What do I need/don't need for new baby?

black-saturn

It all depends on a lot of things like whether you are hoping to use washable nappies and whether you are going to breast or bottle feed. Also whether you are open to the idea of your child wearing hand me downs and things from second hand shops.

If you want to use washable nappies they will cost anything between £100 and £200 to buy depending on what sort you want. It's a big lay out but it will save you in the long run.

Desposable nappies will cost you about £20 per week if you buy the good ones and £10 a week if you buy the cheap ones. I'm not saying washable are better than desposable, it all depends on the individual person and what amount of time you have to spend on your washing. I used to do alternate days on washable and desposable nappies as it was sometimes difficult to get everything dry without a tumble dryer.

If you are planning on breastfeeding the only outlay will be a nursing bra, nipple pads and some nipple cream (my toes are curling thinking about it). If you are planning on bottle feeding it will cost around £7 per week ish depending on how hungry the baby is. If you are on benefit you will get a milk token for this.

Then theres the cot, pram and clothes which can be picked up cheaply at boot sales, ebay and second hand shops.

katglasgow

I don't think babies cost a lot tbh and you will certainly get everything you need equipment wise for £1,000 - it can be done for a lot less trust me, so you will be fine.
Ongoing costs (my son is 2):
I buy a jumbo box of Pampers every 2 weeks on average - they are £11.50 in Asda
I didnt buy baby jars have always made my own food nand try to feed him same as us as much as possible I reckon £5 extra a week food budget is adequate
I budget £30 a month for "whatevers" this covers new shoes, equipment such as potty when time comes, summer jacket etc... I am very lucky as my MIL is potty about him so we get a lot of clothes bought for us (Christmas, birthday, Easter), I actually buy very little myself, if not I would probably allow £50 for this budget.
Given that you get £70 every 4 weeks child benefit, the above are all easily afordable.
The biggest expense that hurts the most is childcare - if you want to go back to work. TBH I dont WANT to work, but we couldn't manage off hubbie's salary alone, so I kind of have to.
Our nursery charges £15 per session (thats half a day). Which works out at £600 per month (My net pay is £1,020 so more than half my salary goes on childcare - ouch!!).
If you phone up child tax credits and tell them how much you both earn, they can advise you how much tax credits you will get. You will get an additional £40 per 4 weeks for the first year your child is born, this is called the baby element.

jellyhead

you might get tax credits, and the child benefit is £17.50 a week i think for the first baby. there was a thread on here not long ago where we talked about a baby not costing any more than the child benefit you get for it.

costs vary wildly. i bottlefeed my baby (he's lactose intolerant) and the formula costs around £7 a week. teats need to be changed roughly every 12 weeks i think. the bottles might last until you stop using them. a steam or microwave steriliser takes plain water so you don't have to buy milton fluid/tablets.

my sister breastfeeds and i know it's free but she spends more on breastpads than i do on formula :eek: she buys them at nearly £7 for a pack of 60 pads (lansinoh from mothercare). i realise they're cheaper elsewhere for different brands. i bought washable breastpads for £5 (6 pads). so there's a difference in which pads you use. formula milk varies too, i think the cheapest kind is around £5 and the most expensive is over £7. i use around a tin a week.

nappies are another thing that varies wildly. £10-£20 a week is mentioned above but the most expensive nappies i've seen are pampers or huggies. i use huggies and even at full price with no offers on i would say it costs £6-£7 a week. baby wipes can be expensive, i know somebody who pays almost £3 per pack for johnsons wipes but supermarkets own brands are just as good and if you don't stick to one brand you can always find a 2 for 1 somewhere. some people use a pack a week, others only use them rarely. some use washable wipes.

if you use nappy sacks you can pay between £1 for 300 and £3 per hundred.

if you use washable nappies the weekly running costs again can be variable. some use a soaking solution, some don't. some use flushable disposable liners, others use washable fleece liners.

supermarkets are cheaper than mothercare etc. for clothes.

black-saturn

When you are pregnant you get the chance to sign up for lots of freebies which are big boxes of baby stuff from Boots, Superdrug, Emma's Diary etc etc. They usually have loads of stuff in that kept me going for a while.

I made washable nipple pads out of a cheap towel I bought.

Counting_Pennies_2

It all depends on what you would like to buy.

There are the essentials of nappies. If using disposible then obviously you need to factor that it, probably aim between £5 - £10 a week.

If reusable, I think there is a one off cost.

