How much do babies cost??

everythingblogcast

From when they are born to they get to the age of 16/17/18 they can cost you £40,000 + each. And thats what my mum and dad said that they have paid with little support from the state with only £30 per month in child befinds and I am coming up to 21 and still living at home because I think and they think that education is the most important thing. So thanks mum and dad. :T

abijanzo

Lydia.42 wrote:

Hi

carlachloe mentioned a grant for £500 to buy cot, etc. Do you have to be recieving benefits to qualify, or is this for everyone? I expect this is a means tested allowance - sounds too good to be true otherwise!!!
L

Yes this isnt available to everyone, we got diddly squat. Having said that, you will get a little extra if you apply for family tax credits and family allowance for a first child is £60 odd a month which really helps.

You're wise to budget for formula even if intending to BF as with the best will in the world it doesnt work for us all - I only managed 3 weeks myself. Formula does cost a small fortune too and baby wipes at £1 a pack just for mid range Tesco ones are very expensive and you go through thousands and thousands!

There are lots of things youre sold by the advertisers that you 'cant live without' and a lot of it is not at all necessary - nappy wrappers for disposables for instance - useless! We only used our baby bath once as my little girl loathed it and we ended up using a (new) plastic washing up bowl when she was tiny.

The only splurge purchase I made was a mamas and papas lotty ladybird play mat at £50 (one little indulgence I thought) My baby hated it and NEVER used it LOL typical!

Babies can be expensive if they are colicy too and you have to get expensive bottles and shell out for infacol! There are always unexpected costs but cliched as it is you Do manage

everythingblogcast

I dont know why everything has to be means tested for all types of benifits surely it should be for everyone.

moozikgal

Hi,

This is my first post, my partner who is a regular reader has got me addicted so i thought i would sign up and give some advice!

My little one is now 4 months old and before he was born i always worried about how much babies would cost thinking they would be very expensive. I can honestly say that we have only spent around £300 since he has been born and he does not go without! That includes pushchair, cotbed, nappies clothes etc.

Nappies - I thought that i would go the reusable route but found that disposables were just as good and would recomend looking around at samples of reusable nappies before going for bambino mino. They have some mixed reviews and are not suitable for everyone. Boots own brand disposable nappies are very good quality (almost the same as huggies) and are on offer quite a lot. I would suggest getting a few for when you are going out places as changing disposables are easier and you also dont have to carry a messy reusable one around with you!

Feeding - Brestfeed if possible, but dont be disheartened if you can not as some people it doesnt work out for. My milk didnt come in for 10 days so had to resort to formula for a little while and always keep some in the house just in case. if you do need some bottles for expressing, mothercare do bottles which you can sterilise in the microwave in 90 seconds. saves buying a seperate steriliser and all the extra things that go with it.

Clothes - Ebay and freecycle. We got 3 bin bags of boys clothes from freecycle ages 3months to 12months. of course some were not great but most dont have any wear in them at all. we also got a box of new born items from ebay for £5. People always give clothes as prezzies at the beginning too! Make sure you have plenty of vests and sleepsuits as babies can live in them for the first few months. you dont need many outfits, i hardly used any of mine!

Pushchair - Ebay again. We got a graco travel system which had hardly been used for £35. if you get a complete travel system then it will last longer and is easier for the car and going shopping in the supermarket as most have trollies which take a car seat. Get one with shopping trolly type wheels which turn as the 3 wheeler ones look great but are not practical. our first pushchair that we got has just gone on ebay and sold for £5 as it was just too big and difficult to get round shops.

Cot - Moses baskets look pretty and are good for the first month so you can carry the baby everywhere with you, but dont buy new. look on freecycle or ebay again. When looking for a cot, go for a cot bed as it will last longer. If you can find a second hand one, invest in a new matteress for health and safety reasons. Grobags or sleeping bags are the best bedding that i found as blankets get kicked off too easy.

Other things i would advise to invest in are a baby bjorn sling (ebay again) as the little one will want to be kept close to you in the beginning and its an easy way of making a cuppa or keeping your hands free. we also would be lost without our fisher price aquarium swing. It was a present from my mum from ebay of course, but little one now wouldnt be without it!

Little one is now just starting solids, baby rice and pear... yum yum!!

Hope this helps
Vicky

carlachloe

Lydia.42 wrote:

Hi
I am also trying to sort a budget at the moment. I agree about the lack of info. There wasn't even any info in my contract about maternity leave - it just said refer to HR.
carlachloe mentioned a grant for £500 to buy cot, etc. Do you have to be recieving benefits to qualify, or is this for everyone? I expect this is a means tested allowance - sounds too good to be true otherwise!!!
L

Yes sorry this depends on your income, we were on about 20K a year when we got that. Not sure what the levels are but you can get £200 or £300 or whatever depending on your income or like abijanzo said nothing at all. Worth a try though you never know!!

tee_pee_2

well they cost more tham anything else will ever cost you in your life, but somehow you mange. You go without stuff for yourself. I bought cot/pram for local baby shop that let me pay weekly so didn't miss the cost really. Also got money from everywhere-seriously mum next door neighbour, never spoke to me in her life but bought a rattle. My in laws have never bought us anything, not even a card when we moved in , or got engaged or got married, so I learned to expect NOTHING from them, they gave me £150!! I still haven;t gotton over it.

Ask firends /family to buy clothes in next size up or you will get loads 0-3 too much to get through in my case and nothing for 3-6.

Also try car boots got high chair and baby walker from there.

By the way Netto are currently selling buggies with hood and raincover for £30.00.

If you breast feed you have no cost for food and you don't need babyt jars, just puree the normal food ie carrot.potatoe etc and build it up.

DONT BUY NAPPY STACKERS ETC WASTE OF MONEY- keep youe nappies in the wardrobe like normal people and nappy wrappers and a waste of money IMO

HTH

Tee
x

bikerqueen

we spend 50 quid a month on her (she's 11 weeks), that covers food, disposable nappies, classes and bits and pieces (such as major splurges at NCT sales - she's pretty much clothed until next august from the sale and people's gifts.) Don't take the tage off the clothes you're given until you're sure it'll wear them, we spent this weekend taking stuff back and swapping it for bigger sizes / other things. It was like free shopping!

taliwillow

Probably a stupid question but, if I can't breast feed and need to go the bottle route, will we need a microwave as we don't have one at the moment so I will need to add that to my budget planning?

Thank you all so much for you replies. It really does help.

£50 per month sounds great in comparison to the £150 I was thinking of. Hopefully that means we should be fine. Just wanna hurry up and make a baby now!! LOL.

bikerqueen

nope, we picked up a fab steriliser from a second hand sale for a fiver and that's free standing.

Sterilise bottles, fill up with cooled boiled water, leave on the side.

Baby screams, add powder, shake and feed.

No need to warm the bottles, and not recommended to make the feeds and refridgerate them in advance any more.

it's a lot easier than it seems, honest!

chinagirl

Babies are priceless! You cannot really estimate the cost, it is a sacrifice you make but in return you get more than any amount of money could ever buy!