Does parenting get less expensive or more expensive?

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I'm wondering about our future trajectory! Life got a lot cheaper when my 8 year old left nursery and since then the only things that have gotten more expensive are the amount of food she eats, the fact that we have to pay for school dinners now she's in year 3, and she's signed up to a couple of expensive hobbies. But generally she's much cheaper now than she was as a toddler.
I have a 2 year old as well and I'm looking forward to the end of nursery fees as something that will give us more financial wiggle room, but I'm feeling a sense of foreboding that I'm wrong about that.
Is there stuff that gets more expensive later on besides general uptick of groceries consumed?

depends on your approach to parenting...

• do you buy clothes second-hand or have them passed down from friends' older children - clothes are more expensive as they get older
• do you succumb to fashion and brands for clothes v. simple one from George @ Asda or similar?
• how do you holiday - staying at home or camping is not much difference in price between an 8 year old v. a 17yr old - but booking hotel rooms / accommodation of a more structured type might be quite different
• does pocket money go up with age, or is there a point at which a child receives an allowance or has to partially work to earn?
• will you buy them a new smart phone or will they inherit one from family
• do they get a smart phone at the UK average age of 7 or wait until they are 16?
• will you pay for driving lessons?
• will you buy them a car?

there are parents with very little money who still bring their children up to be well rounded adults - they might just choose more creative ways of entertainment than going out to the cinema and for a meal...so to a certain degree it is within your control...

Those are some good examples of things we'll need to think about. At the moment we're on the cheaper end of those things (never even been on holiday) but I was hoping for better in the future really!

Since when is 7 the average age of getting a smartphone?? My daughter doesn't have any friends who have any type of phone!

How fast the cost increases depends how fast your children grow.

My DC were tall for their age and played a lot of sports, so a combination of fast growth and lots of excercise meant that they were both always hungry.

Children’s meals stopped being enough food when they were about 10 which makes a meal out more expensive.

Our DS particularly spent his teenager years constantly eating (genuine hunger not greed) so groceries went up.

Both my DC were in adult sized clothes and shoes from aged 11, so again much more expensive.

If your DC are planning to go to uni, start saving early, it’s extremely expensive.

There are more exlenses as they grow into ttens, but most if them are optional (the main exception being food)

The once a week dance class being 4, classes, costumes and shows
Swimming lessons becoming competitive swim club
Adult clothes not childrens
Tech (for school as well as social/leisure)
School trips
Week long Scout camps (which sort of double as childcare as well!)
More food

And time. They need more of your time n A different way. You are picking them up at 10pm, not tucking them into bed at 7.30 for example.

Primary is cheap- secondary is far more expensive. Their clothes are pretty much adult sizes (don’t get me started on shoes), they eat adult portions and pay adult prices on eg holidays. We also pay for phone (£5/month), school becomes more expensive (needed football boots this term, trips are more expensive) and their hobbies and interests cost more.

Oh yes- eating out. We just don’t do it, unless we’re on holiday. Dinner at a pub for four is well north of £100 for four main courses, drinks and maybe a starter to share.

For us more but it involved:
School Fees
University fees
Support through Post Grad
Driving lessons
Weddings

Now a grandchild. As they both live abroad, fares to visit.

They are 28 and 31. It hasn't got cheaper yet but what they have had has been our choice.

I think we all try to help people by pinpointing this sort of thing but we can’t really because eg done months the kids are sick and medicine, inhalers etc can knock us down, or dentists, then school requests can be nuts (dance classes, music, school tour etc). My 16yo isn’t into clothes at all, whereas my eldest was and we’d keep topping him up but now looking at the 16yo, I’ve asked him will he come proper clothes shopping as he just wears scraps really. Can’t totally afford it given the time of year but he deserves to know what it feels like to try on and live what he’s wearing!!

