Cost of a baby

[bbfreethinker]

People! You keep mentioning how children need bedrooms and real beds. Haven't we learned that children are perfectly fine in the bathroom or on shelves in a closet?

[Wolfie]

If they're typing on a macbook it automatically "corrects" your spelling of fundies to "fun dies"

Mine doesn't, but I think my iPhone and iTouch do. I don't use autocorrect with the Macbook.

[Wolfie]

Okay, I can't find it now- but there was a post saying that you'd need a bigger car, a second bathroom, ect.... (maybe somebody edited it, I had to get back to work and couldn't answer right away) Really? I can see a bigger car if you have multiple kids- but I once saw two car seats in the back of a two door Yaris. I can't imagine it was easy to get the kids in and out, but they were using it. It would save money on gas! On the bathroom thing- my mom grew up with two working parents and two siblings in a 1000 sq foot house with one bathroom. They were okay. We had 1 1/2 bathrooms for a good portion of my childhood too. Those things aren't a big deal. There are other things that really can't be worked around.

I do agree that kids aren't cheap, and that the expenses just change as they get older.

[ilovetchotchkes]

People! You keep mentioning how children need bedrooms and real beds. Haven't we learned that children are perfectly fine in the bathroom or on shelves in a closet?

How could I have been so stupid! of COURSE! *goes off to turn toddler's bedroom back into husband's office and move toddler bed into bathroom* While I'm at it, i'll ask my headship to lock up the cheese

[Angri-la]

How could I have been so stupid! of COURSE! *goes off to turn toddler's bedroom back into husband's office and move toddler bed into bathroom* While I'm at it, i'll ask my headship to lock up the cheese

Seriously. I am so stupid. I am taking away my daughter's bed after this post, and selling it on craigslist to buy more tube meat. I'd be a terrible mother without the fundie wisdom you pointed out. How could I think a bed and balanced food were an awesome idea?

My headship locked up the cheese weeks ago. He loves me so much!

[Feberin]

Okay, I can't find it now- but there was a post saying that you'd need a bigger car, a second bathroom, ect.... (maybe somebody edited it, I had to get back to work and couldn't answer right away) Really? I can see a bigger car if you have multiple kids- but I once saw two car seats in the back of a two door Yaris. I can't imagine it was easy to get the kids in and out, but they were using it. It would save money on gas! On the bathroom thing- my mom grew up with two working parents and two siblings in a 1000 sq foot house with one bathroom. They were okay. We had 1 1/2 bathrooms for a good portion of my childhood too. Those things aren't a big deal. There are other things that really can't be worked around.

I do agree that kids aren't cheap, and that the expenses just change as they get older.

If you're careful with picking out seats you can fit three across http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=33226 (BTW car-seat.org is an awesome place to get advice on car seats). I fit one rear and one forward facing car seat in my hyundai accent when I transported a friend's daughter and my son. But when my accent went up we bought a minivan because it is more convient for a soon to be two child family.

And my son also can eat a ton of food for a toddler. He's put away three slices of pizza along with veggies.

[Wolfie]

And my son also can eat a ton of food for a toddler. He's put away three slices of pizza along with veggies.

Yes, my niece went through phases like that. I remember once babysitting her and she ate more than me when she was a toddler. Actually she still goes through phases like that, and she's so tiny for her age that we wonder where it goes.

[bbfreethinker]

Seriously. I am so stupid. I am taking away my daughter's bed after this post, and selling it on craigslist to buy more tube meat. I'd be a terrible mother without the fundie wisdom you pointed out. How could I think a bed and balanced food were an awesome idea?

My headship locked up the cheese weeks ago. He loves me so much!

Glad to be of service. Maybe I should start a blog to impart all of my child rearing wisdom to the masses.

[ilovetchotchkes]

Glad to be of service. Maybe I should start a blog to impart all of my child rearing wisdom to the masses.

Only if you're still a 16 year old SAHD! because you know they know EVERYTHING there is to know about marriage and child rearing, even having never done it themselves. Such a blessing that they know so much!

