When my wife and I started preparing for a baby, I asked myself – How much does it cost to have a baby? What does a baby need? When do we start buying baby stuff? I had all these questions racing around my head and I had almost no answers.
Fortunately my wife had worked in childcare prior to her current job, and so she had a far better idea than I did on exactly what a baby needed and when we should start buying baby stuff. Alas like me, she also didn’t have much insight into how much it was going to cost to have a baby, other than knowing it was going to be fairly expensive.
So I’ll start things off with this table – It has all the items (including medical expenses) that we bought or received as a result of preparing for our baby to come into this world. The prices listed are what I paid or what we would have paid if we decided to buy everything brand new. In all likely hood, if you are willing to shop around then you will probably be able to find many of these items on sale throughout the 9 months of your pregnancy.
List of Baby Stuff and Total Cost to Have a Baby
Item | Cost | Quantity | Total | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOTAL COST | $7502.45 | |||
| Activity Mat | $69.95 | 1 | $69.95 | Buy Activity Mat |
| Baby Bath | $40 | 1 | $40 | Buy Baby Bath Note: We got ours secondhand for free |
| Baby Bath Towel | $10 | 2 | $20 | Buy Baby Bath Towels |
| Baby Blood Test | $107 | 1 | $107 | These are performed the day after the baby is born to test for cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease and congenital hypothyroidism |
| Baby Bottles | $1.50 | 3 | $4.50 | Buy Baby Bottles |
| Baby Bouncer | $80 | 1 | $80 | Buy Baby Bouncer |
| Baby Clothes | $15 | 7 | $105 | Buy Baby Clothes |
| Baby Cleaning soaps and oils | $20 | 1 | $20 | Buy Baby Cleaning Soaps and Oils |
| Baby Carrier / Holder | $50 | 1 | $50 | Buy Baby Carrier |
| Baby Gate | $50 | 1 | $50 | Buy Baby Gate |
| Baby Gate Extension | $24 | 1 | $24 | Buy Baby Gate Extension |
| Baby Medical Kit | $50 | 1 | $50 | Buy Baby Medical Kit Buy Baby Grooming Kit  |
| Baby Monitor and Night Light | $110 | 1 | $110 | Buy Baby Monitor and Night Light |
| Baby Powder | $10 | 2 | $20 | Buy Baby Powder |
| Baby Wipes (pack of 100) | $3 | 4 | $12 | Buy Baby Wipes |
| Baby Wraps | $5 | 5 | $25 | Buy Muslin Wraps |
| Bibs | $5 | 5 | $25 | Buy Waterproof SuperBib |
| Bottle Cleaner / Sterilizer | $120 | 1 | $120 | Buy Electric Bottle Steam Sterilizer |
| Car Shade | $8 | 1 | $8 | Buy Car Window Shade, Black, 2 Pack |
| Change Pad | $30 | 1 | $30 | Buy Changing Pad |
| Change Table | $149 | 1 | $149 | Buy Baby Changing Table |
| Cot | $150 | 1 | $150 | We got ours second hand from a friend for free. Buy Rocking Crib - White  |
| Glucose Tolerance Test | $140 | 1 | $140 | Glucose Tolerance Test |
| High Chair | $70 | 1 | $70 | We bought this second hand for $15 Buy High Chair  |
| Hospital Fees | $520 | 1 | $520 | This was the excess from our private health fund. |
| Nappy / Diaper Buckets | $10 | 2 | $20 | Buy Bucket |
| Maternity Bra Pads | $6.5 | 2 | $13 | Buy Nursing Pads - 60 ct |
| Maternity Bras | $20 | 5 | $100 | Buy Nursing and Maternity Bra |
| Maternity Dresses | $50 | 3 | $150 | Buy Maternity Dress |
| Maternity Pads (packs of 10) | $5 | 6 | $30 | Buy Maternity Pads |
| Maternity Shirts | $7 | 5 | $35 | Buy Maternity Women's Shirt |
| Maternity Undies | $3 | 10 | $30 | Buy Maternity Panty |
| Mattress for Cot | $95 | 1 | $95 | Buy Cot Matress |
| Mattress Protector | $30 | 1 | $30 | Buy Matress Protector |
| Mid Wife Fees | $25 | 12 | $300 | We were charged for every visit |
| Nappy Bag | $50 | 1 | $50 | Buy Diaper Bag, Black |
| Nappy Bin | $25 | 1 | $25 | Buy Diaper Pail |
