How much did you spend the first few months?

mmille19 · November 2013

How much does your baby really cost you during the first few month? DH and I are going to start trying the first of the year and we have tried to save up as much as we can but im still wondering how much money did you really spend on your baby during the first few months? I made sure to sign up for the best health insurance so pretty much all hospital bills will be covered. I plan to stay at home with the LO hopefully during the first year but at least the first 6 months. We plan to use cloth diapers. We have a lot of nieces and nephews and will get a lot of hand me downs and I know we will be gifted a lot (stroller, clothes, swings). DH and I are very simple people. We don’t need a lot and honestly I don’t want a lot of junk filling my house. We don’t spend frivolously and im not one to spend more than is necessary on a wardrobe for a baby that will grow out of everything in a few months. We are very smart with our money and what we spend it on but of course im always worried that it wont be enough.

BlondieBia21 · November 2013

A lot. You may plan to not spend that much, but things come up and you have to spend. We have great health insurance and still paid around $2,000. Then there are gifts that you "think" you'll receive, and you don't. For us that was a swing, $145. Lo is 3 months old, we had a diaper party before she was here and received over 6,000 diapers, we are down to about 3,000ish now. Your milk could maybe not come in and formula will be an expense. It took us about $175 of formula wasted until we found one that works, which happens to be one of the most expensive because it's hypoallergenic. We spend about $60 a week On formula. You'll be gifted a lot of clothes, but you'll find you still need some based on weather. Probably have spent about $180 on clothes. The first few weeks you'll be desperate to find the best blanket to swaddle in so you'll go spend ungodly amounts on swaddle blankets, probably about $150. You may find that where you thought baby would sleep, doesn't work so you'll need some new contraption- rnp was about $45 I think and has worked like a champ for us. Medicines for lo (gas drops, get the gas drops) are about $8.99 and we are on bottle 3. Bottles- I've found that dr brown bottles work the best for us, but they are somewhat expensive- 3pk for $16.99. Then there's wipes and diaper rash creams, those add up too.

Basically, there's not a way to give a total amount that you'll spend. I really don't spend any money on me anymore, I enjoy being able to get the things she needs instead of spending stuff on me. Budget your and H'd expenses, save some for savings, and you'll be ok!

ASmallWonder · November 2013

It's SO variable. We formula feed (Target brand) and go through a $20 tub about once a week. We also use Up & Up diapers and I couldn't really tell you how many we go through but you'll go through a couple big boxes a month probably. For us it's probably $50 at most. You'll WANT to buy stuff so don't discount that

It's mostly unexpected things that add up. Copays for sick visits, the infant Tylenol you forgot to have on hand, different bottles because your kid refuses the ones you chose. A hundred kind of binkies

It doesn't have to cost a lot but it certainly can.

BelhurstBride · November 2013

As a FTM? A ton. DD1 was a pretty miserable baby and I was easily sucked in to just about every gimmick out there to try to make her happy.

This time around? Next to nothing. I'm aware that a miserable baby is a miserable baby and no magic sleep suit, RnP, or glowing seahorse will make them happy. I had to buy diapers... that was pretty much it. Once the weather started to turn I had to run out and buy warmer clothes. (DD1 was born in the Spring, so her 0-3 wardrobe is summer stuff.) I spent about $150 and that included a Patagonia fleece bunter to act as her jacket.

In hindsight had I kept the impulse buying under control I could have easily stuck to a very small budget for DD1. All she really needed to be content was the Moby wrap and I had that.

Basically, for most babies, you can spend as much or as little as you want to. There are tons of baby contraptions out on the market and you certainly don't need them all. Babies need a place to sleep, something to eat, something to wear and a carseat. At least half of the stuff we had from DD1 is still sitting in the attic. -Which reminds me, borrow or buy used as much as you can. Most baby stuff has such a short lifespan. There's no reason to run out and buy a brand new swing/jumperoo/playmat/ect.

