How much did your newborn actually cost?

Dukesy

We spent very little. We got an awful lot (cot, steriliser, clothes, toys etc) for free from friends and family who no longer needed them. I think our biggest expense was £50 for a second hand travel system (pram with car seat and moses basket - best thing ever) which we bought from a friend, and which cost her nearly £400 new. Charity shops have a fantastic amount of stuff and are really worthwhile, as your baby will be in each clothes size for such a short time. We bought and still buy our nappies from Aldi - v cheap and actually we have found them to be much better than the branded ones.

I think the biggest thing is not to be fooled by the idea that you need to buy stuff new; you don't. There's a lot of very nice and very usable stuff on ebay, in charity shops and at car boots and no-one is going to look down at you for buying second hand.

Money saving can easily continue as your baby grows up, too. Don't bother buying baby food, make your own. Not only does it have the benefit of you knowing what you're putting into your child, but its dirt cheap. I workd out the other day that my basic homecooked food for my 16 month old costs me 14p a day. Not bad, really!

Jodie+Matt

The only things I bought new for dd2 were bottles and steriliser. Everything else we had saved from dd1. With dd1 we bought most things new, biggest waste of money ever. I know a lot of people like 'new' for a newborn but honestly the majority of secondhand baby things are like new anyway. The secondhand things we bought for dd1 are/were used for dd2 and are still in fantastic condition.

I think it all depends on how much you're willing to spend though at the end of the day, you can buy new newborn pushchairs for anything between 100 to 2000 quid. Shop around though and don't dismiss buying secondhand, I buy good quality top brands secondhand rather than spending 200 on a cheap new travel system I'd buy secondhand better quality for the same price. Also read reviews.

optimistic-mummy

We got alot of stuff given us and brought as gifts
Inlaws brought the cot abd mattress and bedding and baby swing and paid half towards the pram. Everything else was gifted or given so we spent around £150 towards pram . And around £30 on clothes and £20 on a baby bath. (I paid extra to get the supabath from mothercare as i have back problems) we were very fortunate abd i was shocked at the amount people gave us.
Now we are ttc #2 im trying to figure out how much we need to aim to save and ive worked out that it can be done on very little or alot
A basic cot bed new from ebay and mattress around £130
3 in 1 pram new with carseat again ebay around £200-£300
Bedding between £30-£100 depends on what you want
Clothes - this varys alot depending on weather you would want new or would buy second hand.

aliama

Rummer wrote: »

Ikea have great affordable cots and extras too. Try to only buy the essentials such as cot bed, car seat, pram etc

There is no need to buy a bath, nappy bin, special towels etc as they are nice but not really needed.

Our bath made an enormous difference in bathing my little one when she was, well, littler. We'd already been bought a cheapy basic baby bath, which she HATED. It made bathtimes a freaking nightmare, with her screaming, me trying to hold her up with one hand and wash her with the other. In the end, I went out and bought a shaped bath from M&P with a bit you can sit the baby in, and OH MY GOD, it made such a difference.

It's maybe not an essential essential, but it lasted for quite a while and I know there's no way in hell I'm going without it next time around (we gave our first one away).

Regarding money-saving, try to ignore the belief that you must have the priciest, prettiest pram. The pram we used the most was one my mum picked up in a charity shop for £20, when my daughter was still freshly minted. The brake's now a bit knackered, but it's still going strong. It's probably worth leaving buying a more expensive pram until after the baby's born, and you have a clearer idea of how you'll actually use it.

Regarding a high chair, I'd recommend the Ikea Antilop, rather than anything fancier.

BAGGY

I second the Ikea high chair too. No crevices to trap ready brek!

Catriona_P

BAGGY wrote: »

Personally I wouldn't get cot beds as they dont last for long and you have to buy specific sized bedding.

Personally, I would get a cotbed - DD is currently 2.3 and still well within the size for hers, and she's an average sized child. I'd recommend getting bedding off eBay if it's in good condition - I wanted a specific range from Mothercare to match the sheets I'd bought but it was OOS, so in the end I got the one I wanted from eBay, small duvet and matching pillowcase for £2 and it looked brand new! Get what you can from eBay! Apart from the obvious like carseats, pushchairs etc.

I would personally NOT recommend a changing table. DD flipped herself off hers at 4 months old (first time she'd rolled over and I'd turned my back for a second ). We ended up in A&E, she was fine but both of us were very traumatised. I still kick myself when I think about it now. Ikea do a very nice inflatable changing mat and 2 washable changing covers at a reasonable price, I bought that afterwards and still use it for nappy changes.

HTH

Beckajt

It depends on your combined household income, but I would actually budget more than £2000 to supplement maternity pay, especially if you want to take 6 months or more off work.
You would feel better knowing you had a little extra for household emergencies or unexpected expenditure too.

NatalieW79

My firstborn - a LOT - my second - I got smart :-) and spent 30% of what I did first time.

Sequeena

Not a lot as at the time our financial situation was worse than where we are now. A lot was given to us second hand (crib, moses basket). We bought mostly second hand clothes and other things were bought for us (cold water steriliser). We probably spent under £200.

Since then circumstances have changed so I was able to exchange old for new. Especially our pram as the one we had was unsuitable for public transport.

Jonesy88

Thank you for all the responses!

I will definitely need to check out the ikea baby stuff (any excuse lol) and hit the nearly new sales.

Beckajt - My aim is to save £3k before getting pregnant and then continue saving whilst pregnant. The reason i'm waiting is to pay off my loan/car finance beforehand, which means DHs income will cover all household expenses. I understand what you mean though - i'd hate to be on my mat leave stressing about running out of money.