Whilst not yet on cards, how should I start to prepare for baby?

sterl1ng

Right now all my money is going to buying my first home, which i'm hoping I get this year before autumn. I've been reading some of the baby threads with interest and realise perhaps I don't have to spend so much on baby bits but can any mums/to be mums give me rough idea on spends for baby bits and also food wise how much I may have to spend?

Becuase OH and I are trying to do our bit for environment I want reusable nappies/breast feed and also get lots of stuff on freecycle/gumtree/ebaby/freebay. I'm fortunate enough to gget 26wks full pay on maternity leave and so I'm thinking last two weeks of pregnancy start my ML and add those 24wks to my 5wks holiday giving me still 5mnths to cover mostly myself. I think 1yr ML might be good plus I'll want to bond with my baby so how much would you suggest I put aside? I'm thinking 1k per month once I've bought a home and have a 'baby account'

quinechinoise

Have a read of this: http://parents.berkeley.edu/jokes/parentingtest.html

I have 2 kids and it's very accurate!

With regard to money, you can spend very little if you want to. They don't really eat properly till 12 months and you can do baby-led weaning and just give them small amounts of whatever you're eating. Breastfeeding will cut your expenses hugely; if you don't manage to breastfeed long term (for whatever reason) then switch to full-fat cow milk as soon as possible. Follow-on formula milk is a marketing con.

BitterAndTwisted

Live on only one salary for at least six months. Once you go back to work, unless you are a high-earner, nearly all of your earnings will be gone on child-care, most especially once you get to the time your child is in school. For some couples it's cheaper for the one on the lowest salary to give up work altogether

Bangton

I didn't want babies so I never planned an account or anything until I fell pregnant in January (mishap with contraception) and now couldn't be happier.

I get full pay for 12 weeks followed by SMP plus the 8 months since I found out to prepare. I'm paying off my car finance, overdraft etc in advance so I don't have to make contributions there and plan to have saved £3000 by the time baby comes. I've opted out of works pension plan which means I get back the money they would put in in cash and can add to the SMP...plus my partner's earnings mean I can live pretty comfortably for the months I rely on SMP only. Not the same as usual but fairly well.

I guess if I were planning this the obvious thing to do for me would be to save the shortfall between SMP and my full wage.....

My mum tells me I won't do too much the first few months after baby other than visiting friends and relatives (saving money hopefully) and friends and family have been more than willing (and excited!!!) to pass down their things as I'm 29 and one of the last to get knocked up...good timing I say on that count!

So yeah...we'll see if this works for me!

Tenyearstogo

sterl1ng wrote: »

'm fortunate enough to gget 26wks full pay on maternity leave and so I'm thinking last two weeks of pregnancy start my ML and add those 24wks to my 5wks holiday giving me still 5mnths to cover mostly myself.

It really depends on your job here. I couldn't physically work past 34 with my first and 35 weeks with my second. I got so big and had heads engaged that I couldn't stand for more than 15 minutes and I couldn't stretch over to reach things.

Having time off birth afterwards is all lovely, but people forget that pregnancy can be exhausting and working too hard can be detrimental to your babies health.

Knowing how I had been first time, I used annual leave to work shorter weeks from 28 weeks.

Person_one

Forget the financials, the best way to prepare is to start doing your pelvic floor exercises NOW!

laurad85

I second baby led weaning, my daughter now eats everything we do. We cook without salt and eat a lot healthier now. I also never had to bother with blending food and she is fantastic at feeding herself and trying lots of food.

You get loads of gifts of clothes when the baby is born so don't buy many before. Some of the clothes are big and even though my daughter was 7 pound 8 we still had to go and buy tiny baby clothes for the first few weeks.

We bought a cot that turns into a bed so that will save money when the time comes.

We bought brand new everything as it was our first and we could afford it, I really wouldn't do this. Half the stuff like a carrycot for the pushchair we didnt even use and I'm sure it cost about £100.

My daughter joined the library when she was a few months old, she loves books so that saved me some
Money.

I've also use childcare vouchers which can be kept until they are 15. I think I'm going to up ours to £243 each so we can bank them.

Hope this helps!

sterl1ng

Person_one wrote: »

Forget the financials, the best way to prepare is to start doing your pelvic floor exercises NOW!

:rotfl:sorry, can't help meself:T

meritaten

and I am thinking the best way to prepare to have a baby is to look after yourself healthwise and check finances! you however, are wanting to start buying 'stuff'. What happens if it takes a few years to conceive? will all this old 'stuff' be acceptable to you? or will it even still be usable?
you may even find that by buying in stuff you could be on the slippery slope to obsession.
Save it for when your pregnancy test turns positive hun!

MissKeith

Person_one wrote: »

Forget the financials, the best way to prepare is to start doing your pelvic floor exercises NOW!

Hahaha you read my mind! I was just about to post that myself!

meer53

I would get over the massive stress that buying your first house entails before adding even more stress to your life.

It could be years before a baby makes it's appearance, who knows what the price of things will be then ?

Both my babies were premature, we had absolutely nothing bought for our daughter. She didn't mind, there really is no rush to buy stuff for babies, they just need to be warm, dry and fed.

It's good to be organised but i'd get the house out of the way first, you seem to be focussing on the baby a bit too soon.