| Nappies/Diapers 30 pack | $50 | 2 | $100 | Buy Newborn Diapers Jumbo Pack 30ct. |
| Obstetrician On Call Fee | $1800 | 1 | $1,800 | |
| Obstetrician Fees | $85 | 13 | $1,105 | We were charged for every visit |
| Paediatrician | $468 | 1 | $468 | This is the total for 3 consults while we were in the hospital. |
| Pacifiers | $3 | 3 | $9 | Buy Pacifiers |
| Portable Cot | $59 | 1 | $59 | Buy Portable Cot |
| Pram / Stroller | $200 | 1 | $200 | Buy Stroller, Tangerine |
| Sleep Support | $10 | 1 | $10 | Buy Safe Cotton Anti Roll Pillow |
| Vitamin D Tablets | $16 | 14 | $224 | Buy Vitamin D with Calcium |
| Ultrasound | $150 | 1 | $150 | |
| 4D Imaging | $250 | 2 | $500 |
Expensive little things aren’t they. But you can save money if you are smart about it. Just keep reading… Note: Baby Money Saving Tips on Page 2
At this point in time you are probably thinking – “I don’t have $7,500 to spend on a baby!”
Remember, this is only the brand new cost of everything I listed, many of the items can be purchased second hand or can be borrowed from friends or relatives. It is even possible that you may not even need a lot of the things listed in the table. I just wanted to have a fairly comprehensive list of baby items available for you and to let you see all the things that we bought or were given throughout the pregnancy.
Our son is currently just shy of being 2 weeks old and so far we have used almost everything included in the list with the exception of the high chair (because he can’t sit up yet), the baby bottles (because my wife is breast feeding him), the medical kit and the baby carrier / holder.
Private vs Public Hospital
There is always debate over whether or not it is worth the money to go though the private hospital system or take what you are given in the public system.
First off I will tell you that we went into a private hospital, but only because we already had the cover. What I didn’t know when we decided to go private was that it still cost a lot of money in excess charges and doctors fees that I wouldn’t have had to pay for if we went through the public system.
Why we went with a Private Hospital
- We had a choice of hospital
- We had a choice of doctor
- We had our own room during and after the birth
- We had a doctor we were familiar with and who attended the birth
- Antenatal classes were provided by the hospital
- Apparently the food is better (It still wasn’t great…)
Once you know you are pregnant your GP will likely refer you to an obstetrician.
Note: An obstetrician is a specialist at delivering babies and looking after all things pregnancy related.
Note: Our private health care didn’t cover the expense incurred from seeing the obstetrician. It only covered things once we hit the hospital and were having the baby.
The Obstetrician also had a mid wife that worked in the office and she charged out at $25 an hour.
Honestly I don’t think seeing the mid wife or the obstetrician was really worth the money. Almost every time we visited them, all they did was take a blood pressure reading, feel my wifes belly and then ask if we had any questions or concerns. Asides from spending up to an hour in the waiting room, it only took 10 minutes to get all this done every fortnight (weekly in the last month) and we were finished. The way I see it, every fortnight we paid $85 for a blood pressure test. Incidentally, I have a blood pressure tester at home which cost me $50 and we don’t have to drive 15 minutes to see a doctor and get a reading.
The regular doctors visits probably would have been more worthwhile if there were problems in the pregnancy, but for someone who is having no issues it is a massive waste of money.
Would I go private again – No, it was just too expensive for what we got and we had to wait for ages to see our doctor anyway.
