What did you spend?

Slightly wish I would have bought things second hand and just got new mattresses for next to me’s, bleached and cleaned other secondhand things etc and had more money left for a poorly paid mat leave but I do like the things I bought

Do you mean put away to buy stuff like a cot or put away for what? If so then probably just over a grand. Most expensive thing was the travel system, cotbed and prep machine. Everything else we got second hand or from family friends. I’d always recommend getting what you can second hand as they grow out of everything so quickly and then you want to get rid of it for space and you will no way get near what you paid for!

@Sam I think we have some friends giving us some clothes etc. but I think in my head i think it’s going to be way more expensive than my husband does so we’re clashing heads because i’m stressed and then stressing him out 😭

@Scarlett i mean for spending/baby prep - so the essentials and then maybe in terms of having some money aside for maternity leave but yes good idea in terms of second hand stuff. Do you know anywhere good to look?

My first baby, we got mostly second hand clothing and items . We were also gifted with diapers and wipes. There was just a few we had to buy ourselves such as bouncer and swing . Even then, we barely used the swing just the bouncer. We were good for a whole year or two. We also lived with my in laws and I didn’t work at the time, only hubby was working. We have our own place now and I had my second baby a month ago . I stopped working to go on my maternity leave and hubby went on his paternity leave. We were behind as my maternity leave funds hasn’t kicked in and/or situated so unfortunately, my husband had to go back to work. Again, we had mostly everything second handed to us and/or I kept some of the stuff from my oldest (same gender) and just needed to buy a few things. We’re good for a whole year or two again .

Vinted is brilliant for second hand. Lots of baby clothes / items still new with tags / or nearly new in really good condition. Facebook marketplace, local free sites on Facebook are also worth a look xxx

Vinted and Facebook marketplace if you’re in the UK, local secondhand baby markets etc, for the big things. The only thing I would say is essential you’d buy brand new is a car seat unless you know the seller well.

Emma’s diary has offers on approved second hand travel systems but you can get a good brand pram for less on eBay a couple of years older and not latest models . Market place and mum groups on fb have lots of stuff too. I got bags of clothes for free , my husband’s boss gave us a next2me cot for free and we just need a new mattress. We also got a bouncer from a charity shop and washed the fabric and disinfected it. Family is helping a lot too 🤷🏾‍♀️ you spend what you want/ can

Vinted is great for baby clothes. Facebook market place. Look for ‘mum’ selling groups on there too. Local baby sale events as well are good. Like where people hire a table and sell their own bits! Money aside for mat leave is a good idea. I’d just try and put whatever you can afford away but not stress over it too much. Baby will be happy just being with you , regardless of where you are! Check childrens centres for free baby groups. Libraries etc!

I say around 4-5k. But I regret it, I wish I used Vinted and things at the time. I do now I have 2. But I think because it was my first I wanted everything to be the first

Ah thanks everyone that’s so helpful! I’ll have a look on fb and vinted and see what i can nab!

I got almost everything second hand. My pram was free literally free because of a ink stain on the hood , but is like new.

I had to save £7k alone just to help pay bills whilst I was on maternity leave

Best thing to do make a list of what items you would like. We got most of ours of my sister, but bought a new car seat (the most expensive thing)

I honestly wish we'd bought more things second hand! Off the top of my head main things were: Travel system : 1,000 Next to me crib: 250 Changing mat: 20 Rocking chair: 200 Nappy bin: 25 Baby bath: 25 Newborn clothes: 50 Muslins: 30 Breast pump: 15 (got given it second hand if I covered postage) Steriliser: 20 Then as I had loads of issues breastfeeding and settling on the right bottles as my baby refused most, ended up spending about £150 on different bottles and teats, and LOADS on formula.

Trust me, from a woman who was on a tight budget as I had to go it alone...you don't need to go mental and buy all the things lol. I don't have a nappy bin, nappy bags cost hardly anything and they go out to the bin. You don't need an expensive pram, I love mine but it didn't cost a fortune and I didn't pick the cheapest. Loads of things I borrowed as they grow so fast! I honestly thought this kid would cripple me financially but I'm doing just fine and he doesn't go without. He may not have the best of the best but he has what I can afford. He has lovely clean clothes on every day, has food in his belly and I am proud of myself for being able to give him all that he has.

@Elise This is all that matters to be honest! I’m not going to fall into the mum propaganda they pitch us but i don’t want to underestimate the cost especially because i’ll be paid awfully on mat leave

@Tanya my gosh it’s awful isn’t it

We didn't put any money aside. We had 3 baby showers, thrown by co-workers, friends, & family. We were gifted everything we needed. We bought the crib and rocking chair, second hand. We had enough diapers and wipes from our shower to not have to buy any until 5mo..Ask for sizes newborn-2. We were gifted clothes all the way from newborn-9mo.

