How much does formula and nappies cost per month?

[Laac]

I am expecting our first child and was having a chat with a colleague who has two kids about the cost of formula and nappies/ wipes etc at the start. I'm hoping to breastfeed but aware not everyone can.

He said that a £9 tub of formula lasted 4 days- is that right?

How much do you spend a month on formula and/ or nappies, wipes etc?

I don't know about formula as we BF but nappies and wipes probably £10-£12 a month.

I'm not sure exactly what we spend. In the early days a tub of formula should last you about a week as they only feed small amounts, often. It's when they move onto 9oz bottles it goes really fast. I buy Cow and Gate occasionally which is about £9 a tub but I normally buy Aldi Mamia which I think is the cheapest baby formula on the market. Aldi nappies and Asda nappies are a lot cheaper than Pampers so you will make a huge savings if you buy those.

I spent about £30 on nappies and £40 on formula. Sometimes less.

You have to buy a pram. You can't carry a baby all the time! Ridiculous advice

If I remember right, we used to get a tub of Aptamil for £10/£11 that used to last about 8 days. I used to spend about £40 a month on formula.

Used to buy a pack of 25 nappies which would last - on average - 5 days. These were £3.50 and would probably buy about 6 a month.
The Boots own brand wipes we get are 2 packs for £1.40 and we get about 4 a week - just to make sure we are always bulked.

Total approx = £70 a month

Yes, I agree with PP, of course you'd have to buy a pram.

Yes definitely buy a pram! Wearing them gave me awful backache and it's not suitable for all weathers.

Newborn nappies are cheaper than others but need changing more. If you're using pampers anywhere around 10-11p per nappy. You could use (once put of newborn stage) 6 to 8 a day (24 hours). But other nappies are much cheaper. Depends on whether they fit your child. (We don't get on with Aldi but like Sainsbury's).

You can't get offers on stage 1 formula but I breastfeed so I'm not sure what that costs really.

You don't have to have a pram. I did have one, but it was mainly used as a coat rack as it never left the house.
You can wear a baby anywhere and everywhere you go and many of us do/did.
I agree with @zzzzz about using cloth nappies too.

Initially your baby will drink very little milk so a tub will last much longer.

When DD was being fully formula fed and not onto solids a tub still lasted us at least a week, as we would buy one in our weekend grocery shop and not need to top up during the week. We only ever fed her in line with the guidelines on the back, so maybe your colleague is overfeeding their child or else wastes a lot?

You can get really cheap nappies and wipes. You can also get cloth nappies and reusable wipes if you wanted to.

I think you would need a max of four tubs of formula per week so £36, a packet of nappies each week at around £5 each, and a box of wipes per month that was £5. So in total you would be looking at just over £60 every four weeks.

Breastfeeding is also not free. I spent a fortune on pads, bras, feeding clothes and it took a lot of time away from my other child. That’s before you at the cost for bottles, sterilisers, pumps, freezer bags etc.

@zzzzz Yes boob is free but as the OP said, not everyone can!!! . Also, a carrier is all well and good when they’re small but not practical as the only method of transportation once they’re older. Chiropractor’s bills are pricey!

I think the sling vs pram thing is very personal. I did use a sling but found the pram really useful. Some trips the sling was more useful, others the pram. I especially liked the pram when they napped so that when they were going through clingy phases I could have a bit of a full break and a coffee without having them on me at all times.

We breastfed but probably spent about £10-15 a month on nappies. We tried to get them on offer.

I do cheap or free baby groups (local village toddlers and rhyme time at the library).

I'm just thinking what breastfeeding cost me. I bought 2 packs of breast pads and was given some reusable ones. I bought feeding bras. I bought some vest tops initially but I fed my eldest until she was two and my youngest is still feeding so all the tops I currently buy are baggy enough to lift up to feed (they're not specialist feeding tops though).

I got a breast pump the first time round (tommee tippee) and a couple of bottles and used a tub and steriliser tablets. I wouldn't get a pump unless you need it though as I didn't bother second time round.

