How much have you spent on baby?

[ElleDubloo]

Babies are notoriously expensive, and we've certainly felt like we've spent a lot of money recently. So I decided to sit down and add up all our baby-related spending and see how much it came to in reality. I was pleasantly surprised the grand total was just less than £1200 - not nearly as much as we'd expected, and about half the cost of our new bathroom !! (new baby is so much more exciting than new bathroom, btw). We've pretty much bought everything we need.

How much have you spent on the baby? Did you expect to spend more, or less? What are some savings you've made that you're especially proud of?

Here's my list if anyone's interested:

Bugaboo Bee, Maxi Cosi seat, adaptors, easyfix base... Peppermint £564.95 (online promotion)
Furniture set 3-piece... Homebase £212.49 (£75 discount in sale)
Cube shelves x 2... Homebase £19.98
Cotbed... John Lewis £99.00
Mattress... John Lewis £60.00
Playmat... Gumtree £15.00 (second hand, RRP >£45)
Moby wrap... Ebay £25.00 (second hand)
Changing bag... Ebay £22.20 (second hand, RRP >£100)
Clothes (0-3 months)... Mothercare £35.00 (half price sale)
Medela Swing pump... Ebay £33.75 (second hand, RRP >£130)
Tommee Tippee bottles... Tesco £12.99 (half price in baby event)
Bowl and spoons... Tesco £2.00 (half price in baby event)
Turtle costume... Amazon £3.93
Cloth nappies x 6 and 12 inserts (littlebloom)... Ebay £29.04 (second hand)
Cloth nappies x11 (bambino mio)... Ebay £10.00 (second hand)
Nappy liners x 2 packets... Amazon £10.96
Nappy bin... Amazon £6.03
Changing mat... Amazon £3.39
Muslins x 6... Amazon £9.98
Baby shampoo... Tesco £1.50 (half price in baby event)
Baby bath lotion... Tesco £1.47 (half price in baby event)
Baby wipes x 10... Tesco £8.00 (half price in baby event)

Gifts:
Babygros x 2
Newborn clothing set with hat and mittens x 1
Ellaroo sling wrap x 1
Moses basket x 1

Left to buy:
Cotbed linen
Nursing bras
A few disposable nappies as backup
Cot mobile (on our gift list)
Clothes for 3 months onwards (on our gift list)

....and to add to the list

£85 for an 8 week yoga bellies class - will do two of these before popping date so that's £170
£161 for NCT class.

again, spending lots of money preparing for the baby, none actually on the .
The bednest crib I like £150 (did think about renting but am hoping for more than one baby
Epi-no £85 (for me more than the baby)

I'm hoping for great things at next nct sale

baby is 10months old
I'm guessing 2kish

I am 36 weeks with baby no.2 ds big sis is 5 so we had most stuff from before
Spending as follows:
Crib mattress £30
Silver Cross maxi così converters £30
New Angel Care monitor [last one bit the dust after 3 years) £70
Muslins £10
Tommme Tippee Bottles £10
Aptamil £15
Megapack Huggies £30
Huggies wipes £ 10
Toiletries for bub £ 10
Dummies and formula container £ 10
Nursing Bra £10
Total £235 and NOT buying anymore

Donated
Silver Cross used for 1 month only from Sis
Pacapod c'ha going bag ( parents)
Clothes and shoes ( family and friends)
Buoncer (sister)

From first baby
Maxi così plus isofix
Cotbed and mattress
Changing mat
Baby bath
Blankets
Steriliser
Bottle Warmer
Baby food cooker
Baby books
Album
First toys
High chair
Scissors
Bath temp
Stair gate
Baby scales
Buggy covers
Lightweight stroller

All the best to you all! X

1st baby spent just under £1K all in - (bought 2 x buggies as first one was rubbish - false economy 2nd hand buy there!)
but we were given absolutely tons of stuff on top of that from friends and family - didn't have to buy any clothes, very little "big" baby equipment, given cot etc

now 36 wks with 2nd baby - we've spent about £400 including bugaboo cocoon to fit our old buggy, buggy board for DS1, new mattresses for cot and moses basket, a brand new rocking chair for me to feed in (didn't get one last time and really wish i had), new nursing bra for me

we are swimming in baby stuff though as were given so many hand me downs the first time around.

my "tip" would be to never bother spending much on new baby clothes - i've asked around friends and family again for this baby and have been given loads of stuff. 2nd hand baby clothes at nearly new sales are the way to go - I recently spent 60p on 3 babygros.

