Cost of baby items

**disneysteve** · 04-06-2010, 04:17 PM

I'd say diapers and formula are the biggies. Clothes are cheap at yard sales and thrift shops and ebay and craigslist. Don't forget about medical bills. Figure out what you are responsible for under your plan for the delivery. Then figure on copays for a visit at 2 wks, 4 wks, 8 wks, 4 mos, 6 mos, 9 mos, 1 year just to start. Plus copays for yourself for ob-gyn follow-up care.

**cptacek** · 04-06-2010, 04:44 PM

Have you thought about breastfeeding? Good for the baby, helps you lose your baby weight and cheaper than formula.

**ThriftoRama** · 04-06-2010, 06:09 PM

I just had two in a row and was terrified about what they would cost. Turned out, it wasn't that much. The most expensive thing was the $200 a month contribution to the college fund.

For the first, breastfed, I spent about $60 a month for the breast pump rental, $30-40 on disposable diapers (we used Happy Heinys one size washables most of the time. They cost up front but save a TON in the long run, and are easy to use and wash.), about $20-$30 a month on baby foods when the time came, and a few extra bucks on used clothes, toys and equipment.

The second baby was formula, so we spend about as much on formula every month as we did on the breast pump rental, ironically. I'd say about $20 a week. Diapers at about $30-$40 a month (also using mostly washables). Clothes maybe $30 a month, just to fill in between his brother's hand me downs and the gaps between sizes and seasons (one was a winter baby, one a spring, so seasons and sizes don't always line up.)

Just for the record, breastfeeding isn't necessarily cheap, especially if you want to have a life. If you want to sleep or go to the store for an hour you'd need to have some milk at home for whoever is with baby, which means you need a breast pump. A good one-- and trust me, you want a good one--costs a lot, but the best is the one you rent from the hospital. It does the job better and in half the time. for about $60-$75 a month. You'll also need milk storing supplies.

**MonkeyMama** · 04-07-2010, 08:09 AM

Originally posted by ThriftoRama View Post

Just for the record, breastfeeding isn't necessarily cheap, especially if you want to have a life. If you want to sleep or go to the store for an hour you'd need to have some milk at home for whoever is with baby, which means you need a breast pump. A good one-- and trust me, you want a good one--costs a lot, but the best is the one you rent from the hospital. It does the job better and in half the time. for about $60-$75 a month. You'll also need milk storing supplies.

Agreed. I bought a good pump for $200 since I worked full-time and breastfed. You don't realize until breastfeed that you can not do ANYTHING without a breast pump - I am so glad I had one. If I did it all over again and stayed home, I'd still buy one. If you ever want a few hours break, you need to be able to pump. HEck, if you need a 2-hour break.

Maybe if you use formula full time you can buy it in bulk or something, but it seemed like the occassional can of formula was insane expensive. Plus, you could argue that a breadtfeeding mom will eat a ton. I don't think "breastfeeding is cheap" really tells the whole story.

If you need a new crib, new strollers, new swing, new exersaucer, new new new everything, and you don't think about the practicality of items, having a baby can be VERY expensive. We tended to buy everything used, and sell them eventually for the price we paid. Baby items can be expensive used, but are generally lightly used, and hold their value. So, in a sense we did not spend money on any of these things (once we sold them for the same price paid - and you cycle through different things as babies age). We didn't buy a changing table, diaper warmers, diaper genie, and a ton of things we didn't see the point of. Strollers were really nice to buy used, because we could try out different ones before settling on what worked for us.

Clothes - I used to hit the thrift shops more but Target always has really cheap clothes these days. People will always give you free hand-me-downs. I had plenty for my eldest, but now my younger child swims in hand-me-downs from older brother and his friends, etc. I donate more clothes than I buy, it feels like - and I have turned down a lot of offers for clothes.

Besides medical co-pays and deductible, more importantly, what will the baby's health insurance cost? Most expensive items I found having babies. 1 - Health Insurance, 2 - Diapers, 3 - Formula/feeding extra mouths (as a breastfeeding mom). As the kids age, these kind of turn into preschool costs, than extra-cirricular costs. Saving for college, etc.

**ThriftoRama** · 04-07-2010, 10:44 AM

Amen MonkeyMama!~

That reminds me, as far as equipment. We bought everything used except a crib and mattress. We bought a $130 Hensvik crib from Ikea-- one for both babies. Love them. They turn into toddler beds too. We bought sealy mattresses on Amazon for about $60 each.