I get nappies from asda which are £2.50 a pack, one a week on average I think. I don't know about formula as I breastfeed but I leak a lot so go through pads quickly so that does add up.
As for the pram that is personal preference. I have both a pram and a sling. Some days my ds hates the sling and just cries. He doesn't always want to be held which is fine by me, he likes being in the pram. So there is no saying that as they get bigger they will like a sling. My pram cost 69 quid from Mothercare. It's a from birth stroller so they don't always have to be expensive.

I ring fenced the child benefit money for nappies and formula and as hoc clothes/other bits. £82 a month was more than enough. Formula was a tub a week to start with then maybe one and a half the more she fed, so cow and gate £8-16 a week. Nappies from Aldi, £3-5 a pack depending on pack size, twice a month. Wipes bought in bulk on amazon £18 for 20 packets.

Babies are as expensive as you make them. If you use the most expensive formula and nappies, it will cost more.

My first baby was formula fed and in pampers nappies and wipes, I remember spending £50 a month on cow&gate formula and about £30 a month on nappies.

Second breastfed and on Sainsbury’s nappies and wipes - spend about £10 in total a month. But breastpads £1 a week and vitamin D drops (don’t remember price!) so breastfeeding not entirely free.

Depends what you choose to do.

I did purée for the first, £1 a squeeze pouch of ella’s Kitchen so probably £3 a day so £90 a month second BLW, gave him what we had - no extra cost but I did buy baby porridge for breakfast so maybe £5 a month?

Yes deffo need a pushchair and car seat, changing bag and cot.

Also bouncy chair/play mat a life saver in early days.

44 per month for formula, 11 pound per tub, lasts 1 week and he is 9 month old, has been the same from the begining pretty much. Nappies 12 pound per month.

I have 2 under 2, they both hate the pram so it's never used. Dc1 goes on a hip seat, dc2 goes in a woven wrap in a hip carry on the other side and I have a backpack. Not saying everyone should do that, just that it's possible.

Nappies can vary, the cheapest ones might give your child nappy rash or leak poop every single time. Reusables also vary, it depends on baby again.

I use one tub of SMA Anti reflux per week which is £12.00, one pack of little Angel nappies which are £2.99 and about two packs of Asda wipes at £0.59p each.

So £16.17 per week.

Rubbish. No you don't have to buy a pram. For first born, yes it is nice and lovely to have a pram but you really can manage without. I used the same pram for DD1 & DD2 but by the time DD3 came along I'd already scrapped it. DD3 and me managed perfectly well without one until buggy age.

Formula - one tin a week.

Nappies - one pack a week.
Baby wipes - last for ages, less than £1
Bought both in the weekly shop. Don't know current prices but a quick look on Tesco should tell you.

Or you could bulk buy and get them delivered for less.

Congratulations

I’m amazed at only one pack of nappies a week, in the early days we were going through 8-10 a day! That reduced somewhat but I think 6ish a day was pretty normal for a long time and now it’s 5ish as a toddler. So 60-70 a week at the start then down to about 35-40 a week. I guess that is one large pack of nappies but for us that large pack is >£5 so £20 ish a month and the first few months were definitely more expensive. Reusable nappies aren’t free - the initial outlay for them seems to be over £100 and then there’s the cost of running washing machine, dryer and detergent. They are much better for the environment but I think you’d need to use them for at least 2 children to make them pay!

It was a few years ago but I used to get a tub of formula for about £10 which would last a week and about the same per week on nappies and wipes.
Weird advice not to get a pram

When my was newborn I'd say around £40 on formula (aptamil) and we got aldi nappies which are about £4 for a huge pack. I just bought a bumper box of aldi wipes for £6 which has 12 packs of wipes in

Breastfeeding wasn’t free for me, I had to buy breast pads (oversupply) and nursing bras. Also it made me ravenous so extra food to take into account! Also lansinoh at the beginning for my chapped nipples. It’a certainly cheaper than formula feeding but not free in a lot of cases.
I think we spent about £10 a week on nappies.