Baby Budget?

Lindsaybhanks · February 2015

I would love advice from anyone who has done this before! This is my first baby, and I'm so excited. Which makes it harder for me not to go crazy! I want to buy everything! Lol I splurged a little on a diaper bag, on a going home outfit, and on bedding. (I'll post pics of these because they're so cute!)

I've got to start being better though, so I'm wondering how much should I expect to spend on all of this? Is there anything that is suggested, but that you really don't need? I'm realizing now that spending whatever on anything I want for the baby might get us into trouble quickly! It adds up so fast!

(And no, I don't already have the crib set up, it's a program where I plug in colors and know what everything will look like).

lras0317 · February 2015

Are you have a shower? If so, wait to splurge! You will be surprised at what you get! Then fill in the missing items after. If no shower, figure out how much u have to spend and then make a list of needs/wants. Once all your needs are bought, use the rest of the money for the wants! Happy shopping!

Lindsaybhanks · February 2015

Yes we will have at least one shower! So hard to wait that long, but I guess if I buy everything then no one else can buy for me! Haha

Miz_Liz · February 2015

Cute items; however bumpers are not safe for infants. They can get stuck up against them and suffocate. I would get a mesh breathable bumper or none at all.

Lindsaybhanks · February 2015

Thanks for letting me know. Do you think a rail cover for the top would be ok?

Miz_Liz · February 2015

Lindsaybhanks said:
Thanks for letting me know. Do you think a rail cover for the top would be ok?

Yes, they can't get to them until they are old enough to pull themselves up anyway, so you should be good!

Lindsaybhanks · February 2015

Ok I'll probably switch the design to that then.

malamaza · February 2015

That's really cute! Its so easy to go a little crazy with shopping cause everything is just so darn cute! I warned my husband that we might go bankrupt if this baby is a girl :-) One piece of advice I can give is to not buy too many things in advance because you will probably get a lot of gifts from friends and family or if you get a shower... Also, when shopping don't purchase too many newborn clothes because they grow so fast in the beginning and for example my son was so big he automatically went to size 3 mo. Its easy to splurge on really cute outfits but remember that it will be most important for your baby to be comfortable so buy clothes they will need and wear the most and have just like a couple of dress up outfits for when going out, to church, etc. In the end the most expensive for me ended up being diapers and formula when I couldnt BF like I planned.

PixelPosy · February 2015

Skip the Pack n Plays with all the bells and whistles. They hit the weight limit on all those extras so fast, they'll just gather dust in the basement.

Not every baby loves a swing. Our Mamaroo that I just had to have, was barely used. Hopefully this baby will like it!

You'll probably be gifted more baby blankets than you know what to do with. You can never have too many burp cloths though!

Wait on a breast pump until you're sure breast feeding is going to work out and you actually need it. If you have complications and need to pump right away after birth, the hospital grade pump you can rent is the way to go until supply is established.

That's all I can think of. I splurged on our first too, but I also stopped spending on myself as much, so it kind of evened out. At least that's what I told myself.

Really you can find all the major stuff at various price points. Get what you want and can afford after covering the major needs. And Amazon Prime and Diapers.com's fast shipping will be your friend at 3 AM when nothing else seems to work, but maybe XYZ product will!

mrsb30 · February 2015

PixelPosy said:
Skip the Pack n Plays with all the bells and whistles. They hit the weight limit on all those extras so fast, they'll just gather dust in the basement.

Not every baby loves a swing. Our Mamaroo that I just had to have, was barely used. Hopefully this baby will like it!

You'll probably be gifted more baby blankets than you know what to do with. You can never have too many burp cloths though!

Wait on a breast pump until you're sure breast feeding is going to work out and you actually need it. If you have complications and need to pump right away after birth, the hospital grade pump you can rent is the way to go until supply is established.

That's all I can think of. I splurged on our first too, but I also stopped spending on myself as much, so it kind of evened out. At least that's what I told myself. Really you can find all the major stuff at various price points. Get what you want and can afford after covering the major needs. And Amazon Prime and Diapers.com's fast shipping will be your friend at 3 AM when nothing else seems to work, but maybe XYZ product will!

I agree with all of this unless your insurance covers a pump. Then go ahead and get it. My insurance is fully covering a medela pump and I already ordered it

Lindsaybhanks · February 2015

My insurance does cover a pump! So that's awesome, and my sis in law is giving us her mama roo. Also awesome!

Starynightsky24 · February 2015

You can really spend whatever you want to. You can buy used and save money that way... Or buy new if you want cute or think it'll get used with a future pregnancy.

With DS I bought most of the big stuff myself, knowing that my family would not help much. I bought new bc I was a FTM and didn't realize that some of that stuff literally gets used for a month or two. If I could go back I would have bought the swing, the bouncer, the rock and play, and all of that kind of stuff used. This time I plan to spend most of my money on the nursery. At least I will know that that will get seen and used for a couple of years LOL.

I'd say to look at the stuff you know you will need and focus on that. Let everyone else get you the other things.

Car seats, strollers, cribs, gates for stairs.... All good places to start.

And, as PP said, DS was in 12mo clothes at 4mo old. So don't buy a ton of clothes in one size

xcitdmomma · February 2015

I view the nursery as a short-term thing, so ours will be very basic. We don't know the sex and won't be, so I've really had no desire to purchase anything yet. I'd tend to go easy on the purchasing until you have a shower.

Starynightsky24 · February 2015

xcitdmomma said:
I view the nursery as a short-term thing, so ours will be very basic. We don't know the sex and won't be, so I've really had no desire to purchase anything yet. I'd tend to go easy on the purchasing until you have a shower.

I guess it just depends on how you do it. I don't make ours very baby themed. I don't want to redo a room till my child has strong interests (5ish years old). Of course, you will have to replace the crib and such before that... But if I decorate a room it's going to last a good 4 years. And that is far longer than any other baby item

Edit to say- for team green it makes sense to wait. Obviously I'm too impatient for that lol.

buckleyk · February 2015

Love that outfit!! I might need one too!

But you may not be able to put baby in the car seat in it unless you pull it up around his waist so you can put the buckle through his legs. I made that mistake with my first. Got the cutest outfit from RH Baby and didn't work out

Lindsaybhanks · February 2015

I'll bring an extra just in case! Haha

jenandbrett · February 2015

With my dd I let myself shop like crazy (I'm a bargain shopper so it was all clearance) but only on clothes 9 months and up. You will get tons of baby clothes but not the bigger sizes and time goes so fast. And it is so much fun buying clothes imagining the baby waddling around in them. So I've kept doing that and buying ahead and when she gets to a size, I have just about a full wardrobe ready for her. It's worked out perfectly.

Baby Budget?

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