[mnb357]

Actually, you can bring up baby pretty cheaply, as long as you assess your priorities, and live according to those. My parents did, and I'm richer for it. I'm raising my children in a similar manner, and I think they are thriving. It's fun to see them use their imaginations to solve problems which could be easily handled by my husband and I buying the latest widget. It's also rewarding to see them state their case for spending $ on a certain item. So, while I haven't read Smockity Frocks blog, (no offense, but I'm in a pissed off mood already, and reading inane drivel would only add to it) I have to say that based on this thread, I share in the outrage of that number. "Horseshit" as my parents would say. (Which I'm sure they would say her blog is too, but I digress.) On another note, if any of you really want a FUN book on how to cut corners creatively, read "The Tightwad Gazette" by Amy Dacyczyn. She has a great article about bringing up baby cheaply.

[2xx1xy1JD]

It depends on so many things.

For starters, does baby mean loss of an income for a period of time and/or daycare? That's probably one of the biggest potential expenses.

Housing: baby #1 squeezed into a 1 bedroom apt. with us, but we eventually bought a house to accommodate baby #2 and #3.

Transportation: We bought a minivan, but honestly it wasn't really essential with baby #1 since we mostly walked. With #2 and #3, living in the burbs and having busy kids, I do a lot of driving.

Baby stuff: You need less than you think. We just got a basic crib, dresser, changing pad, glider, car seat, stroller, baby carrier and diaper bag.

We didn't have much when baby #1 came along, so we didn't spend much. The cost of our kids has grown exponentially since then.

[Lily]

Lets see. I had a weird situation when I gave birth to my first biological child, I won't go into depth, but it lessened the cost a little bit. Not that much though. For the purposes here, I'll assume cost of a baby is from birth until around... 2? * just for arguments' sake, since IME we use most of the upfront baby stuff for 2 years or so.

Insurance covered the birth and hospital, very little out of pocket cost to us there, DH took care of it but I know it was less than $1000. So spaced out over 2 years, $40/m. DH's job provides full medical care for all of us, and I'm the one who uses up the deductible usually, so any healthcare is on the employee healthcare.

Coslept from the start and never bought a crib, no cost there. No special baby furniture or gadgets. They're perfectly fine with baths in the sink or showers with mama, and IMO most of those convenience gadgets just complicate things rather than make them easier.

Slings, I make myself and have gotten as gifts.

Clothes, mostly got from friends, but I do love baby clothes, for my first I probably spent $50/month over the first two years, maybe $1200 altogether.

Upfront for cloth diapers, $600 (very high estimate, probably considerably lower), spaced out over maybe 30 months of use, $20/month.

Got most of the baby toys and other stuff from friends and family either used or as gifts, maybe $25/month for what we bought new.

New carseat, $150. /24mos = $7/m rounded up.

Breastfed and once we feed solids, we don't buy special baby food. Negligible since we grow our own fruit and veg and raise a lot of our meat. What we spend on food with 1/2 adults and 7 kids is not much, if any more than most people spend with 2 adults and 2 kids. Liberal estimate for the first 2 years, $40 extra a month.

No daycare, and only irregular babysitting, which translates to handing a teenager $20 or leaving the kids with my parents/their honourary grandmother, or bribing my oldest to watch a younger sibling for a while. $20 month, at most.

My young children don't do any "activities" or "classes". We live with plenty of people around us in an intentional community and have a community wide baby boom going on, tons of kids under 5 so they have all the play and social opportunity they need.

No preschool.

Water, electricity and other stuff probably went up marginally, but not a whole lot.

For arguments' sake, $50 in misc.

Rounding up and based on liberal estimates, a baby probably costs me $240 a month, *24 = $5760 for 2 years. I know for a fact that that's less than we spend in reality.

Subsequent babies cost even less per month, and I didn't have my older kids around as babies, so I can't estimate those costs in.

Older kids do cost more, they like stuff and going places and doing things, and they eat more and don't think used toys and handmade baby clothes are good gifts. I don't keep close track of it or divide it up, so I couldn't tell you exact numbers, but def. more than a newborn to 2YO.

[treemom]

For my 80k pregnancy I only paid 15 dollars, which demonstrates why hmo's were doomed to failure.

I paid 400 a month for part time nanny in my house because I worked at home until he was 3. But I cloth diapered and was able to breastfeed and given our reproductive issues we were gifted heavily by everyone so we bought very little.

[FlorenceHamilton]

My children are in their mid twenties now. I cannot even calculate the amount of time, money and energy was expended in raising them. Having children is a sacrifice. This is why I believe that all children should be wanted. If a person cannot make that sacrifice with all the love in their hearts and all of the willingness to allocate resources, then children will not be a blessing to them. There were times that I was able to give my children a fairly opulent life and then other times that things got tight and we had to be creative together to get by. Remember that costs are not only dollars.

