Cost of Having a Baby: The First Month

One question I wondered (and tried to research) before getting pregnant was how much it costs to have a baby and take care of the baby thru the first month. I wondered how much more each month we would spend with an added member to our family (on things like diapers and formula). I had heard that medical insurance bills could be expensive and that buying items such as a crib, stroller, car seat, diaper bag, bottles, clothing, burp cloths, and everything else could get pricey too. When I searched for ball-park estimate numbers online they seemed to be all over the place, so I kept track of everything we purchased starting from when we got pregnant until now that our son is a month old. Since I couldn't find the numbers online, I am sharing my experience here.

Here are the big expense categories:
$2,000 Baby's Birth and Hospital-related Expenses (Maxing out our insurance)
$3,000 Taking Care of Baby (Purchased several nicer items secondhand or on discount)

Mr. D and I feel parents could reasonably spend about $1,500-$2,000 on baby-related items to prepare for the birth of their baby if they are thoughtful about what they purchase. I know a few friends who were gifted several of the items they needed which helped make having a baby easier. We spent about $3,000 on baby-related items (link). I can see how couples could spend more than this amount too, depending on what items they choose to purchase new and what all they decide they need.

We chose to buy several items such as our crib, bassinet, glider, and swing secondhand. Other items such as our car seat (and extra base), baby monitor, and stroller we chose to buy new.

I've learned that the items new parents love are different for everyone. Since David and I live in a town home, I really enjoyed getting a small soda/bottle fridge in our master bathroom that allowed us to not have to go downstairs to place unfinished bottles in the fridge at night or from pumping, and I liked placing a contoured changing pad between the sinks in the bathroom so we could have a changing station close by our bedroom at night. We also love the pack-and-play that included changing and bassinet attachments that we use on our main floor. I'm also glad we purchased a few extra bottles and premie nipples shortly after Neil's birth instead of forever using the one bottle we the hospital gave us. I also really love the large swaddle we were gifted, since Neil sleeps super well when we swaddle him.

Here are some of the items that were spendy for us:
We spent about $900 updating Neil's room with a built-in closet (and storage baskets and a light fixture and blackout curtains and cute decor) although we could have purchased a simple, second-hand dresser and stored it in the closet instead if we had needed to. We also purchased a premium jogging stroller (for $380) since David receives a fitness reimbursement from the company he works for and could reimburse the cost of the stroller if we purchased one that could also work for exercise and purchased it new. I also spent about $300 on maternity and nursing clothes and probably could have saved here by purchasing more of these items from a consignment store. We have a lot of stairs at our place and ended up spending about $100 on baby gates we plan to install when Neil gets closer to crawling.

Our hospital bill was by far our most spendy expense (and the one that was the least optional!). At the hospital Neil and I racked up quite the bill. We had a hospital bill of a little more than $20,000 each and I had about $5,000 for the doctor that included visits leading up to Neil's birth and the normal vaginal birth delivery. This totals about $45,000, of which Neil and I paid about $2,000 out of pocket. (We paid $5,000 in bills and premiums over the year, but received $2,000 in HSA contributions and were refunded almost $1,000 after paying the hospital bills.)

Feel free to reach out to me if you want more specifics about what we spent or recommendations of our other favorite baby items. Although we realize having our Neil has been expensive, we believe he is completely worth it! We probably could have spent less and we definitely could have spent more, but we feel comfortable with what we did spend.

We love having our baby Neil in our lives! Being his parents is such a privilege and we are grateful for our new addition to our family.

What are/were your favorite baby items as a parent? What are/were your expenses like?

-Mrs.M