How much does it cost to raise a child for the first few years?

[Gettingfitandpregnant]

TTC for baby #1 soon and just wanted an honest answer on how much you spent on your child for the first, say, 5 years? So how much did you spend each year?

People say babies are expensive and I feel like I need to mentally prepare myself for just how expensive they are!

Pregnancy:
First year:
2nd year:
3rd year:
4th year:
5th year:

Entirely depends on how much childcare you'll need.

Pregancy costs are basically cot, pram, carseat, clothes - you can go second hand for most of it but you should expect to spend about £500-£1000 minimum.

Yr 1 depends on how long you take for mat leave and how much your company pays you, whether it's stat pay or not. Your earnings will take a hit. You get £80ish a month CB which will cover nappies and formula, but if you use reusables you can pay about £200 upfront and save about £1000 over your baby's life. Breastfeeding is free. Babies need lots of clothes as they grow but you can get those cheap. So maybe minimum £300 that year, but potentially a LOT more, taking into account how much money you lose due to being off work, and whether or not you put your baby into nursery before they're 1.

From then onwards it entirely depends on what you're doing with work/childcare. What's your plan?

I agree, it's all about the childcare. Everything else is sundries. You can buy a thousand pound cot/pram or get one for free. You can walk everywhere or buy a new Volvo as they are so good for children.

It's older children that cost money. Gymnastics and school shoes. And teenagers - so much food.

Do people keep track? I honestly couldn’t tell you. Would you include their share of a family holiday, say?

People have different ideas of what ‘affording a child’ means. For some people it’s feeding and clothing, for others it’s that plus swimming lessons, for others it’s private school 3-18 and ponies and ski trips 🤷🏻‍♀️

There are so many variables it's impossible to say!
IME, pregnancy and newborns are very cheap. I didn't even take a pregnancy test. You don't necessarily need pregnancy vitamins unless you have a deficiency. Folic acid is strongly recommended though. I spent maybe 50 quid on maternity wear as my sister and friends passed on loads of stuff. Didn't go for any private scans during my first pregnancy.

My aunt gave me my cousin's cot and shedloads of baby clothes. I bought a new mattress for the cot which was expensive. Bought some bottles and dummies and a sling. I breastfed so didn't spend much on formula at all. Never used a lactation consultant.
My sister gave me the pram and a buggy.
So, during the first year my babies didn't cost much at all. But not everyone is lucky to be given hundreds of pounds worth of stuff.

Childcare is a whole other ballgame of course. People often say that if you stay at home, you will save on nursery fees - but then you lose your salary. So, as soon as your maternity pay ends, or you go back to work, children suddenly start costing ££££.

Drop in the ocean compared to older children.

I'm planning on only taking half my maternity leave so I can go back to work maybe part time to begin with. My parents have offered to babysit my future child for free, so that negates the childcare costs.

I know everyone's incomings will vary, I was more just wondering what everyone's outgoings were like, particularly for the essentials like clothes, baby food etc.

To add to the above, I'm spending about £60 per month on baby classes to save my sanity even though most of our "stuff" is second hand. Most of our local council free stuff stopped during Covid and hasn't restarted.

If you have family and friends with slightly older kids you may be inundated with in receipt of their old tat outgrown stuff.

I spent around £1000 on various things Inc cotbed, travel cot, new mattress mattress donated Moses basket, second hand pram, new car seat, baby bouncer and playmat, bundles of second hand clothes. Plus maternity clothes and clothes I can breastfeed in and post baby fat clothes

Literally how long is a piece of string. If you're on a budget you may buy clothes etc 2nd hand, if not so much og a budget you may buy supermarket or from oyher shops. don't forget first year you have to buy clothes in 3 month sizes, so you buy everything 4 times, then its 12-18 months and 18-2months then you might start getting 1 year wear of certain things.

If you breastfeed no formula cost, or you're looking at £12 per tin of formula and you'll probably need 1-2 a week depending on baby age.

I would be very, VERY wary of relying on family for full-time free childcare. That is a HUGE ask and can take a big toll on family relationships.

But to answer your question, for the first five years it basically costs as much as you're willing to spend. You can do it all on the cheap, second hand, or you can spend a fortune.