So far nursery has been the most expensive time (though DS is 14 and there were a lot less ‘free hours’ when he was nursery age, but everything apart from childcare increases as they get older. He now eats adult portions (this especially adds up when eating out) and wears adult clothes (he’s not into fashion but adult clothes cost more anyway), and school trips tend to be more expensive in high school though these aren’t compulsory.
DD is in year 6 and is into more expensive hobbies than DS, but still costs less than during the nursery years.
However I am pretty certain at least one, if not both of them, will want to go to university which looks like it might cost more than nursery did.

We saved for university since dc were babies, otherwise Uni would be the most expensive period after nursery had passed.

Very similar to this post. We also put money towards a flat deposit. DD is now aged 28, so I'm hoping that things will get cheaper for us! We're lucky to be able to afford this I know.

My 12 year old has bigger feet than me so I have to buy her women's shoes. Clothes for her are expensive. I think kids start to get very expensive in secondary school.

I remember a colleague complaining about the cost of a £500 console their teen wanted for xmas and warning me of the expense.

At the time I could have bought 2 consoles a month with the amount nursery fees cost 😆 even Uni fees are less!

I'm finding a lot of random expenses are part of helping them have independence for example I want one to be able to walk into town with friends and be responsible but that costs me £8 in Starbucks etc

My bank account took a while to recover from the driving lessons and helping them out with buying cars.

Both my sons are working full time now (one in a degree-apprenticeship) so it eases again a bit. But I am cautious with money as I wish to help them out as and when I can.

A lot depends on your attitude to having "stuff". My DC never had labelled clothes or expensive phones with contracts.
Nursery was expensive because it absorbed my entire salary ( this was before free nursery allowance).
Things that get more expensive
Once they are about 11 they are classed as adults for many holidays.
Massive growth spurts in teenage boys. Not just because they eat twice as much as their dad. One of mine went up several shoes sizes in a year and each time it was school shoes, football boots, trainers etc.
Hobbies
Age 17 driving lessons. Not compulsory but incredibly useful.
University

University is the big expense.

primary is pretty cheap.

secondary can get more expensive - they grow quick and start wanting fashionable clothes. Teen boys can also eat vast, vast amounts.

a lot of the spending at secondary is (fairly) discretionary though - expensive hobbies and going on lots of school trips will cost money.

plenty to cheaper hobbies are possible

It’s as expensive as you want to make it.
Most things are optional apart from food, shelter and clothing.

It really depends on how you want to parent as they get older and what you have to means to provide.

More expensive... they eat like horses and suddenly wear adult clothing and shoes!

oh and the 19 daily clubs/activities/sports they are signed up for...

My daughter is the most expensive she’s ever been. But she does competition dance, wears adult sized clothes and eats nonstop. And has physio. My son needs braces and we probably need to go private. University in a few years which sounds like a lot.

we had a lull when the kids were 6/7/8/9 and then it keeps trending up but a lot of it is obviously our choice.

From what I've heard, if you use breakfast / after school club most days, the costs doesn't drop that much from nursery now with the funded hours as nursery doesn't cost as much. Depending on how much nursery you use obviously but my SIL said their childcare costs were the same now my niece at school vs her being at nursery 3 days. we found the baby days cheap as had a lot of hand me downs and borrowed/2nd hand baby stuff, and mostly did cheap/free activities. Found we've had to buy more clothes now my daughter is a toddler, less hand me downs as toddler clothes get ruined! Plus she now does add to our food shopping bill.
I think you are likely to pay for more activities / clubs/ hobbies, plus expectations for presents will go up!

A lot of people mentioning university. How has this changed since I went? My accommodation was covered by the loans and I funded myself with firstly savings from my full-time gap year job and then a part time job while I was there. My parents didn't need to pay much money to help me out. I suppose it's difficult for young people to get jobs in general?

Oh so much more. Because you have the transport, the labels, the money for meeting their friends, don’t even mention the brands of trainers!, Driving lessons and car insurance I nearly fainted when I saw how much that cost!,

I don’t even start on how much they eat! Do you have boys? I have never known a very tall very skinny adolescent eat so much in my entire life.