Medical Tests and Ultra Sounds
Throughout the pregnancy my wife had to undergo a couple of different blood tests, glucose tolerance test and both a normal 2D ultrasound as well as a 4D ultrasound. Most of the blood tests were free, however everything else cost us money.
The glucose tolerance test was$140, the 2D ultrasound was $150 and the 4D ultrasounds were $250 a shot. We also had the option of doing a third 4D ultrasound towards the end of the pregnancy, but we decided to go against it as we didn’t have any problems with the pregnancy up to that point.
In case you are wondering what a 4D image looks like here is a video of one on YouTube
Continued on Page 2 – (What to do and not to do when having a baby)
I have NOT had a baby and we are planning on waiting probably 6-10 years before having one. They are a big expense, as you are well aware, and I personally want to pay down debt, continue my education, etc. before having one. Of course, surprises do happen and if I did have a baby within the next few years I don’t want people to think I’d be bitter about it or not love it as much as if it fit into my neat little plan : )
DC @ Young Adult Money recently posted..7 Perks of Being a Full-Time Employee with Benefits
It will certainly change your life, but it isn’t as bad as everyone makes out provided you and your wife help each other out.
I love how comprehensive this breakdown is! It’s a few years before I’ll be having kids, but this is exactly the kind of information I like getting my hand on so I can know exactly what’s in store financially.
Sophie recently posted..Product Road Test: Easiyo Yoghurt Maker
Be sure to bookmark it and come back
Great post, Glen! One thought about the obstetrician: we didn’t use an obstetrician our first time around, and baby #1 and I both almost “bit the dust” b/c of the GP’s lack of expertise for our particular situation (nothing serious, she was just a huge baby). After that, we vowed to use OB’s only for our babies. Also, if it’s your first baby, you may get some of the above items as gifts, so that might help cost-wise.
Laurie recently posted..Fire!
We managed to get quite a few of the items listed above as gifts, so it wasn’t too bad.
Our obstetrician was a bit of an old fuddy duddy, but he was very good at his job when the time came.
Pretty expensive! But surely worth every penny. In France they don’t have enough public beds anyway so you can choose to go private and will still be 100% covered by social security. It is one of the rare things they fully cover, I guess they want more babies to pay our future pensions!
Pauline recently posted..A Beginner’s Guide to a Minimalist Home
It is always interesting to hear about other countries health systems and how they differ to Australia
Glen recently posted..Giving Gifts on a Budget
Oh boy… when you break it down like that.. yikes
As I said earlier, you won’t have to buy all of it. It’s just there in case you decide you want to.
Very interesting compared to Our Freaking Budget’s “free baby”. =) Good health insurance can definitely be worthwhile when you’ve got a baby on the way.
Mrs. Pop @ Planting Our Pennies recently posted..Why Being Short Is Awesome
There is no way that Nick was a free baby. We spent a lot of money and I honestly don’t believe it is possible to have a free one when it is your first as there are just too many things that have to be considered.
The thing about babies? Once they are here, the price gets forgotten (til they grow up to become teens and you become their ATM). But I wouldn’t change a thing. Not. One.Thing.
Thad recently posted..Using Apple TV in Your Small Business: Digital Signs For Cheap
That is really good to know Thad, it gives me hope for the future
Having kids is expensive but sooooo worth it…..worth every penny! I like your comprehensive breakdown. Honestly, I resent spending money on almost anything but I have never regretted a cent spent on my kids!
Holly@ClubThrifty recently posted..Invest in Gold for Extra Cash
I think you probably see it as money well spent, I know I do (with the exception of diapers which seem to be a bit of a waste.)
That is a very detailed break down. I did not keep track of how much we spent on stuff because I just didn’t do that then. We got most of the newborn stuff from friends or relatives, so that was a score, but I had some complications during birth that cost a pretty penny. I think I ended up paying around $6500 out of pocket. Insurance picked up around $25,000. If we hadn’t had insurance, I guess we’d still be paying on that one. Daycare has probably been our single biggest expense since then. Kindergarten has cured that but we were spending about $5000 a year, which is very cheap compared to some areas. It’s worth every penny and more though.