My parents have offered to babysit my future child for free, so that negates the childcare costs.

Every day that you work? for ever? I would suggest you budget for when that arrangement falls apart......

First few years, it you don[t have to work, basically nothing, if you make the choices and efforts to do so. (ie no new much, babygrows/hand me downs, breastfeed, same food as you weaning, walk everywhere, home made activities etc) You don[t have to have a changind table, bottle warmer, expensive pushchair... all that jazz. Early years clothes bundles are so cheap if you dont have relatives who can help you. You look after your child so no childcare costs or "holiday clubs"/after school care

If you work though... nightmare, very expensive. Looking after a child is work in itself, wether paid for or you doing it.

DD cost me nothing really until last years of primary. Ipads, school trips, nice clothes, FOOD! Presents for friends, bus fare, it goes on...

Oh definitely not forever. Just more in the baby years.

You need to have a backup plan, this really isn't a realistic set up for the vast majority of people.

Multiple threads here will tell you that there's a high possibility that won't last.

That will not work. It is not fair either. It[s an enormous amount of work.

A few weeks maybe, a weekend here and there, a night out. But not every day all day.

It costs as much as you let it (besides childcare) clothes / food / nappies / buggy ... There is a vast difference in prices. Say Aldi nappies over Pampers, over time there would be a big cost difference on what you would have spent (both as good as each other imo) I spent barely anything on clothes as friends all gave me hand me downs / gifts, much easier to keep babies in sleep suits for the first year too (again imo).

Even if your parents do help out with childcare quite abit, what happens if they go on holiday? Are they fit and healthy? What happens if they get ill? If they suddenly can't help, you won't necessarily get your child in childcare quickly, there is quite often waiting lists.

That's sweet, but anything can happen.
Ill health, poorly baby, multiples.

I'm not trying to be a cow but I think you need a degree of "what if" in a budget.

As for costs, no idea. Took redundancy at 7 months post partum due to a sick child, haven't gone back as twins currently extortionate in child care. First born had mainly new, twins have mainly hand me downs. Their £500 buggy was free for example. I had one moses basket and borrowed another. We sale shop and use vinted a lot, but that meant I could afford the expensive classes we had in the week.

Fifty hours a week childcare (assuming you need to cover a commute and a full time job) for two and a half years would be a huge ask. Some grandparents do do this, but it's big.

If you go back part time then your loss of income will be your major expense.

Basically you need to do a proper 5 year spreadsheet calculating your part time income after tax, child benefit if applicable, Universal Credit if available www.entitledto.co.uk, and required top up to nursery free hours after 3 years old if that's what you want to do.

Everything else: nappies, clothes, baby yoga classes, is either negligible, or optional, or can be bought second hand on the cheap - it's a rounding error compared to childcare/loss of earnings/UC claim.

Are they fully retired op? How old? You're going back at 4 / 5 months pp part time and expecting your parents to pick those hours up until what age full time? Toddlers are HARD WORK and that's assuming you only have one

Entirely depends on how much childcare you'll need
Totally agree. 4 days a week, even with the tax free childcare scheme, will likely cost us around £800 a month (plus we will lose another £150 or so for me dropping the 5th day of work).

Breastfeeding is free
I'm hoping it will be for me, but saying that you could easily spend ££ on a lactation consultant, different pumps if you don't get on with the first one you buy, bras, accessible clothing... or you could have a relatively straightforward journey, free local support, not need a pump, use your existing vest tops etc and layer. It really all depends!

I've bought secondhand bras and maternity clothes but as I was a 32G to start with even the secondhand bras aren't super cheap. I'm 38 weeks now, but expect I'll need to buy a few more in a bigger size for breastfeeding.

I was coming to say the same thing having read that post.
The fact that they are referring to it as "baby sit" suggests infrequent evenings rather than 3 days a week forever

Yes, "baby sit" is not bringing up a baby/toddler for a few years.😂

On paper more than most people feel they can afford in reality you manage and cope fine.

This.

As long as you're prepared to cut your cloth accordingly, most people will manage. Of course some families live in absolute poverty but it isn't the norm and most people have choices to make to avoid it