipes for about 60p I think. However, as I use washable nappies I cut up old t-shirts to use as wipes (with water obviously) and wash them with the nappies. If you breastfeed there are no feeding costs at all, though I would recommend buying proper feeding bras. Ebay might be OK for this as people only tend to wear them for a few months so 2nd hand are OK.
I barely noticed the cost of weaning, as I just boiled some veg or mashed up some fruit, with a bit of plain yoghurt. A banana in your bag is a perfectly fine meal if you are going out and about!
Basically anything you need that your mother-in-law doesn't help you with, you can easily find from freecycle or charity shops, so can't see what else would cost a lot unless you wanted to buy new things, which some people do.
To be extra thorough you may feel very hungry while breastfeeding so maybe add a tenner to your weekly food costs! Oh, and also a bin with a tight fitting lid for the nappies (about £5).
Best of luck OP, hope it goes well and be assured being poor does not take away from the joy of your first baby!

YY to lansinoh, also a couple of packs of newborn disposables and washables are a bit of a nightmare with that first runny poo they have.

For baths we have always had baths with ds, it's lovely and a really nice way to do the bedtime breastfeed, we also don't use soap or shampoo on him.

How can someone only use 1-2 nappies a day? Sorry but that's mad. Newborn here approx 10-12 a day, by 2 and just before potty trained was still using 5 ish a day.

More expensive nappy, but the Wonderoos v3 are great reusable nappies. If you can find second hand great, or I would ask friends to buy one when they ask what they can get. About £12 each. But all in one pocket style so no need for liners/ wraps etc, and dry quickly as can take inners out. Same nappy lasts small - potty trained. Personally I would say if you use cloth you need min 20 nappies. That's allowing for 10 a day at first, and a day for them to dry. After few months will decrease, and can wash every few days.

We just change him at lunch time and in the morning (he now always poos when he first wakes up) so 2 in the day and one overnight, his skin doesn't feel wet when we change him and he's never had nappy rash so it seems to work for him.

Freecycle and nearly new sales (especially in the last hour) are a good way to save money on baby stuff. Supermarkets sell baby clothes - use reward points for them. When buying baby stuff, buy at Boots for the advantage card points.

Avoid baby jars. Breastfeed if you can, but if you need to buy formula use Boots or a supermarket and get the points. Take handmedowns from friends and family. Go to surestart/childrens centres for free activities.

Cloth nappies can get v expensive as plenty of people get addicted to buying them in new designs/colours. Aldi and Lidl do good cheap nappy packs. Reusable wipes can be a good way of keeping baby change costs down.

I bought lansinoh cream as everyone said it was essential but I never needed it and I'm still breastfeeding DD at 18 months. We buy most things on gumtree - I think the only things we have bought new so far have been a cot mattress (that was never used as we co sleep!) and a pair of shoes as we lost one and needed a replacement pair the same day. As other have said, NCT sales and charity shops are also great. We use cloth nappies and wipes and got them from Facebook nappy groups.

Stripy - so if he wees after midday one he stays in it until bedtime? Then clean nappy at bed I'm assuming? Doesn't he smell of wee all day? Do you not think it will be hard to toilet train him as he's used to and happy to sit in wee all day?

In day I have always changed at least every 3 hrs, more if feels heavy and wet, more if pooed, more as newborn. Reusable nappies would be flooded in day if left 8+ hours

Don't over do clothes in the first 6 months and ask for clothes in bigger sizes as gifts if people ask. Speak to friends about kit they can lend you.
Bf is cheap and I found the cheapest but best quality nappies were kiddicare big boxes
www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/categorydisplay10A_5022_10751_61181_-1__61177_61177_10001_61177
look and ask on free cycle.

BF isn't exactly free, but it's probably a fair bit cheaper than FF overall. So make sure you've got the support you need. Before the baby's born, note down the numbers of the NCT BF helpline, La Leche League etc, find out when and whereyour local BF support groups are, see if your hospital does free antenatal classes that cover BF, etc. The more support you have, the more likely that you'll be able to BF successfully. Kellymom is a fantastic website all about BF - read up before the birth so you understand how it all works, what normal BF baby behaviour looks like (eg newborns often feed almost constantly all evening - this is normal and doesn't mean you don't have enough milk - understanding of BF varies hugely among midwives and health visitors).

I have never needed breast pads. Maybe I'm a freak but I never leak milk (I BF DS1 until he was nearly 3 and am BFing DS2, who's nearly 7 months). You can buy washable ones which probably work out cheaper than disposables.

Lidl nappies are fantastic. I use them on DS2, including at night, and they very rarely leak. I know you're looking to use reusables but if you need disposables as backup, I heartily recommend those.

You don't need bubble bath - I never use it on DS2 (I did with DS1 but he was my PFB...) Just buy a travel size baby shampoo in case they wee/puke/smear food in their hair - it'll last you ages because most babies have such fine hair you only need the tiniest dab.

At weaning time just pass them stuff from your plate or mash it with a fork.

I found that boots ultra slim breast pads were by far the best (I was a big leaker too!!) they are normally 3 for 2!