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 need a pack of 40 nappies and a pack of wipes a week and it works out about £20 a month, we use pull ups at the moment becuase he wriggles loads, did use the Aldi nappies and they were good too, definitely go Asda as we got such good bulk deals with the baby event going on? Not sure on formula sorry

I want to carry mine 24/7, I enjoy the extra snuggles and them sleeping on me

Good for you. I felt completely ‘touched out’ a lot of the time with my babies and craved half an hour while they slept in the pram.

What I have found really helpful is buying in bulk for nappies and wipes I even did this before DS was born. Keep your eye open for the baby and toddler events in the supermarkets and I also but my wipes on amazon, a box of 18 packs of Johnson's wipes for about £10.

I buy a tub of Aldi formula for £7 and it lasts about 6 days. I go through about 2 packs of Aldi nappies a month too - that's about £8 or £9.

Re the buy a pram/don't buy a pram discussion, imo it totally depends on the child. My first hated the sling. I tried a few different ones from the sling library but it made no difference. I couldn't have managed without a pram. My fourth is a complete velcro baby and is only happy in a sling or wrap. The other two were happy in either. If number 4 had have been my first though, I'd have also thought prams were a pointless expense.

I have no idea about formula but Lidl nappies are the best I've used, and v v cheap, under 5p a nappy on average. I also like Sainsbury's wipes, 12 packs for £6. I found the Lidl ones less soft.

A small tub of formula lasted at least a week when she was little but now at six months just a few days. Nappies we probably spend about £10 a week on. Mamia from Aldi are best quality for price we've found (Lupipulu Or whatever it's called from lidl and pampers have more leaks in my experience). Probably about £70 a month for formula and nappies. Bear in mind about the reusable nappies that you'll still spend money on washing machine money electricity and water unless your hand washing them and you've also got to take into account the time cost factor. Also if you do end up formula feeding I can't recommend the Tommy Tippee machine enough - at the time we bought it the cheapest price we could find was at John Lewis for £60 however that was after we were both exhausted and desparate after a night of making each bottle from scratch every time she cried which would take half an hour minimum. Alternatively you can ignore NHS rules about making bottles fresh everytime and just premake bottles (people have been doing it for years).

BF wasn't free for me. I spent far more than formula would have cost on convenience food, newspapers and magazines to keep me occupied while bf. This was pre-smart phone days though.

Also re: the pram discussion - mine is fine with either but she is so heavy I couldn't imagine carrying her around all day - our pram is light weight and folds up easy for going places.

The cost of formula was certainly a strong incentive for me to persevere with bfing! It wasn't easy as dd was born early and in scbu for a while so ended up mix feeding but I kept trying and eventually bf for nearly a year.

I would buy some nice cloths to use instead of wipes, nappies look for own brand/offers. Sign up for baby club at Boots to get freebies, look out for nearly new sales for clothes and baby bits.

I wasted money on a pram that was bulky and a pita to use, I moved onto a maclaren buggy which was brilliant and did dd until she was 4yo!! If I'd had another baby I would have bought a buggy that was suitable from birth.

Even if you carry them out and about doesn't mean you need to carry them 24/7. We had a bouncy chair, crib just like everyone else. But DD hated the pram and screamed in it, so was happier in the sling and in the pushchair when a bit bigger.

And mine (well, DD2 anyway) hated the sling and was happier in the pushchair

I started adding one pack of nappies to my weekly shop (various types and sizes) so I had a bit of a stockpile by the time dd arrived. Don't buy too many in the first size. Dd was chunky and long so went into the next size up pretty quickly. But this way we didn't really notice a big increase in expenditure. I wanted to use cloth nappies but at the time we lacked drying space so decided against it. I would give it a go next time though.

Formula - once dd was settled on a certain brand, again we bought one tub each week on the food shop regardless of whether we needed it or not. To start with a tub lasts about 10 days, so we generally had 3-4 tubs in the cupboard. As they get bigger and drink more we used our stockpile. Unfortunately bf didn't work for us.

@SoyDora That's fine, I was responding to pp who asked who would want to carry their baby around 24/7 as though nobody would. It's not wrong to want a bit of time to breathe, just pointing out that it isn't unusual to want to carry them either.

My first was ff and would go through a tub about every 5-6 days (£7.99 each). We use cloth nappies but if we were using all disposable we’d probably go through a pack of 54 about every 10-14 days. I think it costs about £4 a pack.

Oh and we use cloth wipes, which in total probably cost about £30 brand new (two sets, one for bum and then other for hands and face after meals). They’ll last probably 5 years.

I carried my 99th centile baby exclusively for the first 6 months but I spent more on carriers and wraps than I did on the second hand travel system which I sold on for more than I paid for it.

I have 2 under 2 - a £10 box of 18 packs of wipes normally lasts the month, so maybe £5-6 for you. We buy big packs of Asda nappies which are £5 each. One pack lasts 1-4 weeks depending on the age of the child.

I breastfed my second because I resented paying for formula for my first. We used to have Hipp for £8.50 a box and normally used 1-2 a week.

My second child hates prams, car seats and carriers/slings. I still own all of those things in the hopes that she will one day like them, but so far I've had no luck. I agree that carriers, or carrying the baby in my arms which I mostly have to do, really hurt my back, and I don't really go out much as a result.