Budgeting for first baby

[Lemondrop09]

I worry about money. A lot. I'm not sure if I'm over worrying or being sensible. I was just wondering how other people are approaching budgeting for their first baby.

I knew we would be planning for a baby for a while before we actually started TTC, so we've been squirrelling away as much as I can to cover bills while I'm on Mat leave. Assuming I get maternity pay (depending on whether I get made redundant in the next 6 months, but that's a whole other thread ), we've saved a good amount for bills. I now want to put aside enough for buy everything for the baby and then, if possible, a slush fund for some disposable income for the unpaid part of Mat leave.

Anyway, regarding purchasing baby goods, we are aiming to save £2000. It seems like a lot, but we're budgeting for a £600 Bugaboo Bee in there (as most other pushchairs are too big for our car ). We're not necessarily aiming to spend that much, but thought it was a good amount to have put aside. We're hoping to buy new (although not crazy expensive designer) items, although I realise you can save buying second hand.

Roughly what did you spend, setting up for new baby? What's a sensible amount to try and save?

Great info still coming, thanks everyone! I didn't know the impact shield on the Cybex was only for front facing, that makes me a bit happier about it as I plan to rear face as long as possible. Tbh, there's probably nothing really wrong with the impact shield, it's just different. I was also looking at Recaro 1. Car seats feel like a minefield!

Has anyone used a Snugglebundl? I was thinking about using one of these in a non removable car seat (it's safety tested and wraps over the restraints, not under) so I can (in theory) lift a sleeping newborn out and into the pushchair.

People give you a lot of stuff - clothes / toys as gifts, and loads of equipment as hand-me-downs. I don't really get why people buy brand-new. Babies don't seem to use most things for long, so facebook selling groups, gumtree, charity shops and jack & jill sales are all good. In total I've spent about £250 (£100 of that was a brand new mattress for the cot and one for the moses basket). I can't really think of anything else I'm going to need for at least the first 6 months (but will no doubt be proven wrong when baby turns up!)

Aside from the pram, we've spent around £400- £450; we haven't stocked up on anything though to be fair, still need to buy nappies and muslin cloths, but we've got lots of clothes and all the bits we need with that money. I would recommend Argos; we got a lot of lovely things from there

Tk maxx sell cheap grow bags and other sleeping bags x

OP, it's not just the Mothercare sales you need to look out for, it's the Expectant Parent Events. Next ones are on the 9th and I'm kicking myself bc we're away and the stores at our destination aren't doing it this time - normally many stores do them on different days within a couple of weeks of each other. The reason I'm so obsessed with them is they do 10% off anything bought on the night and give you a voucher for 10% off anything on one more visit within 2-3 weeks. Disclaimer that this was 2015 but AFAIK is still being offered. We were in the higher spending camp but all with thought-out reasons (e.g. Peach to accommodate DC2 if we got that lucky) and the 10% added up to make quite a nice dent in the iCandy, iSize, mattress etc. costs.

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! I spent £700 total on my baby, including a Moses basket, bedside crib, cot, a bouncer, a rocker, an icandy pushchair system, clothes, breast pump, a top quality angelcare monitor, bottles, etc. The thought of spending more on a pram than my first car made me feel sick.

Well good for you newmother. Some people like to buy certain things new and a new travel system costs a lot of money.

Lookin they do still do the 10%off thing at the parent event. Also Mothercare will price match other stores so they sold me a perfect prep at half price because that's how much asda were selling it for and i got a further 10% off.

Neonrainbow, to each his own, but I'm afraid for me, I personally feel that is just ridiculous money for something like a pram. I'm 40, so it wasn't like that when I was a child. On top of that, I lived in two villages in two developing countries during my 20s for work, so ever since then, I can't, due to my conscience, spend a lot on luxury items. For me it was the difference between taking another month off work with my child or buying a bunch of new stuff that my child grew out of quite quickly anyway.

