Budgeting for Baby

kadeephd · August 2018

It seemed like there might be enough interest in this for a separate thread so here goes.

If you are a STM+, how much did you budget and spend for pre-baby expenses? What about baby's first year? Did anything come up that you weren't expecting? Any spending regrets or things you'll do differently this time?

If you are a FTM, what are you thinking costs will look like? Where are you saving and splurging?

katy0990 · August 2018

In my experience, the big expenses occurred before DS was born on all of the gear. Everything we bought and registered for was gender-neutral, so it will all be reused for this baby and any other children we have. We also did a gender-neutral nursery, so all of the paint, carpet, and closet expenses added up last time, but we shouldn’t need to do them again, so that’s a nice perk. Our big splurge was on the Baby Jogger City Select Stroller. It was $400 and we got the 2nd seat free, so while it was expensive for baby #1, do do not need to buy another stroller this time. Plus, I love it!
The biggest expense after birth was all of the medical (our OOP max was $3500 and we met that plus $400 for his circumcision). All of the well checks and lactation appointments were covered 100% by insurance, but we probably had 4-5 appointments for random things that required copays. We did have to switch from a employee plus spouse to employee plus family health plan, which cost us about $100 extra per month.
The next largest expense could be childcare depending on your situation and area.
Photos were a pretty large expense for us. We bought the newborn photos from the hospital for $150. I found a photographer on Facebook and I paid her $80 per session to take his photos at three months, six months, nine months, and twelve months.
Thankfuly, I was able to breastfeed, so we saved a lot of money there. I think I bought maybe 5-6 packs of breastmilk storage bags (Target brand by far was the most economical and reliable). I also bought a hands free pumping bra. I made his purees once he started on those just using my blender, a regular pot, and some $2 ice cube trays, so that probably cost us about $10-$20/month from 4 months until 10 months. After that, he basically ate what we ate, so the expense was minimal.
If you are open to shopping Mom consignment sales, you can save a ton also. I go to one in the spring and one in the fall and spend about $100 at each one.(Obviously, photos are more important to me than clothes

)
Other than that, we spent $20-$30/month on diapers and $10 every 2-3 months on wipes.
Obviously, there were times that we had to pick up infant Tylenol, teething rings, and other random items, but for the most part other than those expenses I listed, we really did not spend that much during the first year. It could be different in different areas, but for me it was significantly cheaper to buy diapers, wipes, and many other random items on Amazon as part of their subscribe and save program. I would also recommend saving up any gift cards you get it as gifts to use for random purchases that have been at the last minute, like when all of the pacifiers disappear

ETA: After DS was born, we did go ahead and significantly increase our life insurance for both of us. This costs us an additional $140 per month. It’s not exactly baby related, but just something I thought I would throw out there.

kadeephd · August 2018

I'm a FTM and am trying to keep costs in check, both pre-baby and baby's first year.

Pre-baby:

I think I've done a good job of saving on baby items since I've gotten a lot for free. We live in a major city (DC) and people give a shocking amount of baby gear away or sell it very cheaply. So far I've spent less than $100 and we have a place for baby to sleep for a while (bassinet + stand), a stroller and adapter for a car seat, a bunch of clothes (enough for 6 months I'd say), a travel crib, and two carriers -- structured and wrap, plus some other random stuff. The in-laws will be buying our car seat for us and that's the last major thing we need. I will probably be having an informal shower where I ask for a few things like some cloth diapers, then spend about $100 on Amazon on random stuff we don't have like nipple cream, and we'll be all set. The medical costs are much more, which can't really be helped. With my insurance, it is looking like all the prenatal and birth will cost us about $1800. Luckily I have money in my HSA to cover this. I have also spent about $200 on maternity items, which I'll hopefully be able to reuse for a future pregnancy. I'm pretty comfortable with our pre-baby costs so far and think I have a pretty good handle on what else we need to spend on.

