Baby Budget: Diapers and Formula

[aprilz81]

We need to start taking a hard look at our budget and preparing for the changes the baby will bring to our bank account, reduced pay/no pay during my maternity leave, child care, diapers, formula, etc.  I'm hoping we can adjust our budget now so we have money set aside and ready to go when we need to start spending it.

Diapers: We plan on using disposables, how much should we budget for diapers a month?  I know as they get older this will go down...  I'll try hard to find the best prices and coupons but when you need diapers you NEED diapers.

Formula:  I hope to breast feed, but I had a breast reduction in my mid-20s so I'm not sure if I will be able to or not.  I want to prepare for the cost of formula (assuming I don't need a super special kind) but have no idea how long a can of formula will last.

I know the clothes and equipment are going to be as expensive as we make it so I'm not too worried.  I'm getting (have already gotten) a lot of hand me downs from my sister and I plan to make Once Upon a Child/Craigslist my first stop for things we want/need that we aren't given at the shower or through hand me downs.

Can anyone help give me some averages on what you/your friends have spent?

[geekmama]

Diapers are going to depend heavily on which ones you end up using. DS had skinny legs and a really sensitive but so I had to buy Pampers. It was the only brand that worked. I would say we went through one giant Sam's Club size box every 3-4 weeks. They go faster when they get older because there are fewer diapers per box.

I could get a box for $36 on sale at Sam's or on Amazon Family (which is a great resource if you have Amazon Prime).

I breastfed and never ended up using formula, but I do know that the absolute cheapest option is Costco. They have their cans for $18, and a similar size of generic at Target would cost like $30-$35. I don't know how long they last but they're large.

[geekmama]

Oh, and if your baby isn't super skinny and they don't have especially sensitive skin, Costco's diapers are a great deal too. And their wipes. The wipes I can actually use on DS as well. They're pretty sensitive-skin-friendly.

[ellabee]

I'm no help with formula, but if you do end up bfing, just know that there are also a few costs associated with pump parts, nursing pads, cooler/packs, milk storage etc.

For diapers, I think they can average about $0.18-.35ish a piece. $0.18 would be super cheap. I can usually find mine in the low .20's.

Newborns will go through 12+ diapers in a 24 hr period. It tapers off after that. My 2 yr old uses ~6 a day now.

I'd say stock up when you see them cheap. I know a few places (BRU, Amazon) ran crazy wipes deals last year during black friday/cyber monday. They were like 50c a pack.

Otherwise, if you're not concerned about getting the absolute bottom price, I'd do an Amazon Prime subscription for convenience.

[aprilz81]

We are Amazon Prime members and belong to Costco so that will help. I just have no idea if I need to be budgeting $100 a week for diapers and formula or not. lol

[meeggaannww]

Jun 21, 2016 14:45:52 GMT -5 aprilz81 said:

We are Amazon Prime members and belong to Costco so that will help. I just have no idea if I need to be budgeting $100 a week for diapers and formula or not. lol

I wouldn't say a $100 week. I formula fed dd after nursing didn't work out. I used similac and it was $35 for about a 2 week supply. Diapers I want to say lasted about a week and a half to 2 weeks a box. I use pampers but usually found good deals with sales and coupons. Be prepared to stock up when you find a good deal. And join the rewards clubs. Similac sent me "checks" I could use toward my formula purchases. Also if you know any new moms that are nursing or using a different brand ask to use their checks, most new moms get sent these checks in the beginning, I could kick myself for all the ones I threw away while trying to get nursing to work.

[vlagroupie]

Definitely sign up with similac and enfamil for checks etc. FYI you can use the checks at Sam's club and Costco so that helped get a discount and stock up in bulk.
I recommend following coupon sites like the Krazy coupon lady etc. if you see a really great stock up deal on diapers, it is worth stocking up in advance. The baby bargains books had recommended amounts of diapers needed in each size so that helped.

[danielle1220]

I'm not help with formula because thankfully I was able to BF DS until we weaned at 14 months but for diapers I would target spending about $0.15-$0.20 per diaper and that would be using coupons and other promotions. I stocked up before DS was born by coupon inch and spent maybe $400 total for a years worth of diapers. Again, I got lucky though and Huggies worked just fine for DS. It's really going to depend a lot of the brand you go with. You could get a couple different boxes/bags ahead of time and then find out what works best for your LO and then do bulk buys couponing. The upfront cost might seem like a lot, but if you stock up during a deal, you'll save in the long run.

