How much does it cost to have a baby?

Hey there girlies,

I don't know if this is posted in the right spot or not but I hopefully some of you will be able to help me...

I was wondering if you guys could tell me how much it costs on average to have a baby? I'm not meaning the preganancy side of things but more say on a weekly or monthly basis after you ahve had them? How much extra approximately does it put your budgets out to bring up the baby?

I know that it does depend on how expensively or cheaply you want to do it and also what you can afford but I would like to have a bubba now...DP isn't quite ready (Mr Financially Secure). I think that we can afford it. He doesn't. I guess when you are BF, the main cost will be nappies and stuff depending which way you go..then as they get older I have no idea :confused: ! I don't have many friends with babies as such which is why I have no clue.

I'm sorry if this is something that has been posted a thousand times before..

Thanks guys

Peachy, it is really hard to put a price on it. Like you said if you are bfing then you are saving money there. If you fomula feed, you have to pay for bottles, formula, teats, sterilising solution or a steam steriliser. Then theres nappies, either way cloth or disposable cost money. Clothes, bath wash, shampoo's, bum creams... I guess it's just the first set up that cost's the most, then after that you just aquire stuff gradually on a need basis.

Babies themselves don't need too much. If you were to have a baby shower (once pg) you could probably recieve quite a few things there to help out. Major purchases spread out over the term of your pregnancy helps out heaps.

I know I probably haven't answered this in the way that you want but I can't really give you a dollar ammount.

OK Last week for Tehya - she is 14 months old I brought her
some new winter clothes $50
nappies $20
medicine $15
juice $2 and thats about it. She eats our food now and is still bfing so no formula. of course all weeks are different. But I would say anywhere between $50 - $70 most weeks and then maybe only $30 every other week.

I honestly don't think the baby side of things is too much, it is when they turn into kids and starting eating/drinking you out of house and home lmao and you have to think about stuff like school fees/uniforms etc etc

Love

Ohh yeah Kathryn you are so right. Especially with teenage boys....

Indah doesnt cost much, I breastfeed, use cloth nappies & she usually eats what we are having but with some stuff missing like chillies etc...

I pay $90 pw child care & get about $20 back per week, washing is probably 1 or 2 loads a week more, I have her shower with me most nights so is about 2 mins longer in shower, but then maddy jumps in with me as Indah hops out!
Electricity, gas etc probably not really noticable...?
So not alot really at all!

I had a cot, was given a bouncer from work, a pram for Mum & Dad, a highchair from sis... I dont use a change table, my grandpa bought a bath, so really They arent all that costly!! I just buy her lots of stuff to wear alot she hasnt worn & already doesnt fit!!!!

There was a segment in a magazine I read on Friday about this.....for a 0-4 year old.....the average Australian family.......$45 - $152 per week, depending on how much you want to spend........

Liek the other girls have said, it depends on what you do/how much you want to fork out.......nappies and formula are the most expensive ongoing things, but if you BF and use cloth, your initial outlay will be more than your ongoing.

Clothes etc.....Ebay is great for bargains of bundles of baby clothes.

And once you are pregnant, it is AMAZING at how much stuff you get offered from other people..........

Plus there is stacks of "baby essentials" that are not essential at all, which you can easily do without!

You'd be surprised Theresa... and some bubs get all the big things. Note it did say 0-4yrs, so the $152 would cover things like p/t child care etc etc

It's really hard to say exactly, it depends what type of baby you have LOL. My first was a reflux baby so had lots more washing as we'd have to change his clothes a few times a day, which also meant he had to have more clothes initially.

Hand-me-downs and Ebay are great, especially for clothes, seeing as they grow so fast, second hand baby clothes are always in really good condition. Cots, prams etc you can get second-hand from some shops, Ebay etc, but even then you can get reasonably cheap prams and stuff these days.

Subsequent children, especially if of the same sex, don't cost as much, as normally you have saved all the clothes/toys etc. from the first baby.

Thanks guys for all the info..I know it's hard to put a dollar figure on things but I guess when you have no little people of your own like me, it's hard to think of all the costs..
Everyone I have spoken to have said to me not to worry as people are always glad to give stuff away. DP and I have 4 families (all our parents are divorced) so I'm sure the first grandchild would definitly be very spoilt!! I would want to be getting stuff when it was cheap or on ebay and stuff as the babies grow out of everything so fast. I guess if you get the basics and then expand from there if you really need it...

