Any hidden costs I should budget for before the baby arrives?

coupon_underground

Hey,

I'm interested in hearing from parents about the costs of having a baby that caught you by surprise.

Most advice focuses on the obvious expenses before the baby arrives (pram, nursery furniture, car seat, clothes, etc) but I'm curious about the things people don't usually mention.

Were there any recurring costs, one-off purchases or lifestyle changes that had a bigger financial impact than you expected? Or were there any products that people said were essential but you found unnecessary?

I'd be interested to hear what you wish someone had told you before your first child arrived.

Thanks!

sheenas

You mean like child care , nappies, milk ,and babby food.

Woodstok2000

We had way too many clothes, at every stage. Every growth spurt we ended up donating loads of unworn outfits.

With an autumn baby, our heating bill for the first 6 months went up significantly.

I think the biggest learning for me was the variability. There were loads of things we bought (e.g. a white noise machine, bottle warmer) which made no difference, however others swear by them and clearly they work for some. Other things we didn't even think of buying (a bumbo seat) but we ended up relying on them.

If I was doing it again, I would say that as long as you have the bare minimum, buy everything else as you go when you need it.

otb666

When I had my babies MIL bought cot pushchair with carrycot second hand same with all clothes. I did not spend a penny on those babies as breast fed and liquidized our food or just mashed with a fork. At every stage MIL produced clothes and toys all from charity shops. Now when I pay for things for my grand kids I paid £1100 for one pram and £700 for second pram, when ever they visit I have a huge shopping list of special food etc £100. We buys toys and when they do visit they have special monitors special tablets I could go on.

Edit to say I did buy nappies which were an expense I remember

Brookside88

mine was private lactation support / tongue tie release / cranial osteopathy.

My daughter was feeding well and gaining weight but it was sooooooo painful, so i sought help from the NHS and the wait for a tongue tie assesment/release was weeks and weeks. I couldn't have carried on like I was for that long so I sought help privately and paid somewhere in the region of £500 all in for tongue tie release, lactation support and cranial osteopathy appointments.

Wait times may have improved by now as this was 4 years ago but still something to bear in mind

Hehaw2025

We had our first last year and the thing that I thought was invaluable and wasn’t recommended was a baby first aid course.

I felt a lot more comfortable and confident afterwards and prepared me for weening etc.

Exodi

coupon_underground

I'm interested in hearing from parents about the costs of having a baby that caught you by surprise.

A bit late to the party but following our first 2 years ago, I will say the thing that caught me most by surprise was the lack of unexpected expenses!

Sure, you'll probably need to dish out a grand for a car seat, pram, cotbed, etc but aside from nappies… and bottles… and formula (if applicable), the costs are quite minimal. Newborn nappies are insanely cheap and you might only be buying a tub of formula a month at the start. Clothes are subjective, sleepsuits and vests are cheap from supermarkets - but it depends on the person. Some parents can go mad and put their babies in designer gear or mountains of clothes they'll never wear.

I will say, the biggest financial impact (though not surprising) is when they go to nursery. We went from spending less than £50 per month on our daughter (outside of one-off costs I mentioned above) to over 500 when she turned 1 and went to nursery - and that's ~3 days per week with '30' free hours.

coupon_underground

I'd be interested to hear what you wish someone had told you before your first child arrived.

Buy used - whatever you're comfortable with. Baby items cost a fortune new and then immediately lose nearly all their value. They're like wedding dresses, no-one wants to be the one buying used for the special occasion.

Except I'd argue it's worse with baby stuff, because aside from 90% of people buying new everything for their precious new family member, oftentimes babies will outgrow clothes/toys/etc before they even use them.

We've picked up countless things (including all the nursery furniture, sterilizer, toys, books, etc) for a fraction of the retail price, oftentimes unused.

The good bit is if you can pick this stuff up used, then use it for a while, you will be able to sell it again for pretty much what you paid for it.

I will say it's extremely easy to spend a lot of money if you're not careful of running on paternal/maternal instinct to buy the best of the best. There's so much gear out there… but babies are simple, they just want feeding, changing, holding and to sleep.