How much does a baby cost?

Phatmouse

Catch me on a bad day and you can have mine for nowt

flossy_splodge

The_Plush_Doormat wrote: »

Johnny - Think of a figure, double it, multiply it by 20, then add a few more zeros for luck! My "babies" are 15 and 19 and it never ever stops costing you.

SO true!
Mine are even older and the costs seem to rise in direct proportion to their age!:rotfl:

tiamai_d

If you can survive on one wage to pay all the bills, feed and clothe yourselves and still have some cash to save, you can afford a baby.

Now most folk will say this is nonesence, mum will return to work.... but you can never be 100% sure that mum can return to work. You get through all the downs and whatever else tests and the pregnancy goes well but at the last moment, baby suffers lack of oxygen and you are gifted with a wonderful child who has extra needs and either mum or dad has to choose to stay at home and care full time for your child. Could you manage this?

But do remember about child and tax credits and child benefit.

My budget for baby number 3 is £500 (we allready have a pram) for the big things and an extra £10-£15 a week for buying a pack of nappies, sleepsuits etc till baby arrives.

After baby arrives I expect to pad the shopping budget out by £20 a week for nappies, milk (if needed), baby equipment. Plus £10 a week clothing budget for all 3 on average, family buy the bulk of clothes rather than toys.

Basically they cost as much as you want them to cost. Cheaper if your happy to use asda and tesco clothing, more expensive if it must be next and debenhams clothing and all the latest battery powered noise makers

Bitsy_Beans

What will cost the most is furniture and pram from my experience. We bought a cot bed with a view to it being a junior bed in the future. A pram with car seat etc can cost around £400 depending on what make you buy.
Clothes I have always found to be dirt cheap and people buy you stuff when the baby arrives too. I buy all my kids clothes at the mo from the supermarkets or Primark (they are too young to complain yet!).
Nappies - supermarket own brand are just as good as Pampers/Huggies but if you are interested you can try cloth ones. If you don't want to spend £200 on a birth to potty type pack you can buy stuff second hand from a site called Nappy Lady (or something.....sorry can't remember exactly as I never used it).
Formula is now nearer £9 so if you want to BF then go for it - it will save you a fortune. In the early days you'll probably use a tin of formula a week but once they start drinking more this will increase.
Weaning - again you can choose to use jars or just make your own which is cheaper.
If you choose to bottle feed I don't suggest you use Tommee Tippee bottles as I found them to be useless. I bought Dr Browns second time round and they are fab. down side is 4 bottles cost £20. Then you need to factor in the cost of a steriliser.

Toys - again these can be a cheap or as expensive as you like. I vowed my kids wouldn't be inundated with shed loads of toys and they still have more than I ever thought they would.

Childcare is the one thing you MUST factor in. Cost of nursery or childminder will take a large chunk out of your income if you go back to work. If you have family who can help you out for free then grab it with both hands!!!!

prettypoppyknickers

at the end of the day if a child is meant to be it will come along when you least expect it.

my son is 3 years now and i to this day don't know how much i have spent on him and dont want to know as long as he has clothes food and a warm bed he could cost me a million pounds or a penny, he has brought me more happiness than any money ever could.

yes things can be tight some time but to see him smile i wouldn't change it for the world.

i'm watching moulin rouge so i quote "all we need is love!" (sorry for the poor spelling by the way!)

elainew

Our dd cost £25,000 in IVF treatment before she was even born. Now everything else is a breeze

LilMissEmmylou

£1000 a month? What the heck - do you feed your child gold dust lol? Yes childcare can be an expense but also remember you get child benefit (which is what £18 ish a week at the mo), working tax credits and you can also get childcare vouchers through many work places tax free (check out martins spiel on it somewhere - ive never had to do it so dont know much).

TBH i dont think my daughter costs me much at all. She eats perhaps £10 a week food, i budget £10 a week for outtings but again not essential and in theory u have many free weeks when u go to the park and beach etc). Rarely buy her clothes as she got so many when born and for birthdays Christmas etc (she is now 2 yrs and 3 months), same with toys and she has bucket loads! I would perhaps give £10 a week towards nappies/wipes if needed too or go down the clothy route and breast feed. If I could go back and do it again, I wouldn't be afraid of 2nd hand when it comes to some items and I also wouldnt buy everything they try to convince you you need!

but when it comes to number 1 - i say dont think of money, if we waited till we could aford it most of us would never have babies Check out the entitled to website too to see theoretically what help you would be entitled to

iwanttosave_2

£34958.93

Or

As much or as little as you want.

pinkpig08

I'm expecting baby no. 2. It will cost me £300 per month in childcare when I go back to work which is the biggest expense, but it is only until the child starts school. I use the thinking that I will reap the rewards for the rest of my life, so it's a small scrifice really. I've been buying baby clothes from ebay, my son had everything new, but you realise just how little they wear the clothes! So any baby clothes you buy second hand will actually not have been worn that much.

The microwave sterilisers are cheaper than the electric ones. I got mine from freecycle, along with a bouncy chair, bottle warmer, a baby sling and a tomy baby carrier! Family have bought the cot, carseat and swinging crib, we have just had to buy the pram. I know you can't rely on family for these things, but they don't have to be mega expensive.

astonsmummy

daveyjp wrote: »

I reckon our almost 3 year old daughter costs about £1,000 a month.

Capital costs such as prams etc are minimal and as others have said the amount of kit you need can be very small - most of what you buy will not be used after 2-2.5 years.

Childcare is the highest cost either in the cost of paying someone to do it for you or the cost of a parent not working.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: blimey, what does that figure consist of