Umm - exception to the rule here. As most good friends (with babies) and family live elsewhere. The hand me downs have been pretty scarce and even though DD is the first grandchild the gifts have not been huge. Mainly it seems they have issues with how much the large items costs these days, also MIL is a tight wad and saves where she can, even though she does not need to. Must say though, we are getting lots of knitted items now.

So lesson here - not everyone gets given lots of stuff, so don't rely on it.

It is so hard to say ....our food bill with nappies and now veges for Kaitlyn plus formula has probably gone up about 5o a week I think .

The most expensive thing about having a bubs is losing one wage. I dont think it is ever the right time financially to have a baby.

Cass

I agree with what everyone has said already, babies dont really cost that much (but ofcourse this depends on how much you want to spend). The initial setup can get a little pricey, but alot of the baby equipment on the market arent necessary and one can certainly live without if on a budget.

For me, i have to agree with what was mentioned earlier that they get more expensive as they get older. Bub increases the family weekly bill by about $30-$40 a week, which isnt much really.

I also believe there is never a right time financially to have a bub - while it is financially easier for some when compared to others - i feel that most of us tend to cope well and make do with whatever our budget allows for.

All the best convincing hubby :) You sound like you are more than ready to have a little blessing in your life - goodluck with it all :D

Our weekly shopping bill just for our little man is as follows;
$20 Formula
$30 Nappies
$10 Wipes
$30 Food (Solids)
Clothes/Medicine ie baby panadol/dymadon- varies. I buy as I need. But tend to go overboard at Pumpkin Patch for his clothes!!! But really - Big W, Best and Less and Target do great cheap baby clothes.

I would agree that bubbas don't cost much especiall if b/f and using cloth nappies.
We use huggies so that costs about $30-40 a box and sometimes lasts a fortnight depending.
Also, not that you would want to rely on this but depending on your financial situation you also get government assistance that is paid fortnightly. You can check out the family assist website and they have a calculator on there that works out how much you would get....

Hi Peachy

We fell pg by accident and DP's major concern was the financial side of things. So far our biggest expenses were all before she was born, obstetrician and storing cord blood, not to mention the furniture! But all of those things are discretionary, you can choose how much or how little you want to spend.

We stocked up on nappies while they were on special before Lucy was born and because she is our first (and also the first grandchild on both sides) we were given a lot of things. I didn't have to buy any clothes and a lot of practical items as well. I kept a list of things I needed and when someone asked what I needed, I told them something on my list. That way we weren't left with a huge amount of things to buy.

I like Trish's list of what she's spent in the last week. This is mine for a 3 mth old that's bf but using disposable nappies:
- Dummy ($1.70 from supermarket)
- Went through half a bulk pack of Infants nappies (Huggies 48 in a pack)
- Box of Lux flakes to wash her clothes in (~$4, I think?)
- $14 on an outfit from Pumpkin Patch (it was on sale!)
- Petrol to take me to postnatal exercise class and Mummies group!
- $195 on a toy box. But that's a luxury!!

It's amazing how much money you spend that you don't remember spending before you have a baby, so IMO the financial concerns have been unfounded in our case.

The biggest cost is the loss of my full-time income. I'm still working, given that I work for myself, but not as much and that's put a bit of pressure on us. But I wouldn't change this for the world!!

I don't think you will ever feel financially ready for a baby! You just make it work, and make sacrifices. We sold my car last week, and I was suprised to see how much I can do without! I do bf, so that is a savings. The main expense is nappies, of course. If needed, I would go to cloth. I decided I would stay home, which cut our income in half. Now that we are living on half income WITH a baby, I wonder where all the money went when we were both working with no kids! lol! Anyway, I have no figures, since Im from the US so prices are different here, but she is worth every penny spent! :)

remember there can be expensive weeks! my baby girl got an ear infection and cheast infection this week so $80 all together on anti biotics, baby panadol and some other medicine, teething too so bonjella!!! plus what she usually costs.. which i dont think is huge she is in cloth nappies and bf but god i wash so many baby clothes and sheets coz she spews every two minute!!! good luck

i dont think it costs much to have a baby in all honestly they dont really need much..kids it will be different :pray: we have more money by then bahahah