Post-baby:

This is where I am not sure. I'm trying to project out what we'll spend during the first year. Here is the breakdown I have for year 1 right now:

$3,000 - health insurance for baby -- My husband is on the cheapest (and worst) plan offered by his employer, so upgrading him to the best plan and adding the baby is going to cost an additional $3,000 per year (though that is pre-tax, I think?).
$1250 - childcare - for the most part I will be taking care of the baby during the day and my husband will be home in the evening when I will go to class sometimes. I will probably have to take some daytime classes though, and then I'll need to find someone to watch the baby. I'm hoping to set up an exchange with another local parent to save here, but I may not find anyone. Otherwise I'll probably bring the baby to school with me and pay a college kid or grad student to watch him/her while I'm in class. I really don't know what this will cost since I don't have a good estimate on the hours I'll need it.
$900 - life insurance for my husband and me -- ugh, was thinking it would be $600 but my husband got a high quote. This is not technically a baby expense, but we wouldn't be getting it if we weren't having a baby so it's an extra cost I am counting.
$500 - food -- I'm hoping to breastfeed so food costs will be minimal. We are trying to eat more organic produce since I'm totally paranoid about the neurotoxicity of pesticides, so I'm budgeting for slightly increased food costs. We'll likely be eating out less so it might actually cost us less overall for food.
$150 - mini crib + mattress -- we'll need to move the baby out of the bassinet and will probably buy a used mini crib and new mattress. I'll make sheets from old sheets we already have.
$500 - medical expenses -- the insurance should be pretty good and cover most things, I'm just being conservative just in case.
$100 - diapers -- we are planning on cloth diapering for the most part and hoping to get a set at our shower, but will likely use disposables when traveling or when we're feeling lazy.
$1000 - college fund savings
$500 - other -- I'm sure other stuff is going to come up! I'll probably need to buy some bigger clothes and will get them second hand. Teething rings, pacifiers, soap, who knows what else.

This totals to nearly $8k. We'll hopefully be saving 2k on our taxes per year due to the child tax credit, and since this baby will be born in December I'm counting the first two years as year 1 savings. That brings it down to about 4k. Am I missing anything major here? When I used this calculator on Nerdwallet and selected no childcare and "keep it simple" for everything, it gave me an estimate of $19k for the baby's first year. I have no idea where it's coming up with that number. I'm thinking they might include increased housing costs here, and if we decided to move to a bigger apartment we'd likely be paying about 5k more per year for that. We'll just stay in our one bedroom for the first year though.

OK, apologies for this super long post. I enjoy doing this kind of thing and sometimes get carried away! I also think it's useful to think about this stuff now so we are prepared.

kristah2 · August 2018

AH budgets. Here are my notes (keep in mind I live in Canada so my medical experiences are basically nothing)

Also sorry but I can't get this to lay out properly.

Pre baby:

biggest expense was definitely the gear. The nursery furniture, swing, bassinet, car seat, stroller etc etc
Things I splurged on I'm happy about:
Nursery furniture that's good quality. I'm using it all again now! Crib, glider, dresser and change table.
belly bandit (I'm a freak and keep promoting this product. sorrynotsorry)
Things I wish I splurged on:

Car seat and stroller. I actually just sold my last set to buy a better on for this baby
A good carrier for baby. I just invested in a lillebaby for this one
a better breast pump
Some more comfortable clothes for post baby.

After baby was here:

expenses include clothes in each size! I found it best to buy bulk on FB marketplace and keep an eye for really good sales at carters and stocked up then. I am always buying one size in advance when I see a good deal and it help alleviate the expense
Feeding items. We went with a mid level high chair. It's my fav I've seen. It's not too bulky but plenty big for even my 40lb DS now. It is super light and doesn't take up too much space. Don't go get a crazy expensive one. I bought plates and bowls from Ikea that were super cheap and still going strong.
The cost of shoes surprised me. Their feet grow so fast and when they start walking then need something good quality. A pair of little baby nike sneakers are about $40-$60 canadian. If you see good deals in bigger sizes pick them up as you see them. Especially given then need sneakers, rain boots, winter boots, sandals and heaven forbid you have a wedding or something you need dress shoes or loafers for.
Things I splurged on I'm happy about:
A high quality umbrella stroller. We went with Summer Infant 3D one. Worth every time and I haven't used the big stroller since I got this one!
A good quality car seat with long life span for post bucket seat
cable tv. The amount of tv I watched especially middle of the night feedings is shameful.
Things I wish I splurged on:
I wish I splurged on a better second seat for H's car. I just sold that and bought another of the first I had.

After all that expenses just sort of level out. Other then diapers, wipes and clothes there's really nothing else DS has needed. We spend more then we should on things like toys but that's not necessary.

