How much to budget for the baby?

lamplighter

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 1:56 pm

I would like to budget for our upcoming baby. It is our first. So for the first month- how much money are we talking?
I understand that clothes and diapers etc are ongoing but I'm talking about the setting up part.
stroller
bassinet
crib
car seat

how about things like
bouncer
swing
pack and play

are those needed? am I leaving anything out?

hop613

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 2:09 pm

It totally depends...

For all the things you mentioned there's lower priced, higher priced, and much much higher priced. Which things you chose is going to drastically impact how much you spend.
if you get things second hand or from craigslist, that will really lower the amount. If you have a pack n play or bassinet, you don't need to get that right away.
You can also use a snap n go at the beginning, and buy a stroller later when you know what you want.

Absolute essentials for setting up IMO:
Pack n play/bassinet/co-sleeper
carseat/snap n go
burp cloths
A few clothes
diapers

swing or bouncy seat-definitely not a necessity, but was a life-saver for me. Your baby may not even like it

MaBelleVie

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 2:12 pm

Are you anticipating anyone buying gifts, or will you be laying it out for the most part?

Your immediate needs are:
Car seat to leave hospital
Stroller, or snap and go for car seat
Someplace to sleep, whether co-sleeper, bassinet, or crib (unless you plan on having baby in your bed)
Diapers and wipes, diaper cream
A few stretchies
Burp cloths and/or swaddle blanket
Pacifiers/bottles/formula as you prefer
Baby thermometer, infant drops in case of fever and dr recommends (best to have at home)

Depending how much you WANT to spend, your budget will vary. The prices of all these items are really variable. So I would recommend searching and seeing what you want/want you can afford, and budget accordingly.

Also, you will have a few copays at the ped in the first month, so don't forget that (unless you don't have copays/have Medicaid).

ETA: I forgot bathing supplies. At first you will sponge bathe, but for later you will probably use an infant tub, and baby soap.

shoshina

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 2:51 pm

Depending when you're due, I would say you can start now and save yourself a ton of money.

1. What can you get from others? Do you know anyone who will be done with their things at/around the time you need them? Friends with an eighteen month old? Probably they will be out of their crib by the time your baby needs one. You can arrange with them that they will give it to you when they're done. This also helps if you have the minhag of not buying/owning before the baby, because it is still theirs. Have a very low-pressure conversation with your parents/other close relatives about what you actually need. My mother promised each of her daughters the full furniture for the nursery of their first child, so we knew what we didn't/won't need to budget for.
2. Hand me downs. Baby has no idea, they're often only worn once or twice, and they are always just as cute. This will save you a ton.
3. Start collecting coupons and deals now. Often they have a 12 month expiry. Diapers (if you're using disposables) formula (if you're using at all), bottles, onesies etc. You'll never find a coupon for it the day/week you need it.

As everyone else said, what you will need to budget will vary by what you want to/can spend. I would say the following is about average for my area:

1. Car seat (can't go home without it) $160
2. Starter amount of diapers and diapering accessories $50.00
3. Clothes (onesies, sleep sack, maybe something cute for the bris) $75.00
4. Basic basket, co-sleeper, bassinet $100.000
5. Something to rock/hold the baby while you can't (swing, bouncer) $100.00 or DH (Free)

DovDov

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 3:18 pm

Especially if money is an issue for you, there are very few things you can't get much cheaper or free on Craigslist or Freecycle.

I wouldn't get a used car seat, except from a close friend or family. An infant car seat is only warranted usually for about 5 years, so I was always glad to lend mine out once my baby outgrew it, so long as I wasn't pregnant yet, because it might as well get used! Crib is harder to lend between children and I also wouldn't get that used because of all the recent recalls. So there's one expense.

The rest: stroller, pack'n'play, bouncer/swing, exersaucer -- in the non-frum world, no one wants to hold on to those space-consuming things for too long. Depending where you live, you should get on Freecycle, or, if such exists, a local Mom's Yahoo group, just for the giveaways.

seeker

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 3:54 pm

Also bear in mind that you don't need everything right away and some things there's no way to know in advance whether you'll end up wanting them. So unless you've been offerred a very generous gift or a deal for buying several items at once, you can start with basics and build your collection gradually.