We bought a swing, a changing pad-- no need for a separate table. the pad sits on a dresser that was already in the room-- A walker, a bouncer, jogging stroller, etc. at once upon a child and other misc baby second-hand stores. Never paid more than $30 for any of it, and that was for the jogging stroller. Second hand is cheap and works well. Craigslist has helped us find good used tricycles, strollers, etc. Just start shopping early so you have time to find the deal, and ask your parent friends what they couldn't live without.

I'd recommend a swing, a play mat, and a stroller. That's really all you need. And, when they get to be about 5 months, a walker. SKip the exersaucer. It's the same thing as a walker but the kids can't use it as long because it doesn't move. The walker is the one thing me and all of my friends really agree on-- it's great for baby and for you. Free hands to load the dishwasher!

Oh, and we use the Target brand formula. Half the cost of name brand, is made by a reputable company (I checked) and doctor says it's just as good.

**PrincessPerky** · 04-07-2010, 11:14 AM

I recommend a blanket, you prolly already have one perfect spot to put kid on when not in your arms.

And diapers, cloth or disposable you will prolly pay the same, unless you have more than one kid, then you can save on the second by reusing the firsts diapers.

Cost for that depends on brand, it will be much more expensive in the first few months, but by the end you wont have to change so many.

Other than the carseat the rest of the baby gear is for moms, babies don't generally need it.

**guppy** · 04-07-2010, 11:20 AM

Thanks for all the advice! It really made me feel a lot better that there weren't any glaring items that I had completely forgotten about. I've been really worried since I don't have any close friends that are pregnant/with babies and up now pretty much <i>I</i> was the baby in the family! I keep getting paranoid that there's things that I don't know about since I haven't spent too much time with children. You've all made me breathe a little easier - Thank you!

**SCsailor** · 04-07-2010, 12:10 PM

I was terrified it was going to cost us a fortune when we had our first 1.5 years ago. It turns out that it wasn't too bad at all. We used to go out for dinner several times per week. Once we had a baby we were lucky if we were able to go out for lunch on saturday. I think the costs of the baby expenses equalled what we had been spending on eating out. So, I didn't notice a big change with the addition.

The diapers and formula are the big ticket items.

**markusk** · 04-07-2010, 01:08 PM

Congrats! We are expecting our second in a few weeks ourselves. I agree with the others that formula and diapers are the most expensive recurring costs (excluing college fund). If you are going to go with disposible dipers, check out amazondotcom. The price is reasonable and the delivery is fast and free. Just bought a box of pampers last week.

**jIM_Ohio** · 04-07-2010, 01:31 PM

Originally posted by guppy View Post

In 6 very long months I will be welcoming a little baby into the world. My husband and I have made great strides with our finances in the last 2 years but I think I may have been too eager for baby and we probably got started a year or two ahead of when it would've been ideal based on our finances. Oh well, no turning back now! Just need to budget Budget BUDGET!

Right now I'm trying to figure out what our finances are going to look like once the baby is here so I can budget accordingly and make sure we have enough money set aside when I take my 6 months off from work. My question is sort of vague, and I apologize for that, but how much can i anticipate spending on a baby each month? (Not factoring in daycare - My mom will be available for that once I go back to work

)

I understand there's diapers, formula, clothes, etc. Luckily my MIL is friendly with a woman whose 3 children have outgrown many of their swings/carriers/toys/clothes/etc. and she is simply giving it all to my MIL to give to me (SO happy about that one!) I will also be having a baby shower and I've heard through the grapevine I'll be getting a carseat and some of the bigger items there. Between my MIL and the shower I'm hoping to have a lot of the bigger money items taken care of, but I am unsure what monthly allowances I should consider otherwise to factor into my budget?

We have twin boys
both were formula babies

Formula is cheaper on ebay than in the stores, 33%-50% type savings
One of my kids was discharged on elemental formula... meaning it was $50/can in stores and on some ebay auctions I "won" it for $18/can and I generally stopped bidding at $25/can ($20 was the normal price).

Other formula for other kid was about $15/can in stores and $10/can on ebay.

If you want to really save money, have the grandmother breast feed the baby, then once they are off forumla, you can buy cheap milk past the expiration date.

Tongue in cheek to see if you were paying attention... LOL

We spent about $200/mo on formula, and another $200/mo on diapers and wipes.
When they moved to gerber foods the formula usage went down enough (to point where they were on milk) that the formula cost shifted to baby food.

Now both kids eat table food, that $200 shifted to clothes and frozen meals (they like fish sticks for some reason).

As for clothes, the first 2 years are the toughest. When you do your baby shower, make sure you register for 3 mo, 6mo, 9mo and 12 mo clothes (when you zap the onesies for 3mo, make sure to also grab the older clothing too- its possibly you only use the 3 mo old clothing for 1-2 months).

