2nd+ time moms: How much do babies cost....

Babycakes29 · October 2011

Obviously, this will vary by family but I just want your ballpark estimates of how much a baby costs on a monthly basis? I actually think I'm probably going to have to go back to work after the baby comes which is not really what I wanted but I just don't think we can afford me staying home. Stupid frickin housing market!!!

Babymamawithdrama · October 2011

It varies of course.. daycare for our infant classroom was $1,035 per month for 5 days /wk (but varies greatly by area) , breastfeed /formula also factors for monthly cost, it is way cheaper to bf, formula when we started format it was about $20 per week and half, diapers and wipes are pretty standard, money could be saved with buying in bulk or getting the target brand vs pampers/huggies.... I would estimate we probably went through about 10 diapers a day initially.. we didn't pay much for clothes, were blessed between our shower and hand me downs, doctor co-pays were frequent, and although not much, were an added strain to finances.... our water bill also went up a bit from all the extra laundry, but not much. Other nominal expenses are medicine, diaper cream etc, but nothing bank breaking, of course everyone's budget is different

kmhunt11 · October 2011

Outside of daycare, not a whole lot at first. Daycare will vary widely by where you live. DD didn't go til 15 months, and it was $125 a week. Diapers, wipes and pediatrician copays are really your only definite expenses at first if you BF. If money is tight, you can scale things back. People spend big money on lots of things that are cool and nice, but not necessary: photo studios, etc. DD didn't get expensive until she was a year and a half and started needing clothes we hadn't already been given, the pediatrician once a month for ear infections, tubes for her ears, and more activities out of the house. I would like to say that my child was healthy and therefore not expensive. A good friend went into the hospital at 30 weeks, delivered at 32 weeks and brought her DD home 2 weeks later. She's terribly responsible, and was able to write a check for the $17,000 they owed after a government forgiveness of $80,000 in medical bills. If I had been in that situation, I wouldn't have been able to do the same thing. Not trying to scare anyone, but it happens. We're being super responsible right now in the off chance we have an expensive complication.

niknak7 · October 2011

For me, DD has been very cheap, I would say most months around $100. DH stays home with her (and also works 40 hours a week from home) so I don't have to pay daycare. In the beginning I didn't have to buy many clothes because of my shower but if you really want to stay home and needed to save money, enough clothes could be bought for probably less than $50 a month, even cheaper if you do second hand stuff. All I needed was sleepers with feet and a couple outfits in each size as DD rarely leaves the house. I use name brand diapers and I would say I have spent anywhere from $25-45 a month depending on size and number of BM's in a day. Wipes I buy from Costco in bulk and spend maybe $15 a month. And DD has been BF or frozen BM fed until probably next week so I have never bought formula, did this for cost savings. I pumped extra BM every day and froze it for the first 8 months and she has been getting frozen milk. DD has gone to all her well visits and 1 extra appointment (total of 6 appts in just under a year), so there are $20 copays there and $10 copay for her shots. And she was on medication for awhile at $15 a month. But even still, with BFing and no daycare cost, it hasn't been nearly as expensive as I would have expected.

kel716 · October 2011

Daycare- 2 days/week, preschool room (much cheaper than infant): $408

Diapers- $32/month (Pampers via Amazon)

Wipes- $12, if not less

Food- $50ish

Tumbling- $65

Fun- $25

Clothing- ~$250/year, so ~$20/month

Books, toys, etc- ???

So ~$610+/month?

We also buy a few memberships each year- aquarium or zoo, museum, amusement park, which adds to the cost. We were fortunate that my MIL was willing to watch him a few days/week and refuses to charge us. That said, we do buy her dinner a few times/month. You can really control what you spend- Our biggest cost is daycare, and if you BF (or pump) and cloth diaper, you could save a lot of money those first few years.

Mrs_MBed · October 2011

With DD1 the monthly recurrences we had to pay for were really just daycare, bottle liners, diapers and wipes. I bf'ed and pumped at work, which saved us from buying formula. The liners (Playtext drop-ins) weren't too expensive and we got our diapers and wipes at Costco which saved us money. I don't remember how much daycare was and it was automatically taken out of my paycheck since she was in the program at my job. I would guess about $700-800 a month for that, with a majority of that being the daycare.

DD2 was a lot cheaper than DD1, since I was SAH, so we only had to buy the diapers and wipes, which we bought (and still do) at Costco. That was about $200 a month as we had two in diapers, but now its down to about $100

We were lucky in that we got a lot of stuff before they were born (clothes in varying sizes, toys, etc) so we really didn't *need* buy things on a monthly basis. That being said, I might have to stay home after the twins are born just b/c two infants in daycare might be more than my paycheck, depending on where we are living.

bootsnbananas · October 2011

Without counting furniture or things that are not recurring costs

Breastfeeding = $0 for first 5 months (not counting the pump my insurance covered and freezer bags I got as a shower gift)

Formula = $100 month+ (not sure what it would have been earlier as she would have been eating less but more often)

Diapers = $30 month (I buy them by the case on Amazon mom using subscribe and save for the extra discounts, I could cut this by buying generic diapers but unless I cannot possibly afford them i will buy the diapers I want)

Wipes = $12/case (also amazon - lasts about 6 weeks but I use them for everything - wiping down highchair, exersaucer etc)

I have not had to buy many clothes at all (and won't since we have another baby girl coming)

Um I also use triple paste for butt cream which is $30 for a tub but we are still on the 2nd tub

I can't think of other things right now, I am exhausted LOL

bootsnbananas · October 2011

Oh Julia is still coming to work with me (12-15 hours/week) but I need to make a decision soon and may work more and put her in daycare until closer to my due date (I will be staying home after this one, cannot afford to put both in daycare)

So daycare would run $500-$1000 month depending on the hours I send her.

Babycakes29 · October 2011

See it seems like daycare is the real kicker. It's pretty expensive so unless I'm making good money, working full time really won't bring in that much extra when you factor in paying for daycare. Fortunately, my mom can likely watch the baby 3 times a week. UGH! tick tock tick tock! I need to get this figured out pronto!

Thanks for the helpful info ladies!

I definitely have no problem couponing and taking hand me downs which should be easy since I'm one of the last of friends and fam to have a baby. I'm also absolutely planning to bf so I'll be able to save money there for sure.

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