[LovesMeSomeCake]

aprilz81, great question, I was wondering too...

several of my friends are SAHM, and all swear by Costco diapers/wipes/formula as the most cost effective.

I used to do supercouponing (before it got insane, it is addictive!), and jill cataldo has a website that I still follow where she explains her methods and also give alerts on when good sales are coming up. Let me know if you want more info, it is way less involved than it sounds and you save LOTS pretty easily.

[heybulldog56]

We did Costco for both. Formula was $42.99 for 64oz "jug" of similac sensitive. That lasted about two weeks (I think?). Remember, you can also return everything to Costco hassle free. We used to take advantage and stock up on diapers but if he grew out of a size we'd just go exchange. Aside from that, I can't remember specifics. I know it's super hard to budget for a baby because who knows what will happen but good for you for getting a head start!

[judyblume14]

For diapers, I "subscribe and save" on Amazon prime for pampers. But to be honest, I'm probably going to cancel that because I have found that Parents Choice at Walmart is still cheaper and work fine for my almost 2 year old.

Tip - take as much shit as you can from the hospital! We left with a bunch of NB diapers and wipes!

[LovesMeSomeCake]

Jun 21, 2016 15:16:38 GMT -5 danielle1220 said:

I'm not help with formula because thankfully I was able to BF DS until we weaned at 14 months but for diapers I would target spending about $0.15-$0.20 per diaper and that would be using coupons and other promotions. I stocked up before DS was born by coupon inch and spent maybe $400 total for a years worth of diapers. Again, I got lucky though and Huggies worked just fine for DS. It's really going to depend a lot of the brand you go with. You could get a couple different boxes/bags ahead of time and then find out what works best for your LO and then do bulk buys couponing. The upfront cost might seem like a lot, but if you stock up during a deal, you'll save in the long run.

YES! a few years ago Tide was changing their HE packaging, I saw the giant containers usually $18 for $5 and bought everyone they had (about 20 of them), with my red card for another 5% off.  It was glorious.  We won't need to buy detergent until 2017, and then I'll probably struggle with paying full price.  

[danielle1220]

Jun 21, 2016 16:35:48 GMT -5 LovesMeSomeCake said:

Jun 21, 2016 15:16:38 GMT -5 danielle1220 said:

I'm not help with formula because thankfully I was able to BF DS until we weaned at 14 months but for diapers I would target spending about $0.15-$0.20 per diaper and that would be using coupons and other promotions. I stocked up before DS was born by coupon inch and spent maybe $400 total for a years worth of diapers. Again, I got lucky though and Huggies worked just fine for DS. It's really going to depend a lot of the brand you go with. You could get a couple different boxes/bags ahead of time and then find out what works best for your LO and then do bulk buys couponing. The upfront cost might seem like a lot, but if you stock up during a deal, you'll save in the long run.

YES! a few years ago Tide was changing their HE packaging, I saw the giant containers usually $18 for $5 and bought everyone they had (about 20 of them), with my red card for another 5% off.  It was glorious.  We won't need to buy detergent until 2017, and then I'll probably struggle with paying full price.  

Yes!!! I did a similar deal with Purex a couple years ago and had detergent for like a year! It was glorious! Another memorable one was after Christmas all the Huggies Christmas diapers with Santa designs were only clearance, bags were $2.00 and of course I had a stack of $1.50/1 MFC. DS was wearing Santa diapers in July but no shame in my game

[silvermelody]

Amazon subscribe and save for diapers, we use Pampers Cruisers, about $36 a month. We also use the overnight diapers for bedtime and go through a box of those about every six weeks. But we didn't need those until he was about a year and started peeing through.

For formula just hope your baby isn't sensitive but also don't count out your boobs. Consider getting a consult from a International Board Certified lactation consultant before you throw in the towel.

[summergirl1211]

I just wanted to add to not be afraid to try generic brand stuff too. We started out with Pampers and Huggies and ended up switching to Target Up and Up brand for diapers and wipes and they worked just fine for us. Same with formula. We started with Enfamil and then switched to Target brand formula and had no problems. I know not all kids are this way but it might be worth a shot. Plus with the Target Red Card and Cartwheel app the prices are hard to beat. (Can you tell I'm in Minnesota, the land of Target?)

