How much do babies cost??

Juicy_Tube

Was just going to say the same!

LO's are priceless

kmeast

Don't forget to join all of the baby clubs - Boots Parenting Club, Tesco Baby & Toddler Club, Huggies & Pampers online. You will then receive regular vouchers which make life a little easier!

Don't feel presurised to use branded nappies - I have found Tesco ones to be just as good.

I have used ebay to sell my maternity clothes etc to make some cash & buy some bargain baby clothes.

Keep the tags on some of the 0-3 month clothes you will end up with too many of & swap them for bigger sizes.

Stock up on bigger clothes sizes in the sales. Not sure if it is still on, but this weekend in Tesco there was 20% off clothes, so we stocked up on vests & sleepsuits for the next few months!

inkie

I would say that we spent about £20 per month on our LO's, and that could have been cut back further. I breastfed (free), bought nappies from Netto £2.99 per pack, and just like Boots - although if I had time again, that would be changed to disposables!

lauren_1

try https://www.thenaturalbabycompany.co.uk for the nappies as they are quite cheap and do free delivery, also there is a seller on ebay that makes nappies called CLWT TWT, she is in wales and they are soo good, also there is there is a seller who sells ones called FINLEYS , try going on to babyworld's nappy forum and they rate every nappy going. Worth it before investing ina bulk buy. Also breast feeding is an obvious money saver, at 3am warming a bottle i ALWAYS wish i kept it up so much easier to.
We got a crib at a car boot sale for £20 with bedding and sold it for more, car boots are gold mines for baby items.
hope this helps

Lillibet_2

To the poster who said about the cost of baby wipes: they don't have to cost much, cotton wool is much cheaper & water is usually free! In fact, we don't even use cotton wool except when we are out, at home we have some washable cloths (49p for 8 in Wilkinsons but you could cut up old T shirts or something) which get washed along with the nappies! I occasionally use wipes to clean up really really messy nappies (the explosive kind!) but I honestly can't remember the last time I needed to buy any as our way works just as well.

Re the washables birth to potty pack, don't rush to buy these. Not all types of washabels suit all babies, you really need to wait until babe is born & try a few differnet styles, budget for disposables for the first month or so (you will be too shell shocked/shattered to deal with washables then anyway) Also if you will be putting babe in childcare once you go back to work not all childcare facilites will accept washables & insist you supply disposables, so they could end up sitting in the cupboard.

The biggest expense with babies is either the cost of childcare once you go back to work or the loss of your income if you don't. The rest really is peanuts in comparisan (And I am someone who is an@l about budgeting!)

If you do breast feed then this is still not free : feeding bras, cream (it hurts at first...lots! But it really is worth it!), breast pads all add up, although it is cheaper than formula which comes in at around £9 ish a can depending on which make you go for (you could bargain on using around 2 cans a week at first but remember they get hungerier as they grow!). Odd bits of equipment which you didn't realize you needed until they arrived, takeaways for the days you are just way too knackered to cook, (they will happen no matter how well you plan!), a supply of printer cartridges so you can print off a million photos of your fave babe, rechargable batteries for the toys & gadgets, but as I say, all peanuts in comparisan.

£150 a month sounds a lot but some months it can be this much, other months £20 will cover everything & give you change.

Sorry this isn't much help, but it really is 50% as cheap or expensive as you want to make it & 50% in the hands of fate. I'd say if you can afford to live on SMP with a bit leftover then you can priobably afford a baby. Just;)

jellyhead

if you want to work out if you'll get the £500 surestart maternity grant go to https://www.entitledto.com and put your estimated income in. you would probably be looking at claiming tax credits after the baby is born, and then you can apply for the surestart grant but it has to be claimed before baby is 3 months old.

to get the grant you have to be getting more than just the 'family element' of tax credit. family element is around £10 a week and roughly speaking you'd get it if your joint income for the year (april to april) was between 25 and 66k. under 25k and you should get more but the figures change each year and i'm not sure how maternity money is included - i think you can disregard the first hundred a week but not sure.

there is a baby element from tax credits of another ten a week, i think everyone on less than 66k gets that. it's until baby is a year old. you'll also get child benefit of around £18 a week for your first child.

zippybungle

Hi,

I hope will give real nappies a go! :T


I have been using them for 16 months on my son. Like some others have said, I have heard mixed reviews about Bambino Mio's. I think the best thing to do would be to try a few different types of real nappy and see which you like best (not just which one has the cutest pattern!).

Some of my favourite nappies are Tots Bots Fluffles - I love these because they dry very quickly and will always stay soft and fluffy - so no need to tumble dry them, just leave them over night on an airer. The best wrap (in my opinion) is the Motherease Air Flow wrap. Now my son is 16 months I use 'pocket nappies' (Fuzzi Bunz, Swaddlebees and Nature Babies) - which are a one piece nappy (but two parts to wash) as they are really easy to put onto a crawling/walking who won't keep still for 2 seconds :rolleyes:

Also, contact your local council to see if they offer any financial incenvives to parents who use real nappies (as we aren't filling up landfill with dirty stinking nappies). Chesterfield Borough Council give you £25.00 cash back if you spend £50.00 or more on cloth nappies.