Agree with pps that hand-me-downs are totally the way to go. A lot of items are only useful for a few months and barely get worn (especially if you don't have bigger kids who will be jumping all over them!) so even someone who does intend to have more kids might want to lend out for a few months. I did this for things like bassinet, swing, playgym...

morah

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 4:00 pm

Do you have any siblings or relatives with young children from whom you can borrow stuff?

Carseat is a must even if you don't have a car- you need it to leave the hospital and you'll need it if you want to go anywhere that you can't get to by foot. It must be recent, so if you borrow this one, make sure it's not more than a couple of years old and has never been in an accident.

You can get away with just a snap n go ($60) for the carseat for the first few months. Once it's time to graduate to a stroller, it doesn't have to be that expensive- there are plenty of excellent strollers that are not bugaboo.

Pack n play is good idea- get the one with the bassinet if you plan on having the baby in your room for the beginning. If this is a first grandchild for either set of parents, they should get one too for when you come for Shabbos.

Swings, bouncer seats- hold off on these. When the baby is born, borrow from others and try them out to see what the baby likes, then make a purchase. Everyone told me the swing would be a life-saver, and we borrowed a fancy one from a relative, and guess what? The baby hates the swing! He prefers a bouncy seat. Boy am I glad we did not spend money on a swing!

Clothes- you will get tons of clothes as gifts. buy a few things to have ready, but no more. Keep all gift reciepts so you can exchange some of the clothes you get for bigger sizes. I don't think I will have to buy any clothing until he grows out of the 12 months size- I got that much clothing and have that much stocked away in bigger sizes.

I have more to say, but my little guy needs to nurse now, so I'll come back later Very Happy

morah

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 4:40 pm

Ok, I'm back.

Diapers- no way around this one. I don't know about cloth, but if you go through disposable, you will go through lots of them. I suggest Amazon Mom, they have good discounts. Also, stock up on wipes but not diapers- babies grow fast, especially in the beginning. We already needed the next size up by the time we got to the bris. There are the cheaper diapers and the more expensive ones. I like the more expensive ones, but I'm also spending $0 on food for the baby, so I feel I can splurge on the diapers (that may change when he starts eating real food).

If you're nursing, keep in mind that it's free! Even if you spend $400 on a pump (and if you're going to need a pump, you should get a good one), and some more on related accessories (bottles) it more than pays for itself.

Babies don't have to break the bank, although the baby gear industry would like you to think they do.

newmother

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 5:11 pm

morah wrote:

Just something good to know- in ny right now you can actually get a tax deduction for buying a pump so if you buy one make sure to keep a record of it.

morah

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 5:15 pm

newmother wrote:

morah wrote:

Just something good to know- in ny right now you can actually get a tax deduction for buying a pump so if you buy one make sure to keep a record of it.

I thought that was just that you could use FSA money?

newmother

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 5:24 pm

morah wrote:

newmother wrote:

morah wrote:

Just something good to know- in ny right now you can actually get a tax deduction for buying a pump so if you buy one make sure to keep a record of it.

I thought that was just that you could use FSA money?

They made a breastfeeding deduction this past year although many people did not know about it. My dh mentioned it to an accountant and he had never heard about it. I don't know all the rules of how it works since I had bought a pump the year before! here is a link about it
http://www.parenting.com/blogs.....tible

DovDov

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 5:38 pm

On the strollers, I forgot to say, I think it's a good idea to TRY as many as you can before making a decision. The most expensive stroller out there could be a killer on your back if you're taller than most. People have very different tastes in what they need: what they find easy to collapse, whether they prefer one bar handle or two handles, whether they like locking front wheels or not, how easy they find it to brake the stroller, whether they want a bar or a tray, how easy they find it to access the basket, how easy it is to remove the fabric for cleaning, etc. These are all things where different people will have vastly different opinions of the same exact stroller. You need to try a whole bunch out (maybe by offering to take friends' kids for walks...) and keep all these things in mind before you decide what stroller you buy -- ESPECIALLY if you're going to buy an expensive one that you'll want to use for a very long time.

Personally, I got three strollers for free from people who wanted to get rid of them before my first was born, and so I didn't mind as much if I hated them because I hadn't invested anything and could easily decide to buy if I needed. As it turned out, of the three strollers we had, each of myself, DH, and hte babysitter had a favorite -- and each of us liked a different one!

