Cost of having a child per month/year?

[Lalafelpotato]

Hiya everyone

Myself & my other half are starting to talk about having a baby. One of our worries is how much it actually costs per month/per year. I've looked online & there is articles saying £15,000 per year & others saying £5000 per year, so it's all a bit confusing! So realistically, how much did it cost you? We wouldn't be buying top of the line stuff & we usually shop in Lidl/Aldi, so would be getting baby stuff from there.

Any help would be appreciated :) thank you!

I can only give figures on what my current 2 year old is costing as I haven’t got a clue what it worked out to a year or two ago.

£20 per month nappies
£0 childcare
£10 across a month on activities. Most are free at this age and so some months I can easily not spend anything
£10 on clothes. This is more due to fun than requirements as he still fits in most of the stuff he had new for Christmas.

Our food shop has not increased. I cook the same amount of food in general but tend to waste less and if anything DH and I eat slightly less too now.

I might spend a little extra in fuel as I visit more people on my days off.

When we had DS I went PT (2.5 days). Of the 2.5 days I worked I paid 50% of what I took home in childcare. This 'cost' 30k pa to our family budget.

Since then I have upped my hours but I haven't taken the promotions I could have had, which is a 'cost' to us. We also now pay for school fees and expensive extra-curriculars (£1500 a month together).

These are the real costs- not nappies and babygros.

When we were pregnant we spent about £1000 but that included big things like pram and cot that converts into a toddler bed etc.

My ds is 1 now and really doesn't cost much. I've always breastfed so never had to spend a penny on formula. We use reusable wipes most of the time so that also saves money. The baby eats what we eat and when he was younger I made purées so never spent a penny on pouches or jars. Lots of clothes and toys from the charity shop (although this obviously depends on how good the charity shops in your area are!)

Toiletries wise - all he has is coconut oil, baby shampoo, Vaseline, soap and bepanthen. Zero money spent on fancy moisturisers etc (I couldn't find a single baby moisturiser that doesn't contain alcohol but that's a whole other thread!)

I'm sorry this reply doesn't have a figure answer! Just thought I'd share how it doesn't have to be as expensive as some people make out I bet I'll take back everything I said once he needs shoes etc.

Childcare is the biggest one.

There is the big outlay at the start with prams, car seats, nursery furniture etc. But you can do that to suit your budget. Having a second or third child also tends not to involve this is you keep the baby stuff.

Then as they get older you have to upgrade to bigger versions of those things. Bigger beds, bigger car seats, bigger cars, bigger houses. Buy more clothes, buy more toys and more food and spend more money to keep them entertained. I actually think my kids cost more money now that they're older, eating me out of house and home, needing school uniform, growing out of clothes and shoes every two minutes and asking to do expensive activities. Oh and paying £1k in child care for the summer holidays.

One baby doesn't cost that much but when you have 2 or 3 children who may need before/after school care, eat portions of food similar to an adult, need clothing and shoes every 6-12 months, need a bedroom, Christmas and birthday presents and parties, cost money to take on holiday, want mobile phones, new books etc etc etc, you get the idea...

First always costs more, buying all the gear. Pram, car seat, cot and new mattress (always buy new mattress) maybe a swing chair or play mat. Then as they grow there is toys. Clothes.. they grow so fast. I can spend £40 a month or more on clothes for my newborn. And maybe £60 or more for my older one who’s growth is slower now she’s older. Then there’s shoes, nappies for a newborn! I am getting through 14 a day at present for my 3 week old son.
So it’s really hard to put a figure on it, but you could total up where you’d shop for these items and add it up. Breastfeeding is free, but then you might decide to pump and or bottle feed too.
The list is endless!

Our outgoings for 10mo DS:

Formula: £50 a month (we buy the expensive stuff for long and boring reasons). I would had loved to bf, but that didn't happen despite my best efforts.
Nappies/wipes: In cloth, so an extra wash every other day, about £1.50 a month
Food: He eats what we eat, plus some shop bought baby snacks when we're out and about. Maybe £20 a month? Although he loves strawberries, so my soft fruit budget has dramatically increased.
Classes: £75 a month (I do 2, one of which is an expensive one)
Toiletries/medicines: Maybe £5 a month? A bottle of baby bath and some calpol.
Clothes: So far, he's needed 6 entire wardrobes. I buy a lot second hand and am fortunate to get a lot of hand-me-downs, but each wardrobe probably cost about £50, so that's £30 a month. He's currently in 12-18, so I'm hoping to get 6 months out of that unlike 2 months out of his 9-12 wardrobe.
Toys: He's got loads of toys and does not need any more, but I can't resist buying them when they pop up on facebook marketplace. So maybe £20 a month. I'm trying to be better.
Extra gas/electricity: I do an extra load of his laundry every 3 days, plus there's extra costs from me being home all day and keeping the house warm in the winter (hoping that we won't need to keep it on as much this year when he's not a newborn). Maybe that's an extra £10 a month?

