Budgeting for a baby

[goodoleboy]

We are having a baby in January 06 as some of you know.
When you guys had kids how did your Budget work out? The wife will be staying at home so child care is not a concern.
Im curious how do diapers and formula usually run for one child? What are some unexpected cost with a child that will come up? Ive budgeted $50 for 2 Dr. office visits a month.
I have all the furniture like beds and stuff my wife bought a few years back at garage sales. Only thing we are lacking is that kid(s)!

 

[like a rock]

Well you can't really budget anything because there is always the undnown. A can of formula can range from seven dollars for regular formula to 15 for a can of special formula for premature infants. Diapers can range from 19 dollars for huggies to 9 and 10 dollars for the walmart variety. Doctors visits can really get wild but again that depends on how good your insurance is and how many illnesses the baby gets. Have a open mind and be ready for major life changes.

This will be the happiest time of your life.

 

[like a rock]

I have a seven year old daughter and 17 month old twin boys. Talk about something that blows the budget. They were both premature and were 2 pounds 15 ounces and 3 pounds 4 ounces. They spent 10 weeks in the nicu unit at Morgantown, West Virginia. I hope your baby is healthy when born. Best of luck.

 

[Shannow]

Congratulations.

I reckon (particularly as your wife is staying home), that the single best thing that you can do from a budgetary point of view is to 100% breast feed if it's at all possible.

(won't go into the other benefits)

With nappies, you might luck into a cheap brand that works (WE've found each of the kids is different, and sometimes an expensive brand doesn't quite fit the baby's shape.

 

[Al]

Yea, first congrats.

. Diapers and formula is chump change compared to what follows. As was mentioned.

 

[Bret Chase]

There's no way to really calculate a budget.. each of my three kids went through diapers at a different rate... my son(6 weeks old) goes through about twice the amount of diapers that either of my daughters (now 2 1/2 and almost 4) did at that age. it could also be a boy/girl thing. the oldest was (and still is) always a difficult eater, the second will consume anything, and the youngest really likes to suck down the Enfamil. As far as diapers, I think that the white cloud brand at Wal-Mart is the best... tried them all too, hated pampers.. wasn't impressed with huggies, and those cheap ones at walmart with the ducks on them were just useless.

my wife breast fed all of them to varying degrees, with the youngest getting switched at 4 weeks.

best of luck you ya, goodoleboy!

-Bret

 

[pmwalter]

Babies are cheap. They eat very little, especially if your wife breast feeds. The only real cost is in diapers. When they are first born they go through a lot of diapers. You will probably change three diapers within a 10 minute period. Just as soon as you change a diaper, they go again. It's crazy!

Children of course become more expensive as they get older, so your immediate budget should not be impacted that much for now. You will certainly grow into it.

The part people need to budget for is when a spouse decides to stop working to stay home. That is when you need to severely change your spending habits.

Congratulations, you're going to have a LOT of fun.

 

[Gary Allan]

As far as a budget

...hmmm..just take all of your little distractions that you currently take for granted ...flush them ..and then come up with about 3x that amount. That should cover most of the routine stuff. Tuck a little extra away for the stuff that sucker punches you.

The cost curve in terms of stuff like diapers and formula take great upswings in a short amount of time.

Budget? For your first? Not a chance. You won't know any better. By the second or third (btw-parents with three children wanted more than two ...and knew that they didn't want 4

) child ..you'll have it down pretty good.

This will be you LAE (life altering event) Congrats

 

[slugsgomoo]

cloth diapers are a huge cost savings. I know some people still use them. ???

 

[rjundi]

Hi,

Congrats to you! I am in a similar boat and happily expecting on Christmas this year. I have starting wondering about these things too.

I spoke to a recent mum on diapers and she stated about $3-4 when newborn and down to $1/day now with her 13 month old. Note this was based off walmart bought diapers and breast feed baby.

 

[joee12]

Congrats Goodoleboy!!! The budget thing is unpredictable. You will be spending more money on diapers and formula, but less on other things like dinner, movies, bowling, etc. Don't worry, it will work itself out, Joe

 

[Dewlanna]

I saw a Father's Day sign on a church that said:

"Fathers carry pictures where their money used to be"

 

[Dan4510]

Add up all you make, take out a nickel for yourself and the rest goes to the kid for 25 years. Reason I decided not to have any myself.

Dan

 

[NJC]

quote:

---

Originally posted by slugsgomoo:
cloth diapers are a huge cost savings. I know some people still use them. ???

---

Count us in ... we've had all of our kids in washable diapers. Most of the diapers I've bought is from this company: http://www.kushies.com/Cataloque/diapers/diapers.html.

As for original question of budgeting for first child, what the others said. Breastfeeding and cloth diapers are a big asset in cost reduction.

I am under Canadian medical and premiums are paid via work so no need to worry about that.

We do get some child benefit allowance too so I think they are probably making us money for the first few years!

 

[sprintman]

Biggest mistake we made was cloth nappies (diapers). After 8 weeks somebody took pity on us and put us on to Huggies UltraDrys. That was the real life changing moment let me tell you.

 

[Schmoe]

I got a 18 month old daughter. One pack of diapers a week, minimal....18 bucks. One tub of Advanced formula milk twice a week at first before they shift to solid foods or cereals....44 bucks. Buy at Walmart, they are the cheapest. You can get diapers at Sam's probably cheaper, but my wife wanted a certain brand. While at the hospital, grab every baby coupon you can. There will be truckloads of them, because they all want your business. I guess they think that once the momma gets hooked, they got you for life. If your wife doesn't work, that will save you a bundle. Daycare costs will absolutely scare the be-***** out of you.

 

[NJC]

quote:

---

Originally posted by sprintman:
Biggest mistake we made was cloth nappies (diapers).

---

Why?

 

[Jon]

We use cloth diapers all of the time, on two boys, except at night or if we will be out for an extended period of time.

They are worth it - very cheap, if you have your own washing machine. She also bought these cloth inserts that help to absorb moisture, and look for 'bumpkins' or something like that on E-Bay - plastic outers for cloth diapers.

I'd rather not use nasty (for the environment) disposable diapers - cloth is just fine and it's better for the environment.

Also breast feed as much as possible - many health and monetary benefits.

 

[mormit]

My situation: 18 month old daughter and 2 week old son.

My wife stopped working but sews for friends and family and makes enough in pay and trade to cover a good deal of young child expenses. $300 to make a wedding dress goes a long way.

Breast feed if your wife does not object. Free. They say 500 calories a day from your wife.

Ask for diapers as baby shower gifts. Not too many of one size - that 10lb 2oz son didn't fit newborn diapers from day 1. Try a few brands. Some will fit your kid better than others. A dollar saved on a pack of diapers is NOT worth baby poo down your shirt. Target has a good baby department. Pampers Swaddlers fit my kids best.

Got cars seats for your cars and the grandparents??? The GP'S get useless when it comes to putting car seats in. Try freecycle.com for carseats, play yards, and who knows what else. Keep in mind the car seat cannot be used after an accident but we have scored 4 good car seats that just needed the cloth parts to be thrown into the wash.

Love them. Everything else will be worked out.

 

[sprintman]

Cost! Add up the cost of water, electricity for washing machine and dryer, pre soaker, washing powder, and on it goes. Then add the discomfort to baby eg cold urine againstthe skin, the fact that nappies dont seal fully and on it goes. The first night we changed to UltraDrys she slept right through, that alone made the change worthwhile. The cloth nappies became car cleaners