Edit:
Also budget for childcare! This one is expensive and it sucks paying the bill every month!!!

kadeephd · August 2018

@kristah2 I didn't even think about shoes! Do babies need them in year one? I guess once they start walking they do, but before that? I'm also going to have to look into this belly bandit thing.

ETA: Oh, to be Canadian. Healthcare costs are ridiculous in the US.

@katy0990 Good tip on the Amazon subscribe & save. We use that for some household goods to get the 15% discount and it definitely saves us money already. I think they give you 20% off of baby items.

kristah2 · August 2018

@kadeephd I didn't put shoes on DS for the first 8 months ish and when I did I used robeez since they were like slippers. As he got older and we were going out more in just the stroller instead of snap and go I wore shoes on him because I thought he looked funny without them.
At around 10 months when he started pulling himself up we did robeez or better.

I also forgot about life insurance - we did that too!
And childcare. That one is a huge drain.

Activebaby · August 2018

Budgeting for daycare it a lot in itself. If you’ve picked one you need to know what they supply and what you supply. Food, diapers, wipes, linens, mobile (my first daycare let us bring one, second and third that was a hard no), etc.
I feel like I spend a lot on diapers, but it’s really just buying a lot at a time.
If you have the budget, buy a nice car seat and stroller (second hand for stroller is fine). I bought a great deal combo with my first son. The car seat was safe, but wasn’t as cushiony as I wanted. The stroller started out great and then got a bit rickety to push. I upgraded (second hand) and have an amazing stroller now. Cost are all relative depending on taste and needs.

katy0990 · August 2018

Re: shoes I never put them on DS until he was walking (about 1 year). Prior to that, we had a few cute pairs we had been gifted, but he kicked them off and I really didn’t see the point. So far, he is 2.5 and we have bought 2 pairs of Stride Rite shoes. I buy them a bit big, but that hasn’t been an issue. He wears them every day. For the pool, he has a $10 pair of water shoes that do the trick.

Jens_Hoes · August 2018

I'll add more later but
@kadeephd I didn't start using shoes until about 8-9 months. Currently we have to pairs of shoes (shes 14 months) jellies and sneakers. They're both from Walmart and probably cost a total of $10.

You are definitely going to want baby jails (swing, bouncer, jumper, etc). Also, toys can add up. I've done a lot of shopping on Facebook market place for toys (play kitchen, sit to stand walker, etc). Clothes can add up too, you never know how quickly your LO will grow out of the size of clothes they have. Sometimes you need to move up because they're too long or too chubby lol
I know you said you were being gifted a car seat, does that mean infant seat or convertible seat? At some point you'll have to put LO in a convertible seat, after they grow out of the infant one. There will be things that pop up that you think are relatively inexpensive but add up (tylenol, ibuprofin, gripe water, gas drops, bottle brush, extra pacifiers, sippy cups, utensils, bath wash, cradle cap brush, cradle cap shampoo, bath for baby, etc). Some of these things you won't know about until after baby comes. My daughter has really sensitive and dry skin, we have to use cream instead of lotion and we have special lotion for spots on her arm and butt because she has these bumps from eczema. She's also on a daily medication (which we couldn't prepare for before birth) and while it isn't expensive, it is another cost per month. I am not really a frilly person, but there are some bows we HAD. TO. HAVE. Plus when her hair got long enough I had to get clips and hair ties to keep her hair out of her mouth. She only liked one type of pacifier, so all the others were a waste of money. Same with bottles.
I spent a nice chunk of change on sleep sacks to fit her from birth until now. Because SLEEP SACK 4 LYFE. Something that no one I know personally uses, but is and was a life saver for me.
I also consider the blackout curtains, and white noise machine part of baby cost.
Disposable breast pads, nursing clothes, wipes. Then there are things that are dependent on where you live - we had to buy hats and gloves and cold weather clothes for being outside in the winter. And sun hats for summer. sun screen. some of these things that baby will grow out of quickly.
I'm rambling now...

kadeephd · August 2018

@Jens_hoes I forgot about a convertible car seat. We'll have to get one of those once the baby grows out of the infant one. I'm also planning on buying a bouncer used and have been trolling Craigslist for a good deal on the one I want (babybjorn).

runrinserepeat · August 2018

Our big expense will be the car seat, because that’s about the only thing I’m not comfortable buying used. So maybe $150-200 there. I suppose we’re also looking at buying a minivan because 3 car seats across our current cars is going to be torture. I think we’re shooting for about $10,000 our ofnpicket for that one.