We've not bought any gear yet, but Ive spent ££s on books and courses. I have infolust and tend to do lots of adult education and exercise courses anyway so pregnancy has just been an excuse to do more.

Courses & Books
Antenatal yoga £82 (now till Xmas)
Antenatal fitness £90 (now till Xmas)
NCT £200
Hypnobirthing course £119
Expecting Better £7.60
Good Birth Companion £4.68
How To Tell Your Dog You're Pregnant £21 (OUCH)
Pregnancy: The Mumsnet Guide £6.69
Fatherhood The Truth £7.69

Already Purchased
Polarn O Pyret outfit £21 (High5s TinyMonkey )

I'm in no rush to buy anything else for the Prulet yet (I'm 22 weeks) but if we get all the stuff I plan to without any discounts, deals or compromises, it will look a bit like this:

Snuzpod £199
Cocoonababy £130
Lassig Changing Rucksack £89
Ergobaby wrap £50
Tula baby carrier £95 (after seeing how we get on with the wrap)
Mandela breast pump £191
Shitload of white babygros, basic vests, muslins etc £100
Changing mat(s) £15
Initial nappies & toiletries £50

Gifts:
Mountain Buggy Terrain travel system (incl car seat) approximately £750
Blankets, cardies and Nanny-knitted goodies galore

We are being given 2nd hand:
Moses basket (not fussed about this but won't look a gift horse)
Swing seat
Monitor
Baby gym
Door swing
Bottles/sterilising gear etc

Not bothering with any nursery furniture. Will probably buy a cheapo ikea cot down the line. And a decent highchair, CBA with sticky-out trippy-up legs on the Antilop so will probably get a cosatto 3sixty or similar pedestal style.

I agree you don't need to spend a lot. But conversely, I don't mind big spends on quality gear that is likely to last and make life easier. We waited to we were at a stage in life where we are comfortably able to do so.

Twins

Double buggy £210
2 cots £35 - one free and one second hand
Nursery furniture £0 - we used stuff we already had
Linen & sleeping bags £30
Monitors £80 - one was free
Bouncy chairs £10 - second hand & one free
Play mat £10 second hand
Car seats 60 (on sale in Mothercare and had gift voucher)
Clothes 0-3 for both of the £100 roughly
Reusable nappies (40), wipes, bucket £250
Bath stuff £0 - used water for a year
Other bits, about £50

Eek so far about £4500

We haven't bought anything (31 weeks pregnant) we will just use the things that ds used. We do need to buy a cot as ds still sleeps in his cot, we plan to get a cheap ikea cot for about 60 pounds for cot+matress, we have a few hundren pounds in ikea vouchers so we will use those.

We hardly spent any money on ds1, we were given loads of clothes and a cot, we bought a new matress for the cot and a rose and rebelion sling so we probably spent about 100 pounds all in all, my mum bought us a pram/pushchair and we were given dp's old crib, a friend gave us lots of bedding for the bed, oh we bought a couple of baby sleeping bags.

My last baby I spent less than £50.

I don't use cots, bottles, prams, puree machines, changing tables, sterilizers. Each to their own.

Deepblue - if you don't use a pram and your didn't buy a sling how did you transport your baby around?

I was given a sling with my first baby and continued. I did buy a car seat with my first (£50) which lasted.

eBay is the way forward. I saved a fortune. In total about £800 spent and bought exactly the same stuff as a friend who spend nearly £3000. X

Bugaboo's are very sturdy and resilient OP, you'll definitely be able to use it for your 2nd even 3rd dc. I had the bugaboo gecko (similar to cameleon) and used it for 2dc, could have done a 3rd but not sure if we'll have anymore.

Slings and wraps are great for little babies but you may not want to use them all the time especially if you've had c section or spd during pregnancy (takes a while for joints to go back to normal). I don't drive so find a pram/buggy indispensible, they're used everyday so have to be decent quality.