Then there are clothes, again it is a personal choice. You can buy from NCT nearly new sales, or you can buy everything new, you could go to Tescos, or you could go to John Lewis, there are huge differences.

Then there are the purchases on a whim. My son has so many toys, I vowed never to buy them, but I got seduced and now he has a nursery and living room full to bursting.

It really is a lifestyle choice.

If you breast feed, the feeding is free for at least 6 months, although you may wish to formula feed, then you probably need to factor in another £5 each week.

When it comes to weaning it doesn't cost much to mash a banana or mix an apple, but then there are lots of nice fancy weaning kits you could go mad (I did, bought nearly every weaning bowl and plate set on the market!)

Good luck with the trying, save as much as you can. A whole new world opens up, lots of spending opportunities out there. There is a mass market out there for the must haves (not important stuff but often keeping up with the Jones or just fancy treating baby/yourself and it does all mount up!)

I would recommend NCT nearly new sales (do a google search) if you do a search from pregnancy you will have loads of items at great value and in great condition.

Ebay is also great for new and used.

Or you could go mad and get it all brand new, if so a good website kiddicare.com do everything you could hope for and claim to offer the best prices on the web.

jellyhead

toiletries are another monthly cost for some people. the recommendation is to not use bubble bath etc. for at least the first 8 weeks and even after that it's best not to, but many mums use a bit especially after sickness/diarrhoea. i bought two 500ml bottles of baby bubble bath when tesco had a 2 for 1 and i think they will last until he's at least 12 months. i bought 200ml of shampoo and that will last until well after his birthday. but i know people who seem to buy toiletries every month, so they must be using them for every bath, rather than plain water. you don't have to buy talc or most other things on the baby shelf either.

jyonda

Nappies-
We used a nappy laundry service as we didn't want to pollute the country with used nappies which won't degrade. For about a tenner a week they brought us a bag of clean nappies and took away the dirty ones. You also have to buy nappy liners which you flush down the toilet with the mess and nappy wrappers which are the outer part of the nappy, a bit like pants.
It wasn't any more hassle than disposables and a better option than washing them ourselves!

Travel-
Buy your car seat new. We spent 250 quid on a pram/buggy hich we used for 3 months then bought a buggy at a car boot sale for 12 quid (haggled down from 15) and used that for the next 2 years. Mistakes in this area are expensive. My advice is to borrow something while the baby is new born and needs to lie flat and THEN buy something for the next 2 years. You will have a much better idea of what you are after.

Clothes-
We like a good mix of clothes as our taste is not at all conservative so some of it is presents from friends and family (their taste, not yours) some is new from trendy shops (H&M, GAP) and a fair amount is from car boot sales. The quality is good, the range is varied and it's very very cheap. You can go nuts and make mistakes and it just don't matter.

Don't wait, the money will take care of itself.

It's better to have kids and no money than it is to have money and no kids.

pdoff

our 1st lot of washable nappies were given free by a lady on baby greenhouse (now passed on again to friend), 2nd lot cost around £30 from ebay, plastic pants for over top £2 odd from boots (pay with points if u take advantage of all extra points offers). wash with vinegar instead of softener - really not that much more hassle than disposables, just 1 extra wash loada a day. i am terrible at keeping up with housework but i manage it, & the ones i have are shaped terry ones that fasten with velcro so just as easy. they do make their bums bigger though so don't buy too many small clothes! if u use disposables email pampers & huggies for vouchers.
join freecycle. u may be lucky & get clothes, toys etc. for nothing. they don't care if things are new or not.
if u need any medicine or creams for baby e.g for nappyrash or colic go to doctor & hopefully they will prescribe for free. (i found that out with ds1 after buying infacol for months!)
we don't use toiletries on ds2 as he has excema so has special bath stuff from health visitor. buy suncream on bogof.
we got travel system for ds2 which is so much easier than what we used for ds1 & should last till he's walking - is graco mirage was £99 plus £35 or so for base for car seat. pushchair very light & small enough to fit in my small car boot.
have to take ds1 to playgroup. will try & think of more!

oh, old towels for mopping sick, under bum when changing (don't worry about changing mat, the one u get with the free huggies bag from boots is fine withtowel on top!) etc.

Sharra

I'll echo what someone else said above -the money will take care of itself.
Of we all waited till we could afford it, no one would have kids - you will find the money somehow

pozalina

For some reason all your thanks buttons are missing, so I'll have to thank you all this way instead!

You've made me feel we can do it now, thanks so much x