Diapers I’m figuring $20-40/month. I don’t really know because we used to cloth diaper. $360 for the year seems like a conservative estimate.

Food costs will will just be absorbed by our usual budget. I don’t eat that much more while breastfeeding, and babies don’t eat that much after they start solids anyway. I’ll need bags for BFing, maybe budget $100 for bottles and other supplies.

We wont pay more than $50 for a crib, maybe the same for a high chair. Borrowing a mamaroo from my SIL. We have sheets and changing table stuff.

We’ll need new clothes for nb-18 months, because apparently I got rid of those. I’ll buy those second hand too, for probably $1/piece. Right now baby’s wardrobe is largely white shirts and hand knitted pants and sweaters. I’m okay with that. My guess is we’ll soend less than $100 on clothes in the first year, and that’s being generous.

Shouldn't need to pay anything for insurance. I’ve yet to see a bill from them after 2 pregnancies and 6.5 years of parenthood. Maternity leave I figure cost us about $13,000. Short term disability will give me about $7,000, and work will give me another $4,000 give or take, for pto. Which leaves us filling the gap of about $2,000.

DH stays at home, so no daycare costs.

So.... about $13,000 to have a baby for a year. We should have plenty of cushion around that, on top of the fact that I’ll be back to work full time (and back to saving money) by June.

texas_t · August 2018

Re:shoes I had shoes on my son within a month, lol. I liked dressing him. He has never fought me on shoes, though!

katy0990 · August 2018

Re: The convertible car seat If you set up an Amazon registry, you get a discount on the items that are not purchased off of the registry at the end. If you can swing it, I highly recommend putting the convertible car seat on there and then using that discount at the end to buy it.
@kadeephd My son is 2 1/2 and I would be surprised if we have spent too much more than $19,000 on him his whole life. I’m sure it is possible to do in a year if you buy everything brand new, no one gifts you anything, and you have to have namebrand clothes for every occasion, etc. However, if you have childcare covered and you plan on shopping sales and buying consignment items, you should be well under that. But, I’m cheap lol
ETA: I wasn’t thinking about lost wages or new vehicles, though.

Activebaby · August 2018

@runrinserepeat you mentioned my most important fact!! (Other than buying the minivan - complete!) The loss of salary with the bills. So in addition to extra cost I’m planning on time unpaid (I will have ~ 4 weeks of paid leave from saved time). I’m planning 6-7 weeks of unpaid time. Writing that out makes me feel sick to my stomach. During this time I’m also going to be paying daycare for my other 2. So my savings is going to take a hit.

runrinserepeat · August 2018

Yeah, I guess we got close to $19,000 with my estimate, but still not very close. Andalso the vast majority of that is a new car which is absolutely a want, not a need.

scaredunprepared · August 2018

I'm cringing just thinking about the medical bills I know we will incur. I wish we lived in Canada!!!! I'm already about 4-5k in the hole because insurance sucks. 2.5k for my emergency room visit at 6 weeks due to spotting, and another 1.5-2.5k on ultrasounds. That doesn't include any bills from my regular OB (which is SUPPOSED to be covered 100% by insurance, but they are sneaky, dirty cheats and find loopholes around everything so they don't have to pay!) or any L&D costs. I'm anticipating about $25k just on medical bills when all is said and done. That's if nothing goes wrong, everything is smooth, and baby is healthy and doesn't require NICU. Fortunately I've saved a bit over the years, so if that is reality of it, we will dig into my savings to cover medical expenses. If things go according to plan, SO and I will marry before I go into labor so I can be on his (MUCH better) insurance, but then we need to meet the deductible again from scratch. More out of pocket up front, but in the long run, if I do end up on his insurance, it will save us significantly (like, $15 k) on L&D.

As for gear, I bought a travel system for $280 including 2 extra car seat bases, stroller, and infant seat from Babies r Us when they were going out of business. I snagged a halo bassinest (premier version) with infant insert and 2 sheets for $130, 2 PNPs for $40, jj cole car seat cover for $5, blooming bath and monthly photo stickers for $15, play gym mat for $5, and brand new baby wearing wrap for $5, all from FB marketplace. We are using an old dresser as a changing table. So about $470 for baby gear from my own pocket.

