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- Having a baby is expensive and you can expect to spend thousands of dollars on expenses such as food, diapers, toys and more.
- I have recently calculated all my expenses since my first year of maternity and I found that I had spent close to $ 7,000.
- The situation of each mother is different, but here is a detailed breakdown of all my expenses to give you an idea of what you have in the first year of maternity.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
Babies are expensive, especially the first time.
There are all the basic necessities, like diapers and clothes and rot clothes (trust me, you need thereof).
There are additional items that people tell you that you will need, but that you may not need, such as heating paper towels (avoid these items). And then there are the cute stuff you just want to buy because your hormones are everywhere, and the only thing you could miss is to buy your baby another cute octopus print outfit with a matching hat.
Honestly, I am happy to have no idea of the cost of this company in advance. I never thought of becoming a mother, so it was not something that crossed my mind.
But I recently calculated every last expense of my first year of maternity and found that I had spent close to $ 7,000 over 12 months.
Now that I have been a mother for more than five years, I can look back on how we managed to survive this first year. But if you're the kind of person who likes to be prepared and is starting your maternity journey, here's a detailed breakdown that can give you an idea of how much you could spend.
I spent almost $ 4,000 on essentials like diapers and clothes
Daily necessities are the things I absolutely considered, 100% needed in the first year of our baby's life.
We opted for disposable diapers because our son was at the NICU for the first two months of his life and we had enough stress in our life.
In the same vein, we also chose to use a ready-to-feed preparation (premixed) versus a powdered formula to supplement my badfeeding. As a result, the costs of our formula were much higher than others.
We received a lot of clothes during our prenatal party, but we still had to supplement with new clothes once he had reached the age of four or five months. Do not forget that it's not just about oneies, but also socks, pants, shorts and these thin mittens that keep babies from scratching themselves. We also looked for shoes when he became a little older while he was starting to walk a little less than a year.
You will not see the baby foods listed here because we had a low income at the time and our son's solid foods (from six months old) were provided by the WIC and SNAP programs. In general, you could spend about $ 50 to $ 60 a month between the sixth and the twelfth month, otherwise, for a total of $ 600 to $ 700.
Here is a breakdown of what we spent on daily necessities:
Diapers – $ 750
Baby wipes – $ 240
Diaper cream – $ 120
Ready-to-use formula – $ 1800
Clothing – $ 500
Medicine – $ 50
Vitamins for Baby (introduced later) – $ 40
Hand Sanitizer – $ 40
Baby Shampoo and Shower Gel – $ 250
Layered bucket bags – $ 80
Laundry detergent for baby – $ 120
Then, we spent more than $ 2,000 in one-time expenses, such as a cradle and a car seat.
Our stroller was a birth gift from my cousin, but it would have cost us about $ 300.
We co-slept with our son his first year, first with him in his cradle, and later with him between our bed and his cradle. In retrospect, I do not even know if the cradle was really necessary, but it was nice for naps.
We also bought one set of bottles and received another. Do not forget that some babies end up taking certain types of baby bottles and that it can be a situation of trial and error.
We did not use any baby monitors, we had four adults in the household and our son was almost always accompanied by someone, but many parents chose to buy him.
Here is a breakdown of all our one-time expenses:
Changing table – $ 80
Changing mat – $ 15
Travel Changing Mat – $ 10
Car seat for baby – $ 170
Booster Car Seat – $ 200
Changing bag – $ 35
Baby Grooming Kit – $ 15
First Aid Kit for Baby – $ 12
Moby wrap – $ 45
Baby Blankets (6 pack) – $ 35
Bed sheets for children (4 in total) – 40 $
Waterproof crib mattress – $ 35
Waterproof mattress sheet (for bed sharing) – $ 35
Jumperoo – $ 80
Baby swing – $ 100
Pack & # 39; n Play – $ 80
Cradle – $ 100
Cradle – $ 130
Cradle mattress – $ 70
Baby utensils – $ 20
High chair – $ 110
Bibs – $ 60
Bibs – $ 30
Bottle Set – $ 75
Bottle warmer – $ 15
Bottle sterilizer – $ 50
Bottle brushes – $ 15
Breastfeeding bra – $ 40
Electric bad pump – $ 100
Boppy Nursing Cushion – $ 30
Towels for baby – $ 40
Baby bath – $ 30
Baby washcloths – $ 30
Layered bucket – $ 40
Humidifier – $ 40
Mobile cradle – $ 50
Child protection equipment – $ 30
Lollipops – $ 20
Trotter – $ 40
And we spend about $ 850 in extra expenses like toys and books
Toys – $ 400
Books – $ 200
Baby-friendly outings – $ 200
First aid for recovering mother – $ 50
This brings the total estimate for my first year of maternity to $ 6,992
Babies are expensive, but as any mum could tell you, gentle hugs make it more than profitable.
If you are worried about the costs of motherhood, do not feel completely overwhelmed by my estimate. On the one hand, you could receive more help than you expected from your friends and family members. There are also many useful resources to help families in trouble (I've mentioned some of those I've used myself).
Also, remember that you do not spend all this money immediately. Only buy what you really need to start (and items that you will always use, like larger diapers because babies grow up fast).
Above all, enjoy this first year because, as everyone will tell you, it goes really fast.
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