I am so so glad we didn't buy a travel system. We got a baby jogger city mini GT. Fine from birth but carrycot can be added. A close caboo sling from eBay was much more practical in the early days anyway and now she loves sitting up and looking at the world in the pushchair. We don't have isofix, seatbelt fixing is perfectly safe, possibly as safe if i remember rightly. Agree with bath seat recommendation. Sainsburys clothes, sleeping bags etc are great and always having the 25% off events. Remember they will sick, dribble and poo on things, don't spend too much. I purchased in advance and i wish we had waited to react to baby instead. Remember the other stuff they need later on; highchair, feeding stuff. Our best buys were the jumparoo, IKEA cot, a vibrating rocker from TK Maxx and about 30 muslins.

Life is full of situations where there are a range of things available on a sliding scale price wise and everyone makes their own choices based on their available funds and personal preferences.

I bought our iCandy new because I wanted a new pram and planned to use it for (hopefully) DC2 so it seemed like a sensible spend to me. That said I can completely understand why someone might choose a cheaper option or to buy second hand, it's all just personal choice. So if you want a bugaboo OP and can afford it without making massive sacrifices elsewhere then I reckon go for it!

The carrycot etc was a must for me because my back is a bit rubbish and I knew I'd never manage a sling. Had an emcs in the end as well so a sling would definitely have been out!

The only things I would say it's really important to buy new and spend as much as you can afford to is car seats.

Yes car seats best bought new and also cot mattresses IIRC

Agree different people spend money on different things, I wouldn't spend that much on a buggy (if I was much better off maybe I would though who can say!) but for example the sleeping bag thing - for me personally, it absolutely is worth spending more rather than using blankets. I could (and did) follow safe sleep rules to the letter, and the rational part of me would know baby is safe, but I would still wake up several times a night in a blind panic in case baby had somehow pulled the blanket up. I lost more sleep through paranoia than through baby actually waking with my first two DCs. I have huge anxiety issues anyway (am now diagnosed autistic, and have OCD traits with it) and these flare up from the moment I get a BFP and carry on post birth, so this time I'm just accepting it's not worth the stress at night. I will still use blankets for the buggy etc when I'm awake but night time it will have to be sleeping bags even if it costs more. :)

But everyone's different and that's why threads like this are so useful :)

Brill, thanks, neon. DC2 now indeed luckily on the way so I'm looking forward to making use of that!

And just to second neon and other PPs - of course there's a sliding scale of affordability and preferences and it's silly to assume one size fits all. We bought a lot new bc we were in a fortunate position to do so and had been through the mill to get DC1 so there was an element of only wanting what we decided was the best. Similarly, there are things we won't compromise on for DC2, either. On the flip side, I'm perfectly happy to use second hand clothes (not all, but) and many toys and spares. I'd raise an eyebrow at someone in my position spending £800 on a cot/cotbed but wouldn't think it odd for someone on a relatively higher income. Horses for courses.

PS One final thing to those mentioning cheaper cots as great value - cotbeds will cost a touch more but last until around age 4 and take up less room if you want to postpone the spend on a bed.

I strongly recommend buying off gumtree and sites like that for items such as the pram, baby monitors etc.
I bought a pram at the weekend for £30!! its a mamas and papas travel system and has NEVER been used its totally spotless. A pram can end up being a huge expense, my SIL ended up paying £500 for hers, but doesn't have to be if you look in the right places. For my first (and second) I bought all brand new and it cost me a lot, now im on my 3rd I just don't see the point in spending excessively when its not needed on some items.

It can be as cheap or expensive as you need it to be tbh, babies don't need much :)

Travel:
Car seat - having done the 0+ and 0-4 seat thing I'd definitely opt for a 0+ as the good 0-4 rear facing seats just don't seem to offer the same protection for newborns. I've never attached one to the pushchair though as that's a major bugbear of mine!

Pushchair, footmuff, rain cover -

Decent sling - a lifesaver IMO, after my section i found it comfier than pushing the pram and meant i could breastfeed whilst on the school run which was essential! Started out with a stretchy then moved onto a Connecta which i used until she was 2.5yo.

