How much can we expect to spend on things for first baby?

[1990shopefulftm]

We should have about £1300 saved by the end of the month which originally I thought might be enough.
We'd like to get a new pram/travel system and new car seat, furniture and blankets and things, I'm happy to get some second-hand clothes but I'm starting to wonder if it will be enough?

Baby isn’t due until August so we’ve not used it yet but we plan on having baby in that for 3 months, then in their crib. It was just a nice bonus with the travel system etc really ! Because the system also care with a car seat etc

We got a cot top changing mat that bridges the top of the cot (you can take it on and off) it was only £20 and takes up far less space than a changing table.

I recommend getting a group 0/1+ car seat rather than a baby car seat. We ended up moving to a "proper" car seat at 5 months so the baby carrier car seat was a waste of money really and DD never seemed comfortable in it. We had the Joie 360 spin and would highly recommend. Aldi have a similar off-brand version for £149 at the moment which is very cheap.

Apart from a car seat and cot mattress, you can get most things second hand. Moses baskets come up all the time on Facebook marketplace or if you know anyone who has had s baby they probably have one. They're usually in great condition as hardly used

@NoMorePoliticsPlease it may not have scientific backing but do you not think it's just better to provide your baby with a new mattress!? They are available for approx £50 so not breaking the bank

I would keep an eye out on FB market place / gumtree, as a lot of people are clearing out their houses due to lockdown. So chance are a lot of people will be getting rid of baby items, moses basket, rockers, clothes, toys etc for free or very low cost.

I'm in a similar position, we were hoping to buy as much as possible second hand, but unsure if that is feasible in the current situation. We have priced up a travel system with car seat for first year at around £200-250. We are going for one that will lie flat and that can be world or parent facing, we have chosen one that has the option of purchasing a newborn carrycot but we will buy it later if we decide we need it. If we can get a pram second hand we have found a carseat that can be rear facing up to 4 yes for about 200-250. We are looking at cloth nappies which will probably come in between £150 -350 depending on the options and whether we can get any second hand. There is a cot in my family that can be used for the first 6 months whilst the baby is in our room and my mum has bought a new mattress for it, I need to price up a cot/toddler bed combo for when she grows out of the first one. We have a spare set of drawers so we don't need any additional furniture initially and will get a 2 changing mats in place rather than a changing table, we will also need a travel cot for visiting parents/family. We are hoping to keep all the initial out lay at the £750-£1000 mark, and leave anything that is needed after 6 months until it is required and I'm potentially back at work (I'm undecided in my return date somewhere between 6 and 12 months £££ & nursery dependent)
I've no idea if we will be able to pull this off! But we are trying to do our research into the most cost effective purchases because some of the options seem mind bogglingly expensive!!

Have a look on the app Emma’s diary they have offers and vouchers on their for things x

@TorysSuckRevokeArticle50 I ll get some cheap storage boxes to keep nappies and wipes upstairs and downstairs. We have a P shaped bath so I'm not certain baby and I can have a bath together, our kitchen sink is a decent size.
@GrimmsFairytales I would definitely be getting second hand clothes and will consider what I can find pram wise on eBay. Not always had the best experience with 2nd hand furniture in the past but will see what's out there.
@NoMorePoliticsPlease I'll do my best to avoid any marketing tricks.

@HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime we're going to set up the nursery as very gender-neutral and in the hope that we might at some point have a second child so any furniture we get would be great if it lasts two babies. we're lucky enough to have a 3rd bedroom to move a toddler into. I love the ikea cube furniture, might be able to convince DH we should get some.

So second hand clothes and some cheap multipacks of vests and baby grows?

@Aroundtheworldin80moves wow, that cot has done brilliantly. Not sure if anywhere near us will have anything ex display.

I spent way too much on my first and didn't use half of it!

Good cot. Good pram. Never had w changing table. The one good thing I did buy however. Was this nappy bin. You swished it around by the lid and it trapped the smell. Was fab!! That cost around £15.

@GaaaaarlicBread do you remember where you got it from? a bundle seems like a great deal.

@RhymingRabbit3 are the on top of cot changers quite stable? it worries me that they might wobble a bit

@Superscientist where did you get the travel system for? yes we're looking at getting everything we need for the first 6 months and then going from there. I'm planning to take the full year of mat leave but going back after that might be part-time as we don't have anyone to help with childcare and my wages would have about £100 a month left if we went for full time nursery.

yes, some things I was sure I knew how much they could be and I had no clue that a cot could be hundreds of pounds until I got pregnant.

