How much did your baby's 1st year cost you?

Counting_Pennies_2

We too aimed to live off child benefit.

That is fine in the first year, but I have to say we spend rather a lot on the children these days. Clothes, school clothes, after school activities, childrens parties, food etc.

I have found it has gone up most years!

chanie

I think the key is to not go overboard. There are loads of 'useful' products, which, I'm not knocking, but you can do without.

Buggy £300 - this was mid range
car seat - came with buggy. When DS turned 1, we got a fixed one, which was £70 in the sale
cot £200 - can get one from IKEA for under £50
Formula - up to £10 a week
nappies - about £20 a month, but I stocked up when on offer
clothes - the children were mainly in babygros for the first 6 months, but I did get given lots of clothes.
bottles - about £20, but lasted for the year, other than replacing the teats
wipes -£5 a month, although I used washable cloths
toys - baby gym (£25), rattles etc (£5) baby walker (£80). We only paid for hte baby gym as the rest of the toys we got using our Tesco clubcard points.
Moses basket - was donated to us, but neither of our children got on with it, so I wouldn't buy one again, if I had to.
HIgh chair, £12 from IKEA

I think the child benefit will cover everything you need, with a bit left over. My tip is to stock up on offers when you see them. Sainsburys, Tesco and ASDA have baby offers on at the moment.

embob74

The first year can be the cheapest!
As Colli said it can be better to buy in sales rather than second hand and then you can sell them on.
I was lucky that I was bought a bundle of clothes cheaply from a friend so check out Gumtree, NCT sales etc.
Having had 5 :eek: children I realise they do not need much. For last baby I bought the bare minimum. People buy gifts for the newborn so I didn't buy much in that size. A pack of 7 sleepsuits and vests was pretty much all we used.....I love squishy babies in sleepsuits and as we had her in winter nobody saw what she was wearing as she had a snowsuit on.
I chose to breastfeed as that saves a tenner a week. I realise it is not possible for everybody and it does take a lot of time and dedication but is good for baby and free Take time to go to baby feeding cafe's if feeding is difficult.....there are things I only learnt after having the fifth baby (nipple shields are a godsend :rotfl:)
It can cost you as much or as little really but I know my lightbulb moment was when we moved and I emptied the loft of the older kids clothes and toys and was disgusted at how much stuff we had bought that they didn't need, want or use.
As an aside - get baby's name down at a nursery now as I was surprised at how long the waiting lists are.
Congratulations to you both.

onlyroz

Child benefit is plenty to cover the day-to-day costs of food, nappies, toiletries and clothes. But the biggest "cost" is either the loss of income due to a parent staying at home, or the cost of childcare if both parents go to work.

notanewuser

We didn't buy much but what we did but we bought exactly what we wanted. Travel system £800 (on offer :eek:) but it's the only one we bought while friends are onto their 3rd or 4th in 2 and a bit years! Car seats - £280 for maxi cosi seat and 2 bases (passed on to family when they had theirs because we were told they were skint. DD was 9 months old still well within the size limits for it, and we ended up buying a £330 replacement which was a lot less convenient. Oh well, they're now onto baby 2, so I don't suppose we'll be getting it back anytime soon). Travel here there and everywhere to visit relatives - £1500? Some were abroad. £70 pacapod changing bag (still using now). £250ish on didposable nappies that DD hated. Resold for about £200. Nappies and wipes bought from wholesalers so probably £3-4 a week averaged out.

Biggest expense was my income and waistline, both of which disappeared. :eek:

morocha

I have spent £200 in a car seat, a carrycot and the quinny buzz 3 puschair.
£100 in a John Lewis coat and £36 in a lovely Boots mattress. So far for me, all of these are essentials all of these things are new.
Spent £10 in a cot mobile and £15 in a bouncy chair, a lovely one, again brand new with coupons etcs.... I am unsure if i will buy a sling for £27 but will wait for baby to arrive for that. This is my second child.

Clothes, i bought 1 packet of 7 long sleep sleeping suits and 1 packet of 7 short sleep sleeping suits from M&S, lets say it was £15 for both. Bought in FB baby selling page all clothes i will need from newborn to -6 months for £45. Also a baby snowsuit from Debenhams for £14, i wanted to treat her to something nice:rotfl:.
With a £50 Sainsburys voucher that i received from BG i stocked up on nappies and wipes.

I am quite please with my expenses so far, because i have bought quality and havent spent a lot of money, Baby will be BF.

£434 so far. The nappies and formula if needed will be covered by Child benefit.

dizziblonde

Remember middle-ish of the first year you'll have to budget for things like a highchair and the next carseat up when they outgrow the infant carrier one. Might also find they have a growth spurt and you end up whizzing through one clothes size within a matter of weeks (we didn't get much wear at all out of 6-9 months).

Nappies - about £20 a month on them - we buy the big boxes from Kiddicare unless the supermarkets have a better offer on. Formula (yes breastfeeding's technically free unless you spend what I had to on pumps, shields and the like and it never worked out even then!) at the worst we used just over a carton a week - £7.99 a carton with about once a month us having to buy two within a week... but that's tailed off since we started on solid food, which can be as cheap or as expensive as you like - depending on if you've got the time and inclination to make your own or not - we keep a freezer drawer where we freeze small portions of any suitable meals for her lunches and dinners, and if necessary I top it up with batch cooking a few things one weekend.

notanewuser

dizziblonde wrote: »

solid food, which can be as cheap or as expensive as you like - depending on if you've got the time and inclination to make your own or not - we keep a freezer drawer where we freeze small portions of any suitable meals for her lunches and dinners, and if necessary I top it up with batch cooking a few things one weekend.

There's actually no need to make or buy special baby food. Provided you don't cook with salt they can eat whatever you do. So that's no additional cost for food, pots, blenders, freezer space etc.

Check out Baby Led Weaning. Anecdotal evidence suggests children grow up less "fussy" if their food isn't mashed together.

dizziblonde

notanewuser wrote: »

There's actually no need to make or buy special baby food. Provided you don't cook with salt they can eat whatever you do. So that's no additional cost for food, pots, blenders, freezer space etc.

Check out Baby Led Weaning. Anecdotal evidence suggests children grow up less "fussy" if their food isn't mashed together.

Wasn't an option for us (this is where you start accusing me of "forcing food down your baby's mouth" like another BLW fanatic did)... weaning prem babies is a different set of guidelines.

And here will be where I get jumped on for not following the latest decreed parenting "must do"...

notanewuser

dizziblonde wrote: »

Wasn't an option for us (this is where you start accusing me of "forcing food down your baby's mouth" like another BLW fanatic did)... weaning prem babies is a different set of guidelines.

And here will be where I get jumped on for not following the latest decreed parenting "must do"...

Charming. I actually offered you something nice on another thread and you accuse me of being a fanatic.

I'm well aware that your daughter was premature (how could we forget - it's stated in your signature) and meant to say that for "normal" babies it's a brilliant option. I have a SlL who still spoonfeeds her 15 month old on pouches of pur!e because its "less messy". Obviously where there is a valid reason why pur!e is needed, it should be given, but in other circumstances BLW is likely to be a better option for a child. Your post made no mention of prematurity, just the notion of weaning with pur!e, as if it was the only option for all babies. The OP isn't about prem babies.