Expenditure before birth & in first year

[JackJack84]

Hi all I'm currently 20 weeks pregnant & just trying to plan financially for baby costs before birth & in their first year. Would love to know what you spent money on?

We are so lucky that we have so far been given a pram with travel system, cot bed, Moses basket, next to me crib, clothing, blankets, nursing chair, baby bath & bouncer. I still have little things I need to buy like nappies, pads for me, thermometers etc.

I'm hoping to BF so hopefully won't need to buy formula. I'm guessing the biggest expenditure will be childcare, I'm getting 6 months full pay from work then will return full time 3 days a week.

What did you find you spent the most on & are there any costs that you weren't expecting?

TIA x

Not much.
Aldi nappies and wipes are fabulous, I bought a box/pack each time i went shopping.
Got given lots of stuff ( the plus of being an old bird having my first child)
Mine lived in Asda multipack babygrows until they were over a year old, cheap, wash great, dry fast, no ironing. I didn’t buy clothes for them.

Also rather controversially I never bought or used a thermometer. I’ve never owned one.

It was the cost of childcare as we have no family willing to help.
I had to change job as we just couldn’t afford the costs. (£720 pcm mon-fri )
Changed jobs, changed working hours, got a child minder, managed to not starve to death.

We saved like mad in the time leading up to me finishing for maternity leave. Took maternity pay calculated over the 10 months so I had the same each month, not full pay then big drop. Much better, knew what was coming in each month.

@JeansShirtJeansJacket haha what a rip! I'll stick with the cheaper one then, sure baby won't have a colour preference 😁

[quote Moominmiss]@JackJack84 I also have the top thermometer in the picture!

I’m in the south west and my childcare is a child minder so cheaper than a nursery. My eldest 3 all went to a local nursery and the cost was £60 a day. So child minded here is significantly cheaper. I never managed to get my name on the list for this childminder quick enough, hence why mine all ended up in nursery instead. But I was quick off the mark this time and managed to secure a place![/quote]
I've just been looking online at child minders in my area, they're are a lot of good ones but they have one price for childminding & one for babysitting, not sure what the difference is?

@21Bee I definitely want the baby to have swimming lessons so I'll bear that in mind when saving. Maybe I should start stocking up on socks 😂

@imaginethemdragons fellow old bird having first child here! Also first grandchild for my parents so I'm sure baby will be spoiled rotten!

Biggest unexpected cost was formula, I was hoping to breastfeed but it just didn't work out for me. Best to account for it in your planning just in case.
We only did part time childcare and had family help for the rest with our eldest, became a sahm after maternity allowance ran out for 2nd.

Thanks @Chelyanne I'll budget fir formula just in case. DP has delusions of being a SAHD but it's not happening 😂

Nappy wipes and formula all soon add up I would also budget say another £20 for random stuff u don't think of like if u do have to bottle feed when u change teat size.
Classes can also cost but these are optional. Also leave ur self some pennies that u can go and meet one of ur friends for lunch once a month
Childcare will always be the biggest cost we pay £75 a day, he goes 3 full days. Use the tax free child care it really does help

Make sure you don't stockpile things. We overbought so much it was ridiculous.
Mainly it was clothing - just as the pandemic hit so she went nowhere and all the nice clothes went to waste.

Also don't stock up on too much breastfeeding stuff - I spent a fortune and then couldn't breastfeed. That includes nice breastfeeding clothing - make sure you need it first.

I wish we'd bought very little. We also bought loads of toys for when she's older too - and we can already see we've over bought.

We pre-bought different ages of clothing too and our DD isn't in the 'right' size so we have loads of winter stuff that fits her now in the middle of summer and the summer stuff will fit her this winter. Absolute waste of money.

I'm in the NE too and at a relatively expensive nursery, ours is £52 a day but I know many friends are paying much less.

