How much does a baby cost?

[ivanapoo]

I know this is a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question but DH and I are trying to work out how much additional income we'll need while I'm on SMP/ AML for baby.

I'm not talking about the big stuff like cots, buggies etc or about childcare, more the day-to-day weekly or monthly costs of things like nappies, baby cleaning supplies, clothes, food (hoping to BF but no guarantee), any baby activities that cost money etc.

Has anyone been super organised and actually tried to work this out :lazy: ? Any surprise hidden costs you found out about in previous pregs?

Thanks :)

Ds really didnt cost a lot. Or shouldn't have, if I wasn't obsessed with buying him things ;)

I breastfed, but additional costs were a pump, bottles, steriliser, milk storeage bags. Also if your dc gets attached to a comforter, be prepared to shell out for spares - we have 5 costing 8 quid a pop :0

Nappies - ds really didn't go through them the way people say they do - maybe 4 a day? Wipes are a big expense, but I stock up when they're on offer, theyre often on buy 1 get 2 free.

Formula= £8 a tub, use 1.5 a week so about £12 a week. Nappies= 6 a day so 42 a week. About 11p each I think so about £5 a week. Wipes= 2 packs ish a week so £2 a week. Hope that's helpful?!

I may be very naive here, but I'm hoping not too much! I'm due in October and have invested £200 in reusable nappies and reusable wipes. I'm hoping to breastfeed if I can and when I start weaning we cook all our food from scratch anyway so will freeze baby portions of what we're eating minus salt. I hope to do without a gym membership and spend lots of time outside walking with my LO, my dogs and my SIL who is on ML at the same times as me.

I've made the most of all of the freebies (bounty, asda club, huggies, boots etc) and offers on disposables and wipes to get me through the very early days and done A LOT of ebaying for baby clothes, you can pick up good quality virtually new stuff for pennies if you bid on things close to home and collect. I got a John Lewis Cotbed that was perfect for £30 and a brand new (only used by GPs for visits) travel system for less than half price.

All of the big expenses (Cot, mattresses, travel system) we've slowly bought month by month through the pregnancy and have been ordering a little bit extra of the expensive household goods with the shopping each week (washing powder, dishwasher tablets) to compensate for any extra costs over the first few months. So, fingers crossed, if all goes to plan, I should just need a bit extra for the odd class and coffee with friends each week so I don't go stir crazy in my own company!

I'm actually not usually this thrifty! But I'd rather spend the money on more time on maternity leave than shiny new things that will only be used for a short time....

I breasted, so no formula costs, didn't use a single bottle or pump; co-slept, so no cot; used a wrap sling for the first 6 months; and used cloth nappies and washable wipes. Baby cost us very little.

I breastfed but I think the savings were swallowed up by breastpump and accessories, nursing cushions, bf bras, copious amounts of cake at a local coffee shop...

I am currently on maternity leave and would say the only think to watch out for is a lot more impulse buys in general as you spend more times in shopping centres!

Another thing to consider is the sheer generosity of family and friends when your PFB is born.

DS (our PFB) was born in 2010 and he got so many clothes as gifts I didn't need to buy him anything until he was around 9 months, he got so many blankets that seriously I could have carpeted his whole room in them. I'm not particularly close to a lot of my family, so many of these gifts were from people I didn't even know very well!

Thanks all, this is really helpful.

In two minds whether to do reusable or disposable nappies so will do some research into how much they cost respectively.

I will definitely need a cake fund ;)

OP, I used disposables for my DS and spent a fortune.

With this baby I've bought re-useable ones which I plan to use when he/she is born next month. Got them from a woman selling them on my local Gumtree and as they were 2nd hand they were a bargain :)

ivanapoo I was umming and aching about whether to use re-usable nappies, but to be honest when you've got a newborn and you're recovering from the birth the last thing you want to be worrying about is scraping poo off nappies and getting them washed and dried before you run out! I'm not sure they are environmentally better (although I'm sure someone will correct me) as you'd be using a hot wash on the washing machine at least once a day!

Generally speaking we buy cotton wool, baby wipes and nappies on offer. Clothes have been lucky as friends and family have brought coats and cardigans so we've just bought sleep suits and vests. With coats and cardigans, if I had to buy them, I'd buy them too big and roll the sleeves up so they last longer!

I think the weekly running costs of my DS are:
Nappies (6 a day x 11p per nappy) let's round up to £5.00
Cotton wool pleats (£1.59 a pack from Boots) £1.59
Baby wipes (I use cotton wool at home and wipes when out) £1.00
Baby milk formula £7.99 a tub
Food - he eats what we eat, but I buy him his own yogurts and extra fruit, so let's overestimate and say £5.00
Clothes rounded up (see below) £7.00
Total per week round up to nearest pound £28.00

Clothes
At the moment our DS is 6.5 months old and wearing 9-12 month size, so we've been through newborn, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9 and 9-12 months so lets say we're buying clothes every two months as a minimum the clothes below which I'll round up to £60 divided by two months = £30 a month. To get the weekly average £30 per month x 12 months per year = £360 divided by 52 weeks per year = £6.92 per week

Babygrows £5 for plain white pack of 3 at Asda x 3 packs = £15
Vests £2.75 for sleeveless plain white pack of 3 at Asda x 3 packs = £8.25
Cardigan £9.00 for matinee cardigan from M&S (cheapest cardy I could find) x 3 =£27
Coat £10 from Mothercare on offer (described as a wadded jacket but suitable for cold summer days) x 1 = £10

Oops long post!