DefyGravity

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 7:20 pm

Ditto freecycle. I haven't gotten anything from that group yet, but I've seen lots of baby stuff posted there. I go to garage sales for baby toys and have borrowed most of my big items from friends or got them as gifts.

The "shelf life" on most baby items is very short, so it's quite easy to get many things used for little or no money. I've gotten most of my baby clothing as gifts or used. I bought very little clothing for either baby.

If it was possible to do so, I tried out as many items as I could before purchasing them. For example, I borrowed a Moby Wrap from a friend for a couple of weeks, and I'm glad I did, because I never used it, and it would have been a waste if I'd bought it.

If you have facebook, post items you're looking for there. I've done that many times, and I've gotten a Bumbo (which both of my twins don't like and will return soon), a video monitor, and many many other useful items.

When my babies were first born, the item we used the most were the carseats. They slept in them for the first several months.

Raisin

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 8:00 pm

I only pumped on rare occasions, and an avent handpump was absuloutely fine for that purpose. Unless you are going back to work or have feeding issues a large expensive pump is probably unneecessary. someone gave me one before my last baby was born and I don't think I used it even once.

esther s

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 8:16 pm

okay here is my advice..DONT GO OVERBOARD!
my inlaws are very well off, and my family is BH very comfortable. we got tons of gifts, and my father in law told us ANYTHING else we want to buy and put on his card
we got:
a pack n play
a snap n go
car seat
britax carseat for when hes older
a city mini
a city select (dont ask why the mini and select- unreturnable gift)
a swing
bouncer seat
bassinet
roc n play
play mat
a 250 dollar monitor!!! (as a gift!! I would NEVER spend on it)
an extremely expensive highchair
the list goes on........................
AND WE BARELY USE ANY OF IT!@!!!!!!
get a snap n go, carseat, pac n play, diapers, clothing, bath tub and bath stuff, a few toys and thats it!

bnm

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 9:12 pm

I got most of the infant 'equipment' on freecycle. bouncer, boppy, exersaucer, swing, pack and play...

crib waited for good sale, til then baby slept in a borrowed portacrib, carriage we got on ebay NIB, changing table/dresser combo was floor model so we got nice discount...

I think my twin carriage now for my second one is the only thing I spent full price on....

allrgymama

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 9:21 pm

As far as hand me down baby gear goes: I agree that it is unsafe to take baby gear (strollers, car seats, bassinets, etc) from people you don't really know. Even from a person you know, things get old and worn out and new safety regulations could have developed.

That being said, Babies R Us runs a Trade In promotion 3 or 4 times a year where if you bring in old baby gear, they'll give you a coupon for 15% or 20% off a new piece of baby gear (and you don't have to change highchair for highchair; you can trade a highchair for a stroller).

So let's say you buy yourself a Snap n Go and get a stroller off Craig's list for no money or a hand me down for free, you can then trade that in for a brand new piece of gear.

We did this with the car seat my aunt gave us (over 10 years old) and got something new.

momsprince

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 9:40 pm

esther s wrote:

would you give away any of the things you don't use?

EstherHaMalka

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 11:22 pm

Just went through the same thing, and these were the things I got:

Car seat - I got the graco snugride as a gift and love it ($150)

Snap n Go for the Graco snugride, also got as gift - I use it ALL THE TIME inside, outside, in the car, etc... ($70)

I got a pack n play as a gift (range between $100 and $200), but baby liked the car seat to sleep in during the first few months. You will need a couple sheets for the pack n play if you decide to buy one ($20).

I got a Graco swing as a gift, and was really looking forward to putting baby in it, but he didn't like it Sad

($120).

I got a "Bundle Me" because my baby was born in the winter, but no need for that now Wink

I got clothes as gifts and didn't have to purchase anything until he was at least 3 months old. I would suggest going to outlet stores to get basics. You can really do well there. When it's your first, I find you want new things for the beginning at least. I'd say 6-10 onsie undershirts, 5-10 strechies, a hat, and 2 receiving blankets.

You will need white square burping cloths (I think they're like $2 each), diapers and wipes ($50 worth), pacifier, nursing pads, baby soap. For a boy, for the bris, the mohel usually asks for gauze pads, anti-bacterial cream, and burping cloths. My MIL happens to also bring along infant tylenol to the bris, but not everyone does.

A baby bath can be purchased later after the cord falls off (I think mine was $25), plus some washcloths ($5).

That's all I can think of for now...