@Littlebb2020 I've signed up to it and will get the app downloaded.

@Hoggleludo oh I'd forgotten about a Nappy bin, I'll add that to the list.

I personally wouldn't waste any money on a wardrobe for a baby. It might look cute with the newly purchased clothes hung up but Once they have been worn can you honestly say you are going to want to hang them up constantly! We found a big set of draws much more useful.
Ditto what others have said only get changing mats, once babies can roll changing tables aren't safe.
Preloved travel systems or sale ones - get a unisex colour so if you have another you don't need to worry about changing it.
I got a second hand next to me crib and bought a new mattress from amazon.
I wouldn't get an expensive Moses basket coz you won't get much use out of it.
Don't bother with things like sleepyheads- Health visitors don't recommend them for safety reasons.
Clothes don't spend a lot, you will be amazed by what you will be given and how quick they grow x
Good luck OP! X

www.preciouslittleone.com/products/19/travel-systems/
Here is the link to their website , the one we got has gone back up to full price with the Moses and rocker but there is still a bundle for the travel system on offer xx

We spent £1000 and it was more than enough! We could've done it on half that if we'd really wanted to.

Totally agree with Nomorepolitics, the marketing for ‘baby stuff’ (& children’s shoes) is so sophisticated that everyone thinks that to prove how much they love their baby they must rush out and buy new stuff. We had our baby late in life so most of our friends had had their children by then & we were lucky enough to be given everything we needed. But even if you don’t get given hand me downs there is loads available on Freecycle, Gum Tree etc.

And I agree that a new mattress isn’t essential, our DS was in hospital for a week when he was born and for several weeks later for treatment... hospitals don’t provide new mattresses for every baby/child do they?

We are looking at the graco evo its rrp is £350ish but there are a few online sales.
I've just been looking at cot beds and on ebay in my local area are £50-100
Other things - we have a big multipocket rucksack for a changing bag it's a similar size to the bags we were looking at.
We also have an old kitchen bin from before we lived in a council that provided a veg bin so we'll use that as a nappy bin. Have a rummage through your cupboards and see what can be repurposed

@strawberry2017 we will definitely get a unisex colour for the travel system, we don't want something very blue or pink anyway. I know sleepyheads are quite pricey so didn't want one anyway.

@GaaaaarlicBread I ll check out what they have on offer :).
@LalalalalaLlama where did you find the 2nd hand next to me?

@Ragwort hospital mattresses are completely different to mattresses at home and yes they get cleaned/sterilized between patients

Don't bother with the nappy bin OP, unless you are changing baby in the EXACT same spot EVERY time then it's just another annoyance. Plus you have to clean it, empty it, refill it, etc etc honestly it's more hassle than it's worth!

It varies so much op, for our first the furniture we brought was about £1500 but it's nearly six years old and the cot currently serving its third baby. It was very good quality and like new. The prams are around £1000 then car seat about £150. I have no idea what the clothes, baby bath etc would add up to. I'm sure people manage on much lower budget than £1300 and some spend much more than us.

Ahh, I see people are talking about re using a mattress. We've had a new mattress for each of our own children, I thought this was the recommendation.

Honestly I’ve spent about £2,000 in total - that’s to buy absolutely everything. I read on MN that the baby only needs something to wear, something to eat and somewhere to sleep (or something like that) and was lulled into a false sense of security by that I think. In reality there are so many bits and bobs that you need and it all really adds up!

Having said that, I probably didn’t search for the absolute best bargains I could get on everything, and I also bought more stuff due to the coronavirus situation and certain things being so hard to get and taking longer to arrive than they otherwise would.

@UrsulaSings be wary of buying many nursing things as there's no guarantee you'll be able to breastfeed. We were stuck in hospital and it messed up my feeding so all the money I spent on nursing bras and nursing clothing was a complete waste of money. Also ended up stuck with tons of breast pads and various gadgets that I can't use.

In reality there are so many bits and bobs that you need and it all really adds up!

The thing is though, you don't actually need a lot of things, they might help and you might appreciate having them, but they're not actually essential. Another poster summed it up well, it's tricky to find the balance between need and want.