We were gifted a swing, rock and play, exersaucer, highchair, and a bunch of toys from my sister's father in law. My sister's mother in law gifted us a crib. My parents bought us a roomba (needed with 3 dogs!!!) and convertible carseat. My sister is gifting us a car seat caddy, bumbo, boppy, breastfriend, ergobaby carrier, finding Nemo bedding set (our nursery theme was going to be a nature or HP theme, but I can't say no too free!). She will be giving us all her babies' hand-me-down clothes as her youngest will be growing out of them just as ours will be growing into them. Not to mention I bought her 90% of her baby clothes! Lol

We have very generous family (and friends) and are very, very blessed.

I anticipate getting most other stuff we need at the showers (we are having 3 hosted by different friends/ family all over the state).

Adding baby and me to SO's insurance will likely cost an extra $200 a month.

We have not yet decided on life insurance.

We will not be spending on childcare costs, but that means I will not be working for an extended period of time. That's the plan for now.

Medical bills are the biggest and scariest expense, and the unknown leaves us unable to budget or prepare for the costs, which is the worst part.

Erinka · August 2018

I’m a STM and I would advise NOT to get the expensive and fancy swing/motion type items (i.e. Mamaroo). Our DD loved the simple electric swing. #keepingitreal

katy0990 · August 2018

@scaredunprepared OMG That is insane! Does your hospital offer a self pay discount? Do you have an out of pocket max? I cannot imagine paying that much, especially with the whole pregnancy and delivery falling in the same calendar year.

kristah2 · August 2018

@scaredunprepared Halo bassinet for $130! What a steal!!!
I saw one for $150 and wanted to buy it but H decided it was a bed and he doesn't buy used mattresses and said no. I'm really jealous of yours!!!
But we ended up borrowing a bassinet from my cousin luckily.

Much like @erinka I advise not to spend a fortune on things until you know what baby likes. We bought a new bassinet for DS and he maybe slept in it 3 hours total. He hated it.
So when I said I wanted a $300 bassinet DH laughed at me.

texas_t · August 2018

@scaredunprepared I agree with @katy0990; I'd call the hospital and tell them you're self paying and see how much your bill would be. I think it would be significantly less!

runrinserepeat · August 2018

Erinka said:

I’m a STM and I would advise NOT to get the expensive and fancy swing/motion type items (i.e. Mamaroo). Our DD loved the simple electric swing. #keepingitreal

Yep. I desperately wanted a mamaroo when I was pregnant with my first. Instead, I picked up a swing at a garage sale for free, because it was Sunday afternoon and they just wanted it gone. Both kids loved that thing, and I’m so glad I didn’t waste my money.

scaredunprepared · August 2018

@katy0990 and @texas_t so I asked if they would do that for me.... i was told their policy is that if you have insurance, they MUST bill insurance first, and whatever they don't pay I will be responsible for. I explained that insurance isn't covering, so it's pointless to go through them, and I'd rather just pay out of pocket. They told me it's still their policy, but I can speak with billing after the fact and may be awarded a 30% discounted rate. So basically, I'm paying out of pocket for insurance each month (my job doesn't offer it since I'm not considered full time), and getting penalized majorly for having it at all. If I didn't have insurance, my bill would be a fraction of what it actually will be. I don't understand the healthcare system or their logic (or lack of it!). Why are insurance companies even legally allowed to not pay for necessary medical intervention when you are PAYING for their coverage? That seems seriously backwards. We need a major system overhaul in this country. I'm thinking of dropping insurance, but my sister and SO advised me against it in case "something unexpected happens".

@kristah2 and @runrinserepeat I have been eyeing the halo for a while, so when I saw this one I NEEDED it. I sanitized / disinfected all the parts I could. I have a fantasy about baby girl sleeping soundly all night next me snuggled up and loving this thing as much as I do, but we will see! I figured if the halo and the travel system were the only gear we spent a decent chunk of money on, I could splurge a bit.

katy0990 · August 2018

@scaredunprepared Wow! That is ridiculous. I understand why they would be concerned about if something were to happen, but would anything be covered then anyway? I’m sorry. That really stinks.

kadeephd · August 2018

@scaredunprepared ugh that is awful! I can't believe your insurance plan can get away with it. I'm sorry.