Spent around £350. Have a DD who is 5 and we will be using her pram and car seat again which are immaculate thank god. Expecting a boy this time so not reusing clothes.

Vests/baby grows and accessories - £90ish
Cot - £37 from kiddicare closing down sale
Moses basket and stand - £60 from the same place
Blankets/bedding for Moses basket and cot/swaddle blankets/muslins/baby bath/changing mat/bottles and dummies/toiletries - £150ish.

All I need to get now is a new rain cover for the pram, a cot mattress and a changing bag and I think we're good to go! I could go on and on spending more but we quickly learnt from DD that most of it doesn't get used.

For most parents it is childcare costs of loss of a wage which is the biggest cost. Eg 3 children in full time childcare is going to be about £30k in London or loss of a husband's or wife's earnings £20k to £50k a year or more. A few baby gros pales into insignificance. Add up loss of a proper career which some parents otherwise might have done say 30 years on £100k a year plus loss of pension for 30 years after that and you can see why so many women work full time and don't give up work. They are wise not to do so.

OP I think you have spent a fortune! All my 'stuff' was presents or secondhand from family/friends. All I bought new was a new mattress (for a lovely wooden cot bought at a farm auction by FIL who lovingly sanded and re varnished it), a dozen terry squares, and a couple of packs of baby gros which I took back repeatedly for the next size up and in the end gave away unused (we got given so much).

I'm too scared to add up the cost of DS's baby stuff! I'm pregnant with dc2 and this time around I'm going to buy or have bought the following:

New Moses basket mattress £9.99
Mothercare buggy board £49.99
Mothercare universal cot top changer £24.99
Replacement rain cover for buggy £10
Muslin cloths x 12 £14.99
I've bought a bundle of newborn and 0-3 month size vests and babygrows second hand £8
I'm buying a 0-6 month sleeping bag second hand £4
I'm buying 5 blankets second hand £5
I need to buy 6 x bottle teats £15

I also need to buy some maternity towels and breast pads for myself.

I'll also need to buy nappies, wipes, cotton wool and formula milk.

If people ask me what to buy as gifts I will ask them if they wouldn't mind buying 3-6 month clothes once the baby is born and we know the sex!

The thing is many people don't get gifts or have many second hand/ free options so the cost will be higher for them regardless of how well they shop. The local charity shops to us charge almost as much as new elsewhere ( London).

If local charity stores cost too much (which sounds surprising), they don't here in our bit of London, then try church jumble sales where we got a lot of stuff for our first. It was the full time childcare which was the biggest cost.

Green - they cost so much as most donations designer/ good brands, and obv high rental costs. So you can get say x5 babygrows -£15 John Lewis , or x1 emil et rose babygrow £8 in charity shop. So diff standard but no savings.
I have never seen a jumble sale/ boot fair etc around or advertised here ( central london)

We were also first in family and friends to have children hence no hand me downs
I have no problem with this, but just suggesting why some peoples expenses may appear higher.

I now give all outgrown things from mine to others so some people do benefit, just not us

Artandco we were the same with DS, first out of our friends to have a baby and first grandchild on both sides too! We did get given some outfits and a friend at work gave us a car seat which was great, but a lot of it was bought new. It's nice to buy some new stuff anyway I think even if you're getting a lot of secondhand stuff, I get a lot of pleasure browsing through baby clothes in Mothercare etc!

I was really intrigued by this thread so did a tally. It's our first baby and I realised we have spent a disgusting £1575 already. That doesn't include my maternity clothes, any baby toiletries or clothes, no toys yet, crib was free... Oh god what have I done!!!

Turtle costume op?

Always like these threads as I often think how much money I'd have saved if I'd had the benefit of hindsight.

Things we never used:
Bottles
Steriliser
Pump
Cot
Moses basket
Sleeping bags & cot bedding
Maclaren xlr
Baby monitor
Breastfeeding cover

Things we should have had from the start and didn't buy till later:
Bugaboo cameleon (soooo worth it)
Stretchy wrap sling
Ergo or similar
Baby bjorn bouncy chair
Breastfeeding tops (I find it much easier in these than juggling 2 vests or whatever people do, although many people do this with grace and discretion