[tmclawchick]

I breastfed DD until 7 months, but at this point I'm getting a large can of Similac for $31.99 and it lasts about 14-15 days. I'll use coupons when I can, but I usually forget them at home of course. We tried switching to store brand formula, but for some reason it was making her ridiculously gassy and fussy -- totally not worth it for us, but some babies can handle it well. Also keep in mind that you may find that you need a different type of formula (soy only, alimentum, etc.)... these can be a bit more expensive, so you may want to pad your formula budget, just to be safe.

We buy store brand diapers/wipes and I estimate that I spend about $30/month for everything. You'll likely spend a little more in the beginning, since they tend to go through them quickly the first few months!

Hope this helps!

[MissDemeanor]

I'm another Amazon subscribe & save user. Especially when I didn't have a car it was worth it to get diapers delivered the next day.

I've ended up very loyal to Pampers Swaddlers (now Cruisers) but prefer Huggies for wipes/Pull Ups/Swimmers.

Sadly we no longer have target in canada but I've heard good things about their diapers and also Luvs.

Also Walmart will match any stores ad, so I find that easier than going to multiple stores

[thelittleredm]

We used Target brand diapers until we got size 3 or 4 and they just didn't seem to fit DS very well and we switched to Pampers Swaddlers. Huggies regular diapers were the worst. They leaked all the time and we're just awful. But I definitely liked their pull ups and swim diapers.

We got a lot of diapers in all sizes (which I give credit to me adding 3 or 4 sizes on my registry) and doesn't have to buy diapers for awhile. I think we usually went through just over 1 of the big boxes from Target a month. Probably 1-1.5 boxes per month pretty consistently until we started potty training.

We started supplementing with formula around 7-8 months so we didn't go through it as quickly as someone exclusively using formula. We also didn't need any specialty formula. I honestly don't remember what we spent on it every month, just that we always got the big containers when we did purchase it.

[siouxsieq]

Jun 21, 2016 12:28:18 GMT -5 aprilz81 said:

We need to start taking a hard look at our budget and preparing for the changes the baby will bring to our bank account, reduced pay/no pay during my maternity leave, child care, diapers, formula, etc.  I'm hoping we can adjust our budget now so we have money set aside and ready to go when we need to start spending it.

Diapers: We plan on using disposables, how much should we budget for diapers a month?  I know as they get older this will go down...  I'll try hard to find the best prices and coupons but when you need diapers you NEED diapers.

Formula:  I hope to breast feed, but I had a breast reduction in my mid-20s so I'm not sure if I will be able to or not.  I want to prepare for the cost of formula (assuming I don't need a super special kind) but have no idea how long a can of formula will last.

I know the clothes and equipment are going to be as expensive as we make it so I'm not too worried.  I'm getting (have already gotten) a lot of hand me downs from my sister and I plan to make Once Upon a Child/Craigslist my first stop for things we want/need that we aren't given at the shower or through hand me downs.

Can anyone help give me some averages on what you/your friends have spent?

aprilz81, I also had a breast reduction in my 20s and was very concerned with kid 1 about whether I would be able to BF as well. We should chat sometime if you want to!

[rinny]

I don't have experience with formula or disposables, but I did want to comment that you might want to check with the childcare options you're considering as well. I know my daycare provided formula for FF babies. They were also *very* strict about diaper changes ever 2 hours on the dot and after every poop. We'd go through sooooooooooo many changes at school. Some daycares also provide diapers though, so it's always worth looking into while budgeting out.

[aprilz81]

Jun 24, 2016 6:07:19 GMT -5 rinny said:

I don't have experience with formula or disposables, but I did want to comment that you might want to check with the childcare options you're considering as well. I know my daycare provided formula for FF babies. They were also *very* strict about diaper changes ever 2 hours on the dot and after every poop. We'd go through sooooooooooo many changes at school. Some daycares also provide diapers though, so it's always worth looking into while budgeting out.

I've started researching options....  Right now my instincts say that if we can find a good in-home center with just a few kids that that would be my preference.  Day care prices for infants are insane because of all the staffing and regulations (which is a good thing except for what it does to the price).  My baby doesn't "need" a full program of events just yet...

I would love to find an in-home day care with a Mary Poppins like caregiver that just has 2-3 kids.
I found one center that taxes a maximum of four kids for 150/week with the option to add evening hours for a date night (extra expense of course).  Right now she only had 2 kids three days a week.  It is probably too soon to meet with her, but I can live with the price for sure!

**Of course we aren't going to put price above safety, but hopefully we can find a safe and cheap child care option.