Kim@Eyesonthedollar recently posted..Reformed Spenders Adjust to Life on a Budget
I don’t even want to think about the future costs, as I know it is going to be very expensive.
Wow, that’s a huge list. We purchased a few things second hands and received a bunch of things from the baby shower. We also skip things like a baby changing table. We just change him on the carpet on top of a blanket. We don’t have room for a changing table and I don’t think it’s really necessary. Our health insurance covered almost everything so we didn’t pay much extra at all. The biggest cost for us is daycare. We were paying over $1200 per month until I quit my job. The income loss is a lot more, but I was ready to leave anyway. Baby is a lot of fun. Hope you are having a great time.
With my bad back I would hate to have to keep getting up off the floor, but for people that don’t suffer from a slipped disc then I agree that a change table isn’t necessary.
Great post. I forgot how expensive it was to have a baby. I did do a proper budget for it all, which was a mistake on my part.
Jason Clayton | frugal habits recently posted..15 More Side Business Ideas – You Can Start Today
I wouldn’t have thought it was as bad as this if I didn’t track all our money flows.
Great post Glen and awesome breakdown. They are expensive, but as you well know, worth every last bit. We were fortunate to have three really nice showers which provided for a huge chunk of the bigger things. Our are also the only grandkids in our family so we got pretty spoiled from that aspect. I could not agree more on the secondhand aspect, very few things need to be bought new.
John S @ Frugal Rules recently posted..5 Easy Ways to Save Money Lost Due to the Payroll Tax Increase
That is great! We only had the one Baby shower, but we still scored pretty well there.
Wow, great job of breaking it all down Glen and talking about things you would have done differently. The differences in healthcare systems (US vs Australia) are intriguing to me and I wonder how similar out-of-pocket expenses would be here assuming most of it was covered by health insurance. We haven’t had kids yet, but I’m I still own WSL by the time we do, then I’ll certainly write up a similar post!
Jason @ WorkSaveLive recently posted..Easy Spinach Tortellini Soup Recipe
I would also be interested to see the comparison.
I think many people forget to track everything they buy for the baby and so they can never be 100% sure how much having a baby costs them.
I was doing some research for a article I was writing and the cost of raising a child from now until the age of 18 here in the U.S. was estimated at $250,000. Yikes. Worth every penny though!
Great job breaking down the costs. I can say from experience that we also had all the “stuff’” for our 1st baby, but by the time #2 and #3 came along we realized that we didn’t need half of the junk. You quickly figure out what the necessities are and the rest is just costly filler that takes up space.
Kyle @ Rather-Be-Shopping.com recently posted..Got Kids? You Can Still Enjoy Super Bowl XLVII
It is hard to know what you actually need with the first one, but I am sure I will work it out as time goes on.
Cool, never seen or heard of 4D only 3D ….. I’m happy in Canada we don’t have to pay for our healthcare as the prices can be so much. I think we would like you try to get some or as many items as we could second-hand to cut down on the costs. Either way we look at it a child is going to cost us moola!! Cheers mate…
Canadianbudgetbinder recently posted..CHECK OUT CHECKOUT51: Technology and Coupons in Check!
I also had never heard of 4D. I’m still not sure how it differs from 3D?
Well, you listed a lot of things I never used when my babies were newborn, so anyone who has a baby on the way could choose a less expensive route. But, as several pointed out, having the baby and the first few years can be the least expensive part of raising a child, and yes, definitely worth it!
Marie at Family Money Values recently posted..Teaching Self-Sufficiency is Harder than Helping
I’m sure it can be done without many of these items, but it will depend on the individual and what they want to use.