2nd hand reusable nappies sell really well on e-bay too, so if you do buy some which you don't like or when your LO outgrows them, then you can easily sell them on.

I am a big fan of Breastfeeding too (I finished BF last week), try and learn and much as you can about breastfeeding, how it works - supply and demand etc. My son never had a bottle, so I guess I have saved a small fortune on bottles, a steriliser and milk! H&M sell feeding bra's for about £5.00 - good quality and comfy too! they also sell some nice maternity clothing.

Good Luck! :A

jellyhead

oh sorry, forgot about the baby question. bambino didn't suit my baby, what with colic, reflux, lactose intolerance etc. he special milk and drops caused explosive liquid nappies that dirtied every wrap, so i found i preferred all in one nappies anyway as they're a bit less fiddly and if you need a new wrap for every nappy change then bambinos lose their appeal. the newborn wraps are teeny tiny, never fit my 8lb 6 baby.

so you might find you spend a bit on samples of different nappies. my council gave me £30 for using washables though, it's worth checking what schemes your council has.

i bought washable fleece liners for the nappies too, i just chucked them in the machine with the nappies. they made baby feel drier than the disposable liners.

you can use flannels or washable baby wipes if you like, or water with cotton wool etc. i'm extravagant, i like to use baby lotion. my sister uses more than one pack of wipes per week, but she buys them on special and they never cost more than a pound a pack.

if you use childcare when you go back to work will your setting use the washables?

if you need formula milk it's usually around £7 a week, although each baby is different. some are hungrier, some are sick so often you make up bottle after bottle and use more than a tin per week. i should have got lactose free milk on prescription but nobody told me that, so i got drops on prescription and added them to formula milk that i bought. it's a couple of pounds cheaper at a clinic than at asda, you don't need to be on benefits to buy from a clinic.

where feeding concerned you could spend any amount really. my baby didn't eat until 6 months old and i pureed squash etc for him. my friend's baby was on 3 meals a day by 3 months and everything was from jars so i reckon she spent £15 a week on jars of food and she also bought baby juice (ready made!) instead of giving water.

you can spend what you like on clothes. when they are little they don't wear clothes out and bundles off ebay will probably be almost like new. in theory they need clothes every 3 months in their first year, but changing seasons might mean they need shorts in a particular size then a couple of week later they need coats and warm clothes in that same size. how often you do the washing might dictate how many items you need in each size. i bought mostly from ebay and the tesco sales. my baby-jar friend bought everything new from mothercare so she spent a lot more than i did. she also bought pampers active fit nappies which are probably twice the cost of tesco's own nappies. if you do buy nappies it's worth bearing in mind that the tesco ones win awards and are rated as high as huggies and pampers in all the consumer tests.

phew, sorry this is so long!

jellyhead

oh, and for the question about buying a microwave - no you probably won't need one. sterilisers can be plugged in, or use fluid. i like my microwave one but my sister pinched my plug in one (bought for a trip where the hotel would not have a microwave) and she prefers it.

you can warm bottles and food in hot water. i bought the fisher price flask which has a long lid suitable for warming a bottle. i used it for warming baby food too (i put it into avent via containers, bought jars would fit in there too). iitially i just used a measuring jug or pan, anything handy but the flask was needed for days out.

A_little_stressed!!

everythingblogcast wrote:

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

I do believe in things being means tested as there alot of rich people out there who will take these hand outs if they can, often finding ways around the system to get them any way. I know someone who works even though she get whatever maternity pay she is entitled to off of the government. She also gets alot of hand outs, and was telling me the other day what a bargin her babies new bobble hat was
HER;"oh yes, it was only 25, reduced from 75"
ME:25, pence, where on earth did you get that?
HER: no pounds, £25, its lambs wool, Ralph Lauren

I laughed out loud, then realising she wasn't joking made my self scarce then sniggered for at least an hour!!!!

My point is means testing is essential, but the cut-off point should be higher, there is that middle gap in society that doesn't get help who really deserve it!

Good luck with the babba by the way, just don't eat 2 much wen ur pregnant. I scoffed my face all day every day, luckily 4 me I only put on 1 stone, unluckily 4 me my lil un weighed 9lb 4oz!!!! Luckily for me I got a C- section, unluckily 4 me they waited til I'd been pushing for 5 1/2 hrs!
I could go on with this all day, but the result is the most wonderful thing you can imagine, just keep smiling through it all & wait for the day the little one smiles back at you, you'll never have known anything like it!!

:A