Meant to add that I just do sure start centre stuff with DS as I don't have the money to pay for swimming classes and music classes etc as sure start stuff is free.

Realistically I also buy DS books and toys so maybe add an extra £20 a month?

you can get resusable nappies second hand from <a class="break-all" href="//ClothNappyTreewww.clothnappytree.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=56" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ClothNappyTreewww.clothnappytree.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=56
I buy DDs picture books from charity shops, ditto her clothes, she's growing so fast and there really isn't any point in buying it all brand new. I look at Freecycle too. You CAN keep costs down, and I don't think there's ever a time when as a family you can 'afford' a baby. But I agree, it's sensible to work out the finances. Breastfeeding cuts costs. I bought a pump but never used it - you can hire pumps if you need to express...

gah. Link fail.
Google Cloth Nappy Tree?

oh and wipes. I don't buy disposable wipes except for one packet we use when out - I bought small cloth squares from mothercare. That saved an absolute fortune.

Going to the local library is also free and a good way to spend time. 2.5 year old DS loves pottering about 'reading' and renting out books.

Sure Start isn't in all areas, so it might be worth going on their website to see if there is one near you.... There is one about 2 miles from me, but the geographical cut-off is a mile from my house so I can't use it :(

Toddler groups are usually around £1.50-£2.00 a morning - good for you to go and chat to other mums although your DC will be too young to play with much for the first few weeks.

When you meet your health visitor you can ask her about local breast feeding support groups (if you breastfeed) as these are also good ways to meet other mums.

Only thing I can add is if you stock up on nappies when boots do 3 for 2 u get price per nappy down to about 7p, I normally walk away with at least £5 worth of advantage points too using points vouchers.

NeedlesCuties that's terrible! Is there no SureStart you can use at all? How bobbins....
Other thing to mention I guess is that I don't drive (not through choice), and was dreading using buses. So far my experiences have been mostly really positive and good, and it does save petrol money. Agree re ML time though, my downfall was browsing Mothercare/Next etc before DD was born

Cheap as chips for me! Reusable nappies and wipes, and I got all the nappies second hand off gumtree and at nct sales. Washed baby in water and rubbed down with olive oil! I breastfed and didn't bother with expressing, and she just eats what we eat so no jars of food. Got most of her toys and books at nct sales too (apart from a couple of hormone-fuelled amazon sprees during night feeds!!). We got enough clothes as gifts that we shouldn't have had to buy any for at least a year, but I seem to have given birth to a giant not a baby - she's in 18-24 month clothes at 10 months! Good luck :)

Oh - we've only gone to free/v cheap groups, but I'm starting to wish we'd done swimming lessons.

We've kept the costs down too. Just wanted to recommend reusable nappies- we use terry squares which are economical because you don't need different sizes. I have plenty and they dry quickly so I only have to wash three times week, and you can do them at 40 degrees. They are def greener, iirc the study that said they weren't assumed boil washes, only using for one child and also allowed energy for ironing! Wtf?

ironing? seriously? I know it assumed we all washed on 90 and did not pass on nappies when child was toilet trained but threw them in bin

I think it can cost as much as you want it to. Here a new baby costs pence per week in terms of its direct upkeep costs. But overall I think the household bills do go up. More washing, more food (for me if bf then bigger quantities needed for dinners etc after six months. But then my last baby ate like a teenager although only ate from our plates nothing special)

Clothes come second hand, never more than a pound an item, often free. Nappies just cost to wash, but it's an extra wash every few days so not massive. As for scraping poo, well you're supposed to do that with disposables anyway, at least with cloth you can have a flushable liner, lift out and put it in the loo. Flushable liners do add to the overall cost though, about £3 for 150. And as for worrying about getting them washed and dried before you run out, nobody is saying you can't have a spare pack of disposables in the cupboard (which of course never run out at 2am) Any old flannel, teatowel or muslin can be a decent nappy if you have a waterproof wrap, which with cloth nappies you will have. Running out of dispsables, much more scary. Reusable wipes are one way of putting it, I just say I use flannels for the baby like everyone else in the house uses to wash! (although not the same ones) Cheap cotton flannels, water spray with a bit of oil in, done.

I've not used a liquidiser or mouli ever. Babies bath in the sink but I do like a seat for the bath when they're a bit bigger, but they aren't costly. The baby gets bathed inplain water or a bit of whatever I use, nothing special.

definitely don't go mad on "outfits"- the multipacks of vests, babygros, jersey trousers etc wash the best, are comfortable, easy to get on and off, and are cheap. DS wore very little else until he was at least 6 mo old.

Just getting mine out ready for DC2- can't believe how tiny they are