Children cost everythng you have and then some more. For me, it has been all given without hesitation and with all of the love in my heart.

I can;t wait until they decide to give me grandbabies to spoil.

[apple1]

... For the purposes here, I'll assume cost of a baby is from birth until around... 2?

Shaking head.

Next?

[Austin]

My children are in their mid twenties now. I cannot even calculate the amount of time, money and energy was expended in raising them. Having children is a sacrifice. This is why I believe that all children should be wanted. If a person cannot make that sacrifice with all the love in their hearts and all of the willingness to allocate resources, then children will not be a blessing to them. There were times that I was able to give my children a fairly opulent life and then other times that things got tight and we had to be creative together to get by. Remember that costs are not only dollars.

Children cost everythng you have and then some more. For me, it has been all given without hesitation and with all of the love in my heart.

I can;t wait until they decide to give me grandbabies to spoil.

Word on all of this. Every child deserves to be wanted and more. I especially liked this:

Children cost everythng you have and then some more. For me, it has been all given without hesitation and with all of the love in my heart.

Truer words have never been spoken.

[theologygeek]

Babies are cheap. Kids get expensive when they're teenagers, and all the way into adulthood. The college aged kids work but they don't make much. If they are forced to live off campus because the college only guarantees dorms for freshman and sophomores, then the kids have to pay rent and buy groceries. Then there is the kid who got laid off and has a family to support. That's always fun. Then we have the teenagers who have their mother's taste in fashion. I am the Bank of America.

[apple1]

I am the Bank of America.

Ours was (sometimes still is) the Bank of Mom and Dad.

[theologygeek]

Word on all of this. Every child deserves to be wanted and more.

You could have mine. I'm putting them all up for adoption. They are driving me crazy.

[apple1]

You could have mine. I'm putting them all up for adoption. They are driving me crazy.

We have had our days, too. (Yes, this is all TIC).

See, that's the thing, babies turn into 3 year olds, turn into teenagers, turn into semi-adults...

[theologygeek]

We have had our days, too. (Yes, this is all TIC).

See, that's the thing, babies turn into 3 year olds, turn into teenagers, turn into semi-adults...

I have turned into my father. "Do you think money grows on trees?" and "Is my last name Rockefeller?"

[theologygeek]

I disagree, extra-curricular are needs not wants. Needs required to add balance and enrichment to a childs life, for parents who want their kids to aspire to a higher eduction or integration with the larger world they are necessities. Without those 'needs' you can model a fundy childhood of closeness and lack of exposure or enrichment.

I agree!

[Katiebug]

We have $1150-1200 in additional monthly expenses compared to pre-kid. Because both of us work and our daughter is in daycare, $1000 of that is for child care. The rest is in diapers, clothes, extra food, etc.

I breastfeed so we never had the expense of formula, but my pump was around $350. We made most of our own baby food. We cloth diaper at home but she has to be in disposables at daycare. And babies go through clothing sizes fast in their first year - thank heavens they slow down as toddlers! I buy some clothes new but 2/3 of her clothes are hand me downs from my SIL or are from the children's consignment store. Kids' shoes are expensive, which was a surprise. She has way too many toys but 95% were given as gifts (we only rarely buy toys for her).

The initial outlay for baby gear was pricey. We got some things as gifts but we bought the travel system (stroller and infant car seat), most of the nursery furniture, and most of the linens/layette clothing. As she got bigger we needed two convertible seats for our cars. We have a lightweight stroller and several hundred dollars' worth of carriers and slings.

Let's not forget a few thousand dollars out of pocket that we owed to doctors and the hospital for my prenatal care and the delivery. We have good insurance, too!

There are periodic smaller expenses: sippy cups, toddler utensils, eczema cream. We have her in parent-child swim lessons ($42 for an 8 week session) and we like to take her to the children's museum or aquarium. We like to have portraits taken a few times a year. None of these things are essential but they are nice.

We bought our house well before starting our family, and both of our vehicles are sufficient for at least two children. I can't tell you how many couples we know who preemptively sold a midsize sedan to buy a full sized SUV or minivan with their first child - it's just not necessary.

[lizzy]

I'm pregnant with my first and this thread is FREAKING ME OUT!

That is all.

[theologygeek]

I'm pregnant with my first and this thread is FREAKING ME OUT!

That is all.

All I can say is good luck. LOL