How much does your baby/child cost you per month?

notanewuser

Have you got a breast pump? You could try stimulating supply by feeding and expressing at home (much easier when they're still diddy) and then give expressed milk when out if you'd rather that.

Catty89

Gillyx wrote: »

My LO is older now (18months)

But he drinks just under 4 litres of cows milk a week (£8 a month) he eats what I have and smaller portions so I'd say around £40 a month on food (that's probably an over estimate) I use reusable nappies during the day and 1 disposable at night (£4 a month) that would be the cost of his main needs met.

I buy all of his clothes in sales (I tend to go to Next as it sells on well and gives me cash to buy the next size up) or on offers with extra advantage card points etc and use these to fund new clothes too.

He needs a new pair of shoes on average around every 8 weeks (so far) which are around £30 a pair.

I'm a SAHM so no childcare costs.

I find the next clothes quite expensive but agree about it selling on, they seem to sell for practially the same price online. They had a really good sale not long ago where i stocked up on bigger sized clothes and they were really cheap and looked good quality

Gillyx

Catty89 wrote: »

I find the next clothes quite expensive but agree about it selling on, they seem to sell for practially the same price online. They had a really good sale not long ago where i stocked up on bigger sized clothes and they were really cheap and looked good quality

The good sales happen twice a year, Boxing Day and Summer, they have other sales but the stock isn't as good. I was on holiday this year and still got up at 4am to go. It is worth it to me, as there clothes wash well so I get maximum profit from selling on. The clothing in the sale is half price or less so its really worth while going early as the good stuff sells fast.

The baby stuff tends to be ok, but as soon as there past 12months the stuff sells so quickly in sale as loads of people have the same idea.

couponqueen123

Kayalana99 wrote: »

The nappies she is using are cheaper then the ones you suggested

Sorry just had to point that out

omg i seen 4.99:o:o teach me to rush .

pinkshoes

I used a nursing cover to save any awkwardness feeding in public, so breastfed DS til he was 13 months! Look out for offers on milk powder!

I used eBay for clothes - just buy bundles in the right size.

You only need wipes for out and about. At home you can use washable cloth wipes.

DS now costs me £1000 a month in nursery fees, then when he turns 3, I'll have to pay entry fees for him to places we visit!

fluffnutter

I think if they exceed your expectations in terms of cost by over 20% it's OK to give them away. Or sell them. With a bit of canny advertising you might be able to recoup your outlay. Win win!

quintwins

Mine are older now and to be honest my twins costs me a complete fortune as i used jars and starting from scratch so had to buy clothes and i bought cheap furniture that did last.

However my 2nd child was dead cheap until recently (as he's starting school)

I breastfeed until he was 10 months, he only had one tin of baby milk in his whole life because he hated it.

I went shopping on a Sunday morning and bought enough veg to feed him for the week then made a weeks worth of meals for him.

I used reusable for awhile but he had very had eczema and he found that as they didn't draw the moisture it made him worse. It didn't matter which liners or type of nappy i used either. When he needed antibiotics and an antibiotic cream to clear up a seeping rash that came out of no-where I decided to sell them on...i got more than i paid for them. I also used them for awhile on my twins. i recommend the AIO kind the cheap Chinese pocket ones were grand.

After that i bought sainburys nappies in the 1/3 of baby events, by the end i was using basic ones and only paying £1 a pack. Little baby nappies are much cheaper than bigger ones tho so expect the cost per nappy to rise as he gets bigger.

Clothes he had his brothers hand me downs with a few ebay bundles and some next sale stuff.

Shoes i would take him and get his feet measured at the well known shop then have a look in the sale, if there was nothing less than £10 i would get them off ebay (I've had brand new shoes for £6 before)

Wipes i used value or whatever offer i could find, a few times a year sainburys do half price baby stuff (not including nappies) i would stock up on own wipes. bubble bath and shampoo aswell as cotton bubs, i got free baby lotion on prescription.

Sometimes i have paid for medicine if you have a sickly child money doesn't come into it so i would allow a small amount for this, but remember if your prepared you can get sudocream and calpol for free .

Kids don't need many toys at that age and i see bundles going for free all the time (those toys that strap to the bar that someone else mentioned was also our most used toy, along with a light up sheep that fixed to the cot and protected a picture)

Ask for clothes or vouchers for birthdays and xmas from friends or family members who would rather get you what you need.

You can use single flat sheets in a cot and then keep using them as they get bigger. also you can use pillowcases instead of moses basket sheets (it also means if your really tired in the night and the baby has dribbled you can just flip it over til the morning)

When my youngest was a baby i recon he cost me about £10 a week max.

Just came back to add that i know the op has stopped breastfeeding now but this might help someone else. when feeding in public i did the one up one down, where you wear a vest top under everything, pull it up to cover the top half of your boob and your normal top down, it means no expensive nursing clothes (except bras which you can get cheap on ebay) and you can be discreet. i also kept a muslin to hand incase he came off i could cover myself quickly and i needed it for his dribbled of milk anyway.

notanewuser

pinkshoes wrote: »

I used a nursing cover to save any awkwardness feeding in public, so breastfed DS til he was 13 months! Look out for offers on milk powder!

!

There won't ever be offers on first baby milk - by law it's not allowed to be promoted or reduced in price.

fluffnutter

notanewuser wrote: »

There won't ever be offers on first baby milk - by law it's not allowed to be promoted or reduced in price.

Absolutely true. It's also (probably) true that follow-on (which you can advertise, promote and reduce in price) is pretty much the same stuff as infant formula....

neverdespairgirl

Catty89 wrote: »

wow thats so good for £4!! we dont have anything like that iv checked the council website etc and cant see anything. Does make it sound much more appealing.

It was in 2005-6, so it might be more expensive now! It was a great deal, though - you paid a deposit of £30, and they gave you a secure lidded bin, with a liner, and every week collected your dirty nappies and boil-washed them, and delivered new ones. The size changed, too.

When you finished with nappies, they collected the bin and gave you your £30 back. They collected and delivered the nappies by using a bike and trailer.

We used some disposables, when on holiday, or staying with my parents, but not many.

That was the London Borough of Camden, in London.