In the winter, we always asked for clothing bigger than the kids would wear, then layer them up- meaning my kids were 9 mos old at xmas that first year, and most of clothes we asked for were 12 mos or 18 mo because we would put them in a onesie and sleeper or onesie and outfit, so the outer layer could be bigger.

We received a gift from a friend of a friend which gave us clothing for 12mos- 3T or 4T which we are still using. You can buy similar items on ebay for pennies on the dollar too (70 outfits for $15 for example).

My kids are preemies, just turned 2, and one of them barely fits into 24 mo clothing now (meaning he is in 3T) and his "smaller" brother has some 24 mo outfits which do not fit easily over his head. We can never have enough onesies, as they do 2 functions- they prevent kid from getting diaper off on their own, and its also a good way to strip them down just before bed and let them move around. You go thru them fast if baby wets thru them, so make sure you have a high supply of them. Kids grow fast in first 2 years and slow down after (I expect my kids to be in 3T from now thru end of summer) and getting 6 months from clothing would be a first for them.

In addition, certain items come with a price.

Car seats- I used the logic to my wife that we wanted to cycle thru only 2 car seats.
So the first one we purchased (Graco) were pumpkin seats which lasted thru 12 mos, then the front facing ones they have now should last until they are in a booster. This is a high cost item. I suggest getting 1 pumpkin seat per kid, then buying a second base for second car if you need one. If grandparents will drive them, have them buy themselves a third base.

Pack and Play- we have one, bought a second, and within 2 weeks of buying second my kid crawled over top of it at 12 mos old. Yet at daycare they don't climb out of it there... helpful but not required.

Basonettes- you might use them for 3 mos or so, we could not wait to get kids out of bedroom, so ours were wasted money.

Stroller-
the first stroller we used fit both pumpkin seats. We then switched strollers once we realized they come much smaller and more compact for kids which can sit up.

We went thru about 4 baby gates before we gave up (we just chase the kids when they go to wrong places). Stairs for my two are not an issue, they can fly up and down the steps without issue, and have been doing so for about 12-18 months. Some gates work better on stairs than others. I suggest waiting to see kids personalities before spending money on these- for example it was worth my time to spend 2 days teaching my kids how to go up and down stairs without falling, but once I taught them that, the need for the gates went away (of course now the problem is they will jump off steps if they choose to- no idea why...) But when they fall they get up and try again, so its not like its dangerous or anything... my kids both do their own stunts.

Kids are MUCH smarter than adults will ever give them credit for...

we went thru about 10-20 different sippy cups. I suggest waiting until kids are old enough to try them before deciding on one brand or another. It was so bad for us that our kids were still on bottles at 2 yo (24 mos) and we just now have them using sippy cups over last 2-3 weeks (we finally found ones they will use).

**Mjenn** · 04-07-2010, 02:14 PM

If you are going to BF and stay at home for 6 months you don't really need a fancy schmancy pump - this is best if you work, but otherwise a cheap hand pump will do, as you don't need to use it very much IMHO - even if you are shy you can get enough to head out to the mall or coffee or something with no problems.... it was a real money saver.

2) nothing wrong with buying things used - most clothes I buy used in bulk - they grow out of them in a month or 2 so used aren't very worn and look great - got most off of ebay.

Our only really expensive item was our stroller - since I am out all the time with my dog, I wanted a great stroller for trails and everything...

Car seat we borrowed from a friend who is between kids. I know this is a 'no no' but since it was a friend I knew the entire time she used the car seat, I knew it hadn't been in an accident!

**tifnglen** · 04-07-2010, 03:05 PM

If you want to really save money, have the grandmother breast feed the baby, then once they are off forumla, you can buy cheap milk past the expiration date.

OK, What?

**cptacek** · 04-07-2010, 03:08 PM

Originally posted by jIM_Ohio View Post

If you want to really save money, have the grandmother breast feed the baby, then once they are off forumla, you can buy cheap milk past the expiration date.

Tongue in cheek to see if you were paying attention... LOL

he was kidding

**jIM_Ohio** · 04-07-2010, 03:32 PM

Originally posted by tifnglen View Post

If you want to really save money, have the grandmother breast feed the baby, then once they are off forumla, you can buy cheap milk past the expiration date.

OK, What?

If you want to really save money, have the grandmother breast feed the baby, then once they are off forumla, you can buy cheap milk past the expiration date.

Tongue in cheek to see if you were paying attention... LOL

you missed the second sentence which followed

Cost of baby items