If you manage to breastfeed, use cloth nappies (high upfront cost, but you can sell them on again for practically the same value if you buy 2nd hand), go to cheap/free classes and are better at resisting second hand bargains than me so just buy what you need, you could probably manage on an extra £50 a month. But that's just for a baby, I'm sure they'll get more expensive as they get older.

Babies don't need the expensive stuff - at granny's house, he doesn't have any toys. Instead, he has a wooden spoon, some tins with stuff inside, a washed out milk bottle with some pasta in it and an empty sweetie tin to put stuff in and out of. That entertained him for an hour this afternoon.

Have you met any £5 an hour childminders? Even with that my guess is it will cost you more than £800 if thats for full time place.

Terry nappies&cloth wipes,haven't figured out how much this has worked out per month, but certainly a saving compared to disposables. You couldn't pay me to put the chemical filled nappies against babies skin!
Formula, if not BF, I think you can buy a tin for £5 in Aldi? 4 a month usually isn't it, so £20?
Clothes, you could buy a bundle of everything you need from 0-3 to 9-12 for £30 each size on fb. So £120 a year, working out as £12 a month.

The long Supermarket or boots bottles I think are nicer and cheaper, not sure how much they cost, I'll say £5. Sterilisers are about £15. (again if not BF)

Our pushchair was £40 secondhand. Baby bouncer was £9 secondhand.
High chair you could pick up for £10-£20 secondhand. Rocking crib I spent almost £100 including mattress.ooops. Sling was £20.
Planning on buying the £40 IKEA cot!
Toys you can easily pick up enough toys secondhand for 1st year for £100, but lets say £10 a month, £120 a year... But some months may be nothing others £30!
I think thats everything for 1st year but could be missing something.

Hey , I certainly dont spend £50 a month on nappies ?!?

Nappies £12/£15 a month (Tescp brand) £3 pack of 50 last 5 days to a week

Wipes £6 - £7.50 per month (tesco brand , use around 3 packs a week)

Formula £40 a month

I make my own purees in batches and freeze.

I buy bundles of second hand clothes

I look in charity shops & sellibg sites for toys :)

You can do it fairly cheap.
My babies milk is £13:50 per tub initially we were getting through tons it was costing about £80 a month because he was so unsettled with how much he ate

Now at 8 months is prob more £30 a month as he eats Most of his calories .

Food wise can’t be more than £10 a month avocados/ blueberries / snacks then just making up a few meals but I do a batch for him and freeze

Medicine :- £10 a month ( colic suffer so buy infracol / grip water and little bubba is teething nurofen

Clothes :- that’s up to you I can get his whole wardrobe in a new size for £20 -£40 ( buying second hand for the most part but often the clothes seem good as new ) but I have also spent £20 on an outfit for a christening for him new. So it does vary.

You can get whole travel
Systems brand new for £600 ( look at icky bubba it’s the one I use and can’t recommend enough ) or do look into second hand you can save a fortune.

Toys :- ask for birthday and Christmas gifts to be money ... we have brought brand new things for £50 or so but I have also brought £150 worth of toys second hand for £10 so it’s great to have a pot to dip into ... I may buy for the future rather than with right now in mind. I just avoid toys with material and I wipe the plastic down with disinfectant or soak in steriliser.

It’s child care and loss Of earnings, I am having 3 days child care for £620 and parents having baby 2 days a week when I return to work so it’s worth it otherwise it would be £1029 per month.
The other option would be not to go back but we would be about £500 per month worse off after anticipated travel expenses which we need.

I waited a long time due to fear over fiancées I fact my partner and I had been together 12 years before we tried, as I wanted to have a mortgage in place and marriage completed first ... I am 36 and bloody knackered I wish I had done it when I was younger 😂 start saving for maternity time now if you want to take the full year ( as I found I didn’t want to go back to work once I had my baby ) I literally saved enough to cover additional statuary maternity pay for the last 3 months as that’s what we needed to cover costs and so glad I did now.

It’s hard work at first ( unless you get a sleeper/ non reflux / non windy one ) but so amazing as you watch them grow and develop their personalities, it’s one of the hardest things because you give everything you are and you give up who you are for them but it’s one of the most beautiful things too ❤️

Aldi nappies And wipes by the way I bulk buy at baby events prob £8 for nappies and £1.29 on wipes ( four packs for £1.29 at Aldi worked fine didn’t upset his skin used from about weeks )

You could get a cot second hand just buy a new mattress? My parents are using a cot for my son that was my mums aunts cot ... it’s about 70 years old, was used for my mum, me my brother and niece and nephew too but thankfully it has a new mattress 😂😂 c

Also 0 on child care. Doesnt suit everyone but me & my partner work around eachother... for me personally I want my baby to be with her parents for the majority of the time.I only work part time & he works full time , we dont see eachtother as much but we make it work :)

The biggest cost is the cost to your earning potential.