@erinka @runrinserepeat I originally wanted the mamaroo, but I now want the babybjorn. I mostly want it because it doesn't require batteries and seems really portable/small. We live in a small apartment. I also like that you can completely remove all fabric and wash it. It's $200 new, but I think I can get it for $100 or less used. I haven't spent much money on baby stuff so I am going to allow myself this one indulgence! It also is supposed to last until 2 years since it can be reversed and used as a seat.

Katzalia · August 2018

@kadeephd we LOVED the baby bjorn bouncer and used it from really early on. I found the later “seat” use didn’t really wind up being a hit for us. But the amount of delight the kiddo got from kicking her legs and bouncing herself was completely worth it. It was the one splurge I was so glad we made, and got at least daily use from a few weeks until at least 9 months?

PensiveCrayon · August 2018

I’ll just throw this out here too — I’ve seen a lot of Mamaroos available on the FB marketplace. So you don’t have to spend all the big bucks if you do want to go the fancy route!

hoosiermama-2 · August 2018

Two things from me:

Clothes. I tried very, very, very hard not to go overboard buying infant clothes (was mostly successful) because 1. people will inevitably buy them for you 2. ours will be winter babies, so they should just be cozily bundled in sleep sacks and jammies

3. someone will probably offer you a bag full of hand-me-downs and 4. you have no idea how (fast) they're going to grow. I'm obviously making assumptions with my points, I realize not everyone has family/close friends nearby. If I came across great sales or clearance items, I usually went for it.

Diapers. I was always on the lookout for Amazon/Meijer/Target/everywhere deals. If diapers came out to about 12 cents or less, I got em. The only brand that i truly disliked was Luvs, and that was only because of the super strong scent.
I should actually start the diaper hunting again soon...

rosebud332 · August 2018

+1 From me on pretty much everything that was said here.
+1 On not using shoes until DD was walking (about 12 months/size 4) except for special occasions.

A couple of things I would personally recommend:

If you’re using disposable diapers, at least try out one or two of the cheaper brands to see if you like them. I was a pampers snob and would buy anything else until my mom bought us a box from Aldi. They are just as good (imo) and literally a fraction of the price. Also, in the beginning months buy maybe one or two boxes of diapers and then start buying bags in each size. They grow out of them so fast and for us it would be one day they would fit and the next they wouldn’t. We gave away a lot of 3/4 full boxes of diapers.

Clothes were a decent expense the first year and I’m glad I’m having another girl so I can just reuse all those clothes. I now ask my MIL for carters gift cards for DD for holidays and that’s how I usually buy the next size up. You can get some great stuff at consignment sales as well.

We were lucky with my first and got gifted the vast majority of baby gear we needed. I did buy some baby containers haha. Mine hated not being held for the first few months so it was rough. When she started to learn to sit up but couldn’t do it herself that’s all she wanted to do. I bought one of those sit me ups and she loved it. I also ended up borrowing a bouncer and exersaucer when she was a little bigger. Those things did help me personally though I know not every kid likes them.

I’m happy this time we have to buy minimal stuff. I need a bassinet and some new bottles and pacifiers. Just smaller stuff like that.

tumbleweed-1 · August 2018

I finally read through this thread! I’ve been way behind because I can’t really use my phone at work. This reminds me that I should add a convertible car seat the the registry too. I want to start with an infant one, but it would be nice to have a back up for someone else’s car or in case our seat gets damaged. It would be really nice if both seats get bought off my registry by other people, but I don’t expect that. Just wishful thinking.

Most of my expense has been clothing related (maternity for me and some baby clothes/material & yarn to make baby clothes). I’m trying to follow a personal rule that I don’t buy baby stuff unless I really love it until baby is born (and I can see what’s left that I need) because I know I’ll get a lot of clothes and other hand me downs. I’ve already received a few basics from a family at my work: bottles- minus the nipples, wrap style carrier, a bouncer seat, another baby prison seat thing that rocks, some books & toys, a yoga ball for me, unused disposable breast pads, clothes and some cloth diaper covers (they just moved out of the country so it was a win-win for both of us for them to give me items they didn’t want to deal with selling/donating/packing). My parents offered to buy us a crib, which we may or may not use still, but I appreciate the offer and I know I at least want one around in case my kid isn’t the type who gets decent sleep with a floor bed.

Childcare will be our big ongoing expense. Even with my staff discount it’ll be over $1k a month for my kid to come to work with me. As of now, there isn’t an open position in my infant class until July, but my boss said we could sit back down and reevaluate in November. SO might decide to stay home with baby indefinitely.