Zulixx · November 2013

My little girl is two weeks old and at our baby shower we didn't get any diapers what so ever. I planned to cloth diaper but buying the newborn CDs seemed a waste of money. My little girl was only 5 lbs at birth so the one size cloth diapers are bigger then her. We got all our big stuff and clothes from our baby shower. We are EBF so no formula here. We have easily spent 400 dollars on getting little things we didn't get/get enough of. Not to mention post partum care items and groceries. That's on top of our normal bills and living expenses. And we spent 50 dollars on thank you gifts for two nurses that went above and beyond at the hospital.

kcs7 · November 2013

*just a thought...don't know of it was mentioned. ..but we never turned up the heatmuch. With lo here we keep the house much warmer (from 63 to now set at 69) but our electric n gas bill is quite a bit higher. Water slightly higher too.
Gas for car is lower though since while on ml only one of us drives much yet.

thedash · November 2013

We got tons of hand me down clothes but not all of them were the correct season. Also people tend to pass on nice or cute items instead of the basics you will need for everyday. My kid wears a plain white onesie and pajamas just about every day. We hardly received any so I spent about $200 on those plus socks, and some tights to wear with dresses we received. I've had to buy several boxes of disposable breast pads but you could buy reusable ones and wash them. We have probably spent nearly $100 on over the counter medicine like Tylenol, gripe water, and probiotics that our pedi recommended for her and Miralax and vitamins for me. We only have a $20 copay at the doctor but have gone about a million times since she was born.

Other costs that may surprise you are bottles if you have to try a few, takeout because you may not feel like cooking at first, and nursing friendly clothes if you BF. I have easily spent $300 on nursing bras, tanks, and shirts.

If I had to save a "baby budget" to last six months (but not including disposable diapers) I'd be comfortable with at least $3,000 but you could certainly do it for less.

TheLittleRedM · November 2013

DH is in the military so we didn't/don't pay anything out of pocket for hospital visits. I am also able to EBF which means that we aren't paying for formula and I also don't have a freezer stash because LO doesn't get a bottle often so we're also not buying milk storage bags. I got a ton of clothes in all sizes from various people at my church so we also haven't had to buy clothes yet unless it was for a special occasion.

So far, all we've paid for is diapers (roughly one 150+ pack every 3-4 weeks), a kick and play mat, a couple baby towels, and that's really it so far. Everything else that we've needed was given to us at my baby showers. I'm sure in a couple months our expenses are going to increase but right now we really aren't spending much.

Carnation77 · November 2013

$1000? I CD and BF - we just started supplementing one bottle a day of formula at 2 months. I bought a ton before DS got here but not much after. Everything since he's been here has been to try to make him sleep and not cry! Gas drops, probiotics, various formulas which he was allergic to, a RnP, white noise machine, moby wrap, ergo carrier, another playmat, another seat with hanging toys. But everything we've bought has actually worked so I don't care! I'm developing a bit of a CD obsession so that's a bit pricey too... I did need to get a bunch of extra pumping stuff. And like some other posts, all the clothes people bought us were for the summer so I had to buy a bunch of basic warm clothes.

slh6363 · November 2013

My best advic is to start buying things little by little. We also CD and I know people will tell you to wait to see what works for your baby, but I am glad we did not! I like to have things ready and spreading out the cost really helps? Also CDing and BFing can save a ton of money (if you dont go overboard with the CDs)!
As a FTM there were a lot of bigger items we did not get at our shower....swing, pack n play, carseat....it all adds up!

Llm3054 · November 2013

I agree with pp and start buying things little by little. I breastfeed and we recorded everything we needed from baby showers. So unless I had I buy formula I haven't spent anything on our new baby who is 4 weeks old. However, we have fantastic insurance and we will end up paying about 3000 out of pocket due to complications during labor for me and baby was in the nicu for 3 days. I would not assume you won't have any hospital bills because anything could happen.

Naena · November 2013

About $1,000 prior to baby being born to finish off registry, $3,500 for hospital for me and baby, and $200 the first two months. I haven't had to buy much since my daughter was born. I had plenty of diaper and wipes from my shower. I have bought some formula since not able to produce enough milk to EBF. I bought one pair of NB PJs, 2 pairs of pants and a sleep sack, and some I items for my breast pump. Good luck!

laciegregory · November 2013

With our first we bought everything in the baby aisle from the bottle warmer to the swing that plays your ipod. I suggest sticking to the needful things. They are only that tiny for such a small amount of time.

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