I budget £30 per month for clothes toys (2nd hand as far as poss) and £30 for activities which gets us out to 2 -3 things per week. Swimming is out of my budget (£25 a class!!) But playgroup (50p -£3 per session depending on fanciness of play group) is good value. Other classes e.g. baby massage, hartbeeps, more like £6 per session.

I found I just need to get out of the house regularly so unlike others here I spent a fortune at the corner shop! (Before it closed so obviously not spending enough)

Also reusable wipes will save you a fortune. You can use them without going down the full reusable nappies route.

Don't underestimate the lure of buying shit on Amazon at 3am when you've been up for days with a newborn. I think everyone should have a budget for those 'WTF' purchases that seem like a brilliant idea when you're sleep-deprived.

@OverTheWater

Also reusable wipes will save you a fortune. You can use them without going down the full reusable nappies route.

I'd prefer to use reusable, is there any you would recommend?

@mynameiscalypso

Don't underestimate the lure of buying shit on Amazon at 3am when you've been up for days with a newborn. I think everyone should have a budget for those 'WTF' purchases that seem like a brilliant idea when you're sleep-deprived.

Maybe I'll uninstall the Amazon app 😂

@catfeets we live in quite a small flat so I'm trying to be really careful about getting too much stuff in. However, my MIL has gone a bit mad buying us loads of stuff. She did the same for SIL, they have a 3 bedroom house & didn't have space for all of the things she constantly bough eg huge toy sets etc. Gonna ask DP to have a gentle word with her about not buying too much!

Also prepare to spent money on storage for all the toys etc as they get a little bigger.
As a much older FTM our house was not designed for toy storage (although she has as little as I can manage) but it’s things like a couple of Kallax unit & a couple of Trofast units (good old ikea!) one Kallax unit has been repurposed into a toddler wardrobe for her now!

I’d say get yourself a decent long lasting good quality high chair. My LO spends a lot of time in hers not just for eating but for playing with toys or even watching cartoons. Also if LO is getting too much I put her in there to unwind as she gets into every nook and cranny in the kitchen when I’m trying to cook x

Reusable wipes - as long as they are cotton rather than microfibre you'll be fine. I have cheeky wipes but think I overpaid a little for the "premium brand" thing.

If you're interested in reusable nappies I'd suggest fb marketplace or some of the specialist fb groups for advice and second hand purchasing.

I wouldn't waste loads on a highchair. An ikea cheapie does the job and much easier to clean than the expensive ones are.

A childminder is Ofsted registered to look after your child in their home. We need to be first aid trained, have safeguarding food hygiene and other child development courses under our belt. A babysitter is usually in your own home for an ad hoc agreement. You cannot legally pay for childcare to someone unregistered in their home for over two hours, so if you were planning on paying family, think about how you can do that (pay for dinners out, treats etc instead of cash)

A nanny is in your own home, but you become an employer so are responsible for paying pension contributions and other things too.

@JackJack84 out of all of the classes we’ve done swimming is the one I’ve found best. Ours is £15 for a 30 minute lessons but my daughter can turn over onto her back, kick holding onto a float and can get to the wall and climb out. Baby sign language was pretty good too because she knows the signs for things like milk and signs different things she wants.

Nappies - we went for reusable which is a big outlay whereas buying disposables is £5 a week so over time probably about the same.

Although breastfeeding is free, there are accessories you might need e.g. nursing clothes, bras, pads, a pump if you want to give expressed milk (which you may, if he will be in childcare from 6 months or you want to go out at all)

For reusable nappies there are a lot of options so its sometimes a bit of trial and error. I've been very impressed with totsbots bamboozles with peenut wraps, which are made in the UK. I've found them easy to use and wash. Try The Nappy Lady website for some info about the different types of nappies.

On top of part time nursery baby classes, swimming and play groups are £100+ a month.
Crikey, we do one class which is £4.50 a week and apart from that I take her to free toddler groups at the church or community centre and stick a quid in the donation tin