Sleep:
Cot/Cotbed, mattress - you can take the side off and put it beside the bed to create a co-sleeper cot. We got our cotbed and mattress from preciouslittleone.com for less than £150!
3x sheets
3x blankets

Clothing:
10x babygrows
10x vests
3x cardigans
2x hats

Food:
Boobs
Feeding cushion
Or
5x bottles
Sterilising equipment
Formula

Misc:
Nappies - the only disposables mine could tolerate were Also/Boots and they were allergic to everything else so ended up using cloth in the end.
Wipes - again we used cloth with the odd pack of Aldi sensitive here and there.
10x muslins

Everything else is optional. My extras were a Moses basket and stand, swing and a bath support. Couldn't have done without these!

Is there any where you can try it pushchairs before you buy OP? I only ask as reading up and using one are two very different things and in my experience what might sound perfect on paper might not work so well day to day.

From what i can find you have 4 main options if you do need one that will suit in your hallway.

Honestly though if you love something that's a few cm wider don't panic, we used a twin pushchair and although it was mildly inconvenient it wasn't the end of the world to have to take the babies inside and collapse the pushchair outside.

Anyway, i digress. For 55cm and under you have:
Bugaboo bee
Easywalker Mosey
Icandy raspberry
Mamas and Papas flip

Personally, I've had a shot of 3 of these with an 18 month old in and the are proud/cons to each.

The Bee was actually my least favourite because it was so low, the harness is a pain if you have a kid who likes to move when you're trying to fasten then and the price just did'nt match the quality.

The Icandy raspberry, basically the bee but cheaper. Slightly bumper ride due to lack of suspension but much better price and felt strutter to me. The harness is also much user friendly.

The Armadillo flip would be my choice because it was much comfier to push, easier to fold and the seat was more generous but again the breakaway harness is a pain.

I'd like to try a Mosey because it looks like a much more versatile pushchair, none of the other 3 are great if you venture into bumpier paths or fancy walking in the country but obviously that brings more bulk with it.

In my county, you can use Which? for free in all libraries. Worth a look as they'll have lots of info on big items

One thing I would suggest is putting money aside in case you unexpectedly need to formula feed. I was 100% going to breastfeed but couldn't (I tried EVERYTHING) and was gutted. In the process, I spent money hiring a breast pump (I'd also bought one that wasn't as good), several types of bottles due to colic issues, medicines for colic (Colief is expensive! And lots of Infacol etc), and of course formula which at the peak, I was spending £20/week on and at best it's still £10/week. These costs I just never factored in because I was naïvely dead against bottle feeding because I wanted to breastfeed so much.

£2k is more than enough, so many things are touted as necessary and they are really just silly frippery.

I have a bugaboo bee for the same reasons as you, prams seem to be like tanks nowadays, anything wider than the bee wouldn't fit down the hall (Victorian terrace), our friends pram doesn't fit through. Look on eBay for the pram I've seen a full set with carrycot and accessories for I think £450 and it was the Van Gogh edition! I adore mine (used to sit admiring it before dd arrived) and am confident it will last until we no longer need a pram as our friends quite tall 3 year old fits in it comfortably still. Folds down easily and is light, fantastic suspension and steering too. We used the carrycot for naps downstairs during the day as the hood attached meant the light could easily be kept out.

We got a snuzpod bedside crib but knowing what I do now I would have just got a normal sized cot and put it next to the bed with the side down as if dd can touch the sides with her arms (tends to sleep spreadeagled or diagonally) she wakes up.

You do not need nursery furniture, it is ridiculously overpriced and I don't think you will get your money's worth before having to replace with full size versions. We have an old chest of drawers that we use as a changing table (it was mine as a baby) so again cutting out useless purchase of a specific change table. Also we got some IKEA kallax with wicker draws instead of a wardrobe which we use for clothes/muslins/towels/bibs now but will move into the playroom for toy storage once she's older and needs a proper wardrobe.

A good sling is worth it, but get one that will fit you and your dh, I got size specific ones so that cost us more than we needed to spend as we needed two.

Anything you want you will be able to get cheaper second hand, just the car seat and mattress needs to be new.