How expensive are newborns?

[gpb1874]

I have a 5 month old. We don't spend much on her. We don't have tons of toys and clothes and crap for her. She's content playing with her blankets, bink and a few stuffed animals. I buy diapers and wipes at Sam's Club. A box of 250 or so costs about $40 and lasts nearly a month. I don't remember what the wipes costs, but they're not too bad. I breastfeed, so it costs me nothing.

Sign up on websites like pampers.com or huggies.com and they send you coupons.

My Brother and SIL have a toddler and go way overboard - brand name clothes, tons of toys, you name it.

Check out websites like www.babycenter.com or babyzone.com. They have more info on estimated costs. I was reading that formula can cost around $1300 a year or more, which I think is ridiculous for someone to pay if you can breastfeed (some women struggle immensely or other factors come in to play that make it difficult or impossible). Seriously talk to the mom about breastfeeding. It is her decision and it is difficult to stick with, but there are many, many benefits for the baby, mom and your pocketbook. If you go the formula route, find their website and get the coupons. Many send $5 off coupons every month or so. Have your parents and friends sign up too and then they can give you the coupons they get.

As others mentioned, insurance is a must. Mom will have monthly, then bi-weekly and then weekly visits to her OB. Delivery is expensive even with insurance. You get bills for the mom and for the baby with the delivery. Baby has dr visits at 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, then 2, 4, 6 and 12 months for check ups. That's if the baby doesn't get sick or have health problems.

If you can work more now just to save up, it will help. Cut back on your expenses now to help save.

Start looking into day care if that will be needed. It is super expensive and depending on where you live, they often have waiting lists.

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by gpb1874

Start looking into day care if that will be needed. It is super expensive and depending on where you live, they often have waiting lists.

Good suggestion. I put my name on a waiting list as soon as I found out I was pregnant. 4 years later, I'm still on that waiting list (unnecessarily at this point, but I'm staying on it just to see how long it actually takes).

Xanthus, according to this article, it costs $221,000 to raise a kid to age 17 (so, pre-college costs). If you can swing that second job, it's probably a good idea.

There's a store called Once Upon a Child - it calls itself a "gently used" store. I've been to several, some of which are better than others. If there's one near you, you should check it out. It's a great place to find good deals on all kinds of things (they have everything: cribs, strollers, clothes, etc...). As others have said, however, don't buy a used car seat.