I honestly don’t think babies cost that much. If you buy second hand, you save loads! If your maternity pay is rubbish, it’s deffo worth saving up just so you can have a bit of breathing space whilst you’re on maternity and not stressing about money. As to how much to save for that, I’d probably look at all of the bills you have going out and work out how much you need per month to pay your share and have a little spare for yourself and then save accordingly. Also if your in the uk, depending on your circumstances, you might be able to apply for something like UC to top you up whilst on maternity

Buy used what you can. Hire the $, temporary stuff. Here you can hire infant car seats (capsule) Double hospital grade breast pumps- they’re worth $2k, I’m not paying $2k for a breast pump so I hired for 6m. TEnS machine you can hire, also Doppler if you wanted one. And then I used cloth diapers and cloth wipes so after I bought 36 diapers and 70-80 wipes- that’s it, I didn’t need to buy anymore for the next 2.5yrs he was in diapers I just washed and reused. He was a very “cheap” baby he had no set weekly/monthly expenses, everything I bought him I “wanted” to. He got a shit ton for Bdays and Xmas (from aunties, uncles cousins) so I rarely needed to buy him much.

The baby it’s quite cheap in real terms however it’s the maternity pay which is the killer. We spent £400 on a travel system. My parents brought the cot. Clothes were handed down or second hand bundles. Child benefit basically covers the cost of formula and nappies or did. Think we got a steriliser starter kit for £100. Write a wish list and start price checking.

Tbh the most expensive items were a good quality stroller (that will grow with our family) and car seat (that will grow with baby too). Other than that, second hand clothing was the main staple we had to pin down along with bottles. My sisters helped put the word out that we were looking for baby clothes and ended up scoring a TON of clothing from FB marketplace and friends of friends for little to nothing. The odds and ends came together pretty inexpensive as well. With the exception of diapers, that was a big one for the baby registry. I think as FTMs there’s a lot of hype around a lot of products you don’t end up needing.

I was going on unpaid maternity leave so about 1,500 to cover bills

Mercari makes it easier to ship. In the US I know there are second hand shops (one chain is called Once Upon a Child). I mostly buy clothing here but sometimes there’s toys too

So I definitely suggest buying what you can second hand OR hitting up Target, Walmart, Carters when they start season changes for clothes. I get a lot of clothes on clearance in the size I think they will be in next year or a size up. Saves me SOOOOOO much money and if it doesn’t end up working out I don’t feel so bad. But to answer your money question and we got everything new. Their cribs were 400 each but convert to a toddler and full size bed. Dresser was 800. Stroller system with infant car seat was around 1500. Toddler car seat which goes till 100+lbs was around 400. Recliner was 700. Diaper bags 200+300 I got a bigger one after my second. 1000s between clothes, diapers, bedding, wipes and toys. But I get diapers and wipes from target when they do buy 100 get a 20$ gift card cause I can use it towards more diapers wipes clothes.

We got alot of stuff second hand and when family wanted to buy stuff for us we asked them to club together for bigger things. My mum for example got her cot and my grandparents got us a next to me crib. My dad paid for our pram & car seat but we did buy that second hand but never used/still in box so it was a bit cheaper. (Literally a brand new cossatto travel system that retails for £900 and we got for £400! Including isofix!) As for clothes we got a lot second hand and there’s so much stuff you don’t need to buy but you feel like you do. Like sleepyheads etc stuff like that is dangerous (and expensive) and you don’t actually need it. But like baby bath, swing chair, highchair you can totally get second hand and clean up well or in next to perfect condition.

Also it sounds cheeky to tell people what you want but so many people will want to buy stuff for you. Ask for things like a changing mat, car mirror, baby monitor, baby toys, play gym, changing bag. Useful things rather than just clothes x

We probably spent at least £2k just on the stuff we bought for the first six months: next to me cot, car seat, stroller, changing table, clothing, etc. And then you need to plan for mat leave as the SMP barely covers bills. And then they start to grow out of everything so now we need to buy a high chair, a big crib and yet another car seat. Kids are really bloody expensive. 😖

Haven't properly added it up but roughly Pram - £1000 Car seat - £300 Cot + mattress - £200 Bedside crib - £100 Reusable nappies - £500 Breastpump + bottles - £500? Baby carrier (sling) - £100 Baby monitor - £100 Bedding/sleeping bags (all sizes) - £100 Changing bag - £50 Bouncy seat - £50 High chair - £100 Toddler car seat (needed a second for going back to work) - £400 We were lucky that we got loads of clothes and toys from my sister so didn't really have to buy any Can't think what else we bought tbh, but definitely budget for things like baby classes, days out, grabbing lunch whilst out, etc. on top of covering bills etc. whilst on mat leave

Thanks everyone this has been really helpful! It’s difficult because i don’t have any family in my side and only one of my friends has a kid so getting things given/bought is quite hard because if it does come it’ll be from hubbys side but appreciate all the advice and insight thanks mamas 😘😘😘

We got everything secondhand. Including the big stuff such as a travel system and bedroom set we got everything for around £400. I got no maternity pay due to having been working abroad but we scrimped through on my partner's salary and I used a small amount of my savings to contribute before going back to work part time when baby was 14 weeks (probably my only regret looking back but it couldn't be helped).