Jens_Hoes · August 2018

@tumbleweed-1 what’s your plan for baby to sleep in until they’re big enough for a floor bed?

hannelorre · August 2018

This is only tangentially related but... when should I be buying these stuff as FTM? I'm looking into getting the bassinet/crib/bouncer and maybe strollers used at least (both for cost and also for minimalist/less trash for the world sort of reason). I'd definitely want a new car seat for safety reasons. Do I just go ahead and buy them when I see a good deal or wait until later?

Activebaby · August 2018

hannelorre said:

This is only tangentially related but... when should I be buying these stuff as FTM? I'm looking into getting the bassinet/crib/bouncer and maybe strollers used at least (both for cost and also for minimalist/less trash for the world sort of reason). I'd definitely want a new car seat for safety reasons. Do I just go ahead and buy them when I see a good deal or wait until later?

When you see a good car seat deal, buy it. The rest - I’d get one sitting option for the baby and then see how the baby likes it before getting more. For the stroller- it really depends on your lifestyle. If you are doing a car seat/Stroller combination buy when you see a good deal. We are having winter babies so I’m not sure what your climate is or how often you’ll be out taking the baby for walks in those winter months.

tumbleweed-1 · August 2018

@Jens_Hoes before the floor bed, the baby will probably sleep in a bassinet or more likely the crib as a regular crib. I’d just prefer not to use it, but for being in our bedroom I’d like baby up a bit at our height- but probably not directly on our bed. Maybe a side co-sleeper? I don’t want the baby to sleep too far away from us until he can roll over because I have no idea how my cat will react. Hopefully the cat won’t be interested at all and it won’t be an issue.

kadeephd · August 2018

@hannelorre I am a FTM too... but I've just been buying stuff as I see good deals. It doesn't hurt to have it a bit early, for the stuff you know you are going to need and use anyway. You might not be able to find as good of deals if you try to buy it all right when you need it.

hkom · August 2018

@hannelorre At this point in our pregnancies I don't think it's too early to buy anything. Don't go crazy buying multiple types of big things, like swings/bouncers/etc, but if you see a good deal definitely take advantage!

katy0990 · August 2018

@hannelorre I would definitely purchase things as you see a good deal. I would recommend you set up a registry, just to keep yourself organized and for the completion discount.

hannelorre · August 2018

@Activebaby @hkom @katy0990
thanks for the advice! I did start an amazon registry to keep track of things so hopefully that'll help.
I'm in the cold city (Chicago) so I'm not sure how much we'll be going outside in the first couple months, and will also have to take our tiny condo into account. I'm trying hard not to go crazy with stuff.

katy0990 · August 2018

@hannelorre If you walk a lot, I would highly recommend investing in a nice stroller that the car seat clips into. You can buy thick, cozy car seat covers to keep baby warm and covered. Personally, that was a better option for us than babywearing in the cold. I kept DS in the infant seat until he was over a year and over 20 lbs just to be able to keep using this set up.
Example in spoiler.

kadeephd · August 2018

@katy0990 I like the idea of the cozy car seat cover for the winter. Do they make specific ones for specific car seats or are they just kind of universal things? From the photos I've seen they seem like they go all the way around the baby, between the baby and the car seat -- is that safe? I'd only use it when the car seat was in the stroller, not the car.

Jens_Hoes · August 2018

kadeephd said:

@katy0990 I like the idea of the cozy car seat cover for the winter. Do they make specific ones for specific car seats or are they just kind of universal things? From the photos I've seen they seem like they go all the way around the baby, between the baby and the car seat -- is that safe? I'd only use it when the car seat was in the stroller, not the car.

No. The car seat covers should only go on top of the seat. You don’t really want anything potentially bulky between baby and the car seat straps. Just bundle up with blankets and the covers

katy0990 · August 2018

@kadeephd As @Jens_Hoes said, they just go around the outside of the car seat. They don’t touch the baby. We loved ours and it was great for being out and about in the stroller, as well as just carrying the infant seat from car to home or other destinations. We typically left it on him in the car, but unzipped, so he wasn’t sweating. It was worth its weight in gold!

This link contains a video that gives a better view of how it goes on.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/JJ-COLE-Car-Seat-Cover-Graphite/46885417

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