Other than childcare the DC were pretty cheap as babies and toddlers as we got virtually everything on free cycle or second hand and used reusable nappies.

I'm finding (again minus childcare) the teenage years to be the most expensive.

But to some degree, they cost as much as you want them to.

For us, it's currently minimum 850+ per month for childcare. That's full time nursery 7:30-6:30

I can't wait for him to start school next year lol. Due to the nature of my job, I will be able to do before and after school childcare, yay!

DS is 3 and eats a lot and is growing out of everything constantly so also add in 100 every other month for new clothes and shoes!

Its probably better not to think about it. I'm glad we didn't as I wouldn't have had any idea how we could have afforded one let alone two. The biggest cost is maternity leave, going from FT to PT and the shocking cost of nursery fees. Upside is that once they start school you really appreciate having the extra money again.

My 1.5yo goes through about £7.50 of Aldi nappies per month and maybe 2 packs of water wipes costing £2.50 each. That’s £12.50. I have no idea how people are spending £50!

I do spend a lot on clothes because I like him to look nice, probably £30 a month. And I put away about £50 a month for his birthday and Xmas presents. Plus an extra tenner a week on the shopping and maybe £20 a week on entertainment. No toys or books, he gets enough from other people and from the library.

As others have said, the biggest expense is childcare, or loss of earnings if you stay at home. That can easily take £10-20k a year out of your pocket. Compared to maybe £3k for all the other expenses put together.

What nobody has mentioned is how you spend way less on other things. I don’t have the freedom to go to the cinema or restaurants or gym or go out drinking. I have no free time to read books or magazines. I live in leggings because I get food thrown at me and vomit on me, so I wear cheap clothes that are easy to wash. I don’t really shop for myself any more, I’m always just looking at stuff for my kid. So I spend way less and it offsets all the other expenses.

As others have said the amount that you spend is much more about how much you want to spend than it is an essential cost.

I have a six month old baby. I have taken 12 months maternity leave and asked HR to average out my pay so that i get an equal(ish) amount each month (i get less in the months without SMP).

We are very very lucky. Most of my friends have finished having children and were ready to get rid of items like cots (including next to me and moses basket), bouncers, jumperoo, clothing, activity gyms, breastfeeding pillows, baby bath, toys, books, stroller, etc. Our initial outlay has been very low because of this. We spent £250 on a car seat that should last until he is four.

I got a lot of cloth nappies from freecycle, but we do use a disposable overnight, so spend about £3/£5 a month on nappies. We use cloth wipes, so no ongoing cost there either (bought for around £14 for 25 wipes).

He is breastfed, so again very little outlay. I got some bottles given to us for free, so spent £7 on a second hand manual pump and sterilising box so that we can express milk. In the last six months we have made it to the cinema four times.

I spent around £200 on an NCT antenatal class, which was worth it. I meet up with the women from the group most weeks. We take it in turns to go to each other house and hang out (which saves on baby groups/going out for coffee). We do go to a baby group together but started quite late so i have spent only £35 on baby groups in six months. We do go to some of the free groups in the library, and my son has a library card so we can borrow books for him.

We have just started baby led weaning (he eats what we eat) which has yet to impact on the cost of our shopping (but as others have said i expect it will lead to a healthier shop). We bought an ikea high chair for about £10 (new) and a splash mat for £15.

We did however spend £40 on buying him a kilt outfit (including wee sporran) to wear to a wedding.

I did spend a bit of money on buying bundles of maternity and breastfeeding clothes though :)

I don't spend anything close to what your SIL spends. To be honest, babies aren't expensive. They only get expensive when they get older in terms of childcare, wraparound care for school, food/snacks when out, activities, days out, etc. Babies are pretty cheap, excepting the lose of income if one of you is home or childcare.

I would say that for one (youngest is a toddler), I spend:

Nappies: £12 pm (they're £2.99 for 48 at tesco)
Formula: I bf but my one that was ff when through about a tin per week, so £48 pm (but that's only for about 6 months, they drink very little when small and then feeds drop when they get closer to 9 months)
Wipes, bath stuff, toiletries: £5 pm (maybe just in wipes, occasional soap or lotion, but not something I buy monthly)
Medicine: £4 (but not monthly)
Clothes: can be nothing to about £30 pm depending on the month/season
Extras: £50 pm (I would include in this thing spend money on to get out of the house, parking for days out, coffees, cake, things you do when meeting up with friends or money you end up spending because you're home and bored).

But the baby days really are affordable. It's only when they get to childcare (£900 pm), holiday clubs (cost me an extra £700 on top of the 900 I already spend for the younger one this month), lessons/after school things (can be £60 pm), days out for when they are old enough to need entertaining (spent about £150 just to take my older one camping for a night, including food, snacks, a day out to an attraction the next day, etc.).