I didn’t pay for anything listed above. Except nursing pads and nursing bras. Everything else was given to us and all medical procedures were covered 100% under our provincial health coverage. Kids are expensive but worth it 10000%
You are so lucky! We certainly did pay for a lot of it, but because we had budgeted for it we we were able to cover all the costs.
Man, that’s a great breakdown. We are thinking about having kids in the next few years, so I will have to remember that baby showers are the way to go!
I won’t have to worry much about the healthcare aspect of it as we live in Canada, but I will consider purchasing some items second hand to save some money.
Great post Glen!
Vicky recently posted..Financial Advisors 101: Get the Inside Scoop!
If we have a 2nd one I might have to move over there to take advantage of the snow and the great health care
Glen recently posted..Giving Gifts on a Budget
I knew a baby would cost a lot, but I didn’t know how much for sure. It really helps me to see all of the expenditures and where I could save. Well except I live in the US, and my health care coverage is going to cost a lot more. I am not planning on having a baby yet, but when I do I will be using this list along with a few others. Thanks!
Hope it helps you out along the way
Kids do cost quite a bit, but they are worth every cent! I love my daughter more than anything!!
Mackenzie recently posted..Healthy Stuff…
That seems to be a common theme.
Despite all the pooping, weeing, crying and sicking up I also love our little one, he’s just such a cutie!
I was also clueless about what a baby needed, just as clueless as I am now when it comes to what our toddlers need! Thank goodness for our wives, great post.
Money Bulldog recently posted..A Trip to London on a Budget
I’ll second that, I would be lost without my wife!
Congrats again on the kid, Glen! All I can say is…no need to pay for the private room when they offer it!! Not worth it in my opinion….Anyways, 2 kids and I am D.O.N.E. Great post!
Tony@YouOnlyDoThisOnce recently posted..Guest Post: A Beginner’s Guide to a Minimalist Home
I liked having the privacy of a private room, but it certainly isn’t essential.
This is a stellar breakdown of what it costs to have a kid! My wife and I are thinking about having kids in the next couple of years so this will be helpful to gauge how much we should have in savings. Thanks!
Deacon @ Well Kept Wallet recently posted..5 Habits of Broke People
Hopefully you can do it cheaper than this as this is a bit of a worst case example in case you can’t find anything second hand or don’t get a baby shower.
As a mother of two, I’ve got a ton of thoughts on this, but I’ll condense it all to one thought: if you only have three bottles, WHY ON EARTH are you spending more than $100 on a bottle sterilizer? Washing by hand is just as fast, just as effective, and saves you money. (Plus, if your wife plans on breastfeeding, both the above expenses are kind of a moot point.)
Elizabeth @ Broke Professionals recently posted..How to Watch Your Expenses Like a Hawk
We got the bottle sterilizer as a gift from my wife’s parents, but the doctor or mid wife also suggested that we get one.
I don’t have kids and don’t plan to have kids, BUT I did work in Babies R Us for a while, so my 2 cents:
Are you planning on having a baby shower? If so, I would not bother buying any baby clothes or bibs – you will get more than you need. EVERYONE will want to buy you something “cute” for the baby.
Even if you are NOT planning on having a shower, I would sign up for as many baby registries as you can! You will get free stuff and coupons! At Babies R Us, we gave “welcome packs” to people who signed up for registries that included a small brand name bottle, bibs, and coupons for accessories.
I also think your cost for a pram/stroller is a little low, unless you are buying used. You also didn’t consider the cost of a car seat, I think? A low-end Graco stroller with car seat is already $299. Either way, a pram is a very expensive option. You can only use them while the baby is unable to sit up. A regular stroller, with a back that can recline or sit up, is more versatile and can be used for much longer than a pram. Unless you like the aesthetics of a pram, I wouldn’t bother with one.
CF recently posted..Mortgages for the self employed
My sister had a baby recently and after the initial cost it’s almost cheaper then being non parents. Less time spent on booze and socialising because you’re in with a child most of the time!!
Mary Rhodes recently posted..Four Ways to Finance your Wholesale Business Start-ups