Baby Are Cheap! Really!

I have heard so many people say that they want a baby so bad, but babies are so expensive, so they are going to wait until they can afford them.

I beg to differ. Babies are not expensive. It's all the stuff that we *think* we have to buy for them that makes it expensive.



I'm not going to tell you not to go out and buy that adorable little outfit or that beautiful crib. It's your money, your life, your choice. What I can do is give you some ideas and tips on keeping the cost down to a managable amount so maybe you can look at your grand total and think "Hey, maybe I can have baby right now!"



1. Natural Family Planning

This may seem like a funny place to start in an article about having a baby, but I think it fits perfectly. Natural Family Planning (NFP) is not your old, un-trusty "rhythm method" whereby you have a baby every year, unless you want one every year, that is. Simply put, NFP is when you are familiar with your body, and the signs and clues that it gives you to let you know when you are fertile and when you are not. By reading these signs and clues you can make an informed decision as to whether you will be open to the possibility of a pregnancy at this time or not.



Natural Family Planning is free, unlike almost every other kind of birth control. Not only that, because it is 100% natural, it does not interfere with your hormones nor potentially cause problems later on. It doesn't cost you a dime, unless you want to invest in fancy chart keeping devices and such. There is a learning curve, however, and I recommend taking a class. A great place to start for information and fellowship is The Natural Family Planning Discussion Board.



2. Having the Baby: Insurance

There's no doubt about it: hospitals, doctors, epidurals, etc., are expensive. And I can't comment too much on the cost except to say that I had it all and insurance paid for it 100%. So, my first recommendation is to have good insurance with a maternity rider. Insurance is a must if you are going to have children because they are magnets to emergency rooms.

If you don't have insurance for whatever reason, or your insurance only covers a portion, there are ways to lower your out of pocket costs. Crystal Paine of Biblical Womanhood talks a little about how she and her husband lowered the cost by going to a birthing center here. Consider that extras such as having an epidural will add more cost to your total.



3. Feeding the baby: Part 1

Guess what I'm going to say here. Yup, you guessed it: nurse your baby. It's free! And really, it's so easy once you get the hang of it. No matter what you think about nursing, do yourself a favor and try it. Give it one month and see what you think. I wasn't at all sure if I would like it or not so I decided that I would try and if I hated it I would do the bottle. I wound up loving it and have nursed all three of my babies. It's free, easy, and completely travelable.

One note: Everyone says "It shouldn't hurt if he's doing it right." That's true to an extent. However, it may take your nipples awhile to get used to it. That's okay. What is not okay is not saying anything about the pain. If you are still in pain after two weeks, call your doctor. Do it! I didn't and I suffered for six weeks before I said something at my post-partum appointment. She quickly diagnosed me with thrush (which I didn't think I had because I had no other symptoms), gave a prescription and the pain was gone in two days. Why did I wait so long???



4. Feeding your baby: Part 2

If for some reason you decide to give your baby formula, realize that it is expenive. A small can of plain-jane Similac Advance is $9 and will last about four days depending on how much your baby eats. There are a few things that you can do to help cut down the cost:

• Decide which brand you will go with. It's not recommended to switch brands continuously, so you want to choose one and stick with it. Go to the brand's website and get on their mailing list. They will send you free samples and money-saving coupons for their formula, usually every month. You can also ask your doctor for free samples; some offices do and some don't.


• Consider using a generic brand. Just like adult food, it the same thing, just usually a lot cheaper.


• Women, Infants, and Children is an option. They provide some of your formula needs and also some food. They are income and health need based.


• Formula Brands include: Similac, Enfamil, Carnation Good Start

5. Feeding Your Baby: Part 3

Around 4 months old, maybe closer to six or eight, your baby will be ready for solids. Now what? First, I recommend going to the Gerber and Beech-nut websites and signing up for their mailing list. They will mail you money-saving coupons and lots of good information about introducing solids. Also consider making your own baby food. An excellent book on that is Super Baby Food.

Once your baby is old enough to self-feed you will be able to feed her regular food as long as it is cut up and prepared properly.

6. Diapers & Wipes

Yes, diapers can be a big expense. Your first option is to cloth diaper. It is a big investment in the beginning, but then you're done. You don't have to pay again. Fuzzi Bunz is a popular brand of cloth diapers and Crystal of Biblical Womanhood has a great post about cloth diapering that I just read today.

There are some recipes out there for making your own wipes. I tried once using paper towels and baby shampoo and completely hated it. Try it and see what you think. You can also use washclothes and wash them with your cloth diapers.

If you choose to go disposable, the good news is that you don't have to be brand-specific. Get on the mailing list for every possible brand and use coupons matched with sales. Just the past few weeks I've seen some great deal options at Wal-greens and CVS like this one.

• Websites: Pampers, Huggies, Luvs
• If you belong to a club store like Costco, diapers can be cheaper there, too.

7. Clothes

It is so tempting to go out and buy a bunch of clothes for that cute little bundle. Baby clothes are so adorable and you want to wrap your baby in all those darling little outfits. But, before you go out and spend a small fortune here are few tips:

• First of all, realize that your little tiny bundle is going to grow super-fast and will probably only wear all those little outfits once, if at all, before out-growing them. Case in point is my little baby. He is four months old and already wearing 6-9 month clothing. He has a ton of clothes that he never wore because he out-grew them too fast.
• This bring me to my second point: hand-me-downs. I have not purchased any clothes for my son. All of his clothing has been given to me. I had four different mothers give me their out-grown baby clothes (Side note: this works for maternity clothes, too!) Get involved in a church or some kind of social network and share. They'll give you clothes for your baby, then when your baby outgrows those clothes, pass it on again. I rarely have to buy clothes for my children because someone passes down to all of my children. Oh, and this is cool: The other day I saw a little girl wearing some of the clothes that Katelyn had passed down to another little girl, that had been passed down to Katelyn. So, those clothes were on at least the fourth girl. And they still looked great!
• Thrift stores: Finally, what you do need to buy, consider thrift stores. Again, babies go through their clothes so fast that it is very easy to find like-new clothes at the thrift store at a much cheaper price than at the department store. Here in Phoenix, we are blessed to have Savers and Goodwill. Savers has 99 cent Mondays, and Goodwill has 50% off everything once a month. This is the time go and get some great clothes for cheap!

8. Stuff, stuff, and more stuff: Cribs, etc.

It's fun to go to Babies R Us and look at all the stuff that they have for a baby. And, yes, some of that stuff you do need. And lots of it you don't.

• Take into consideration how much money you have to spend. Think about how much space you have in your house. Is there any piece of equipment that you need that might be able to serve two purposes? One thing that I like is the changing table/dresser. Instead of buying a changing table and a dresser, buy a dresser that is waist level and put a contoured changing pad on top. You don't even have to buy a dresser that is a "baby" dresser. For our first two babies, we used the dresser that I had growing up and just put a changing pad on top. It worked great!
• What can you get for free? Again, network with your social group. I received a crib, a swing, and a high chair from my friends. Also check out your local Freecyle.org for baby items. I received a bassinet and a baby tub from Freecycle.
• Don't forget that you will probably have a baby shower, especially if this is your first baby. Expect lots of clothes, as well as other fun stuff like diapers. My co-workers pitched in and bought me a car seat/stroller combo.
• Finally, check out your local Craigslist. Lots of barely used items go for cheap there if you are willing to pay cash and drive to their house to get it. I purchased a beautiful changing table/dresser for $50, which was $100 less than I had been seeing on Craigslist, just by being at the right post at the right time.

Finally, babies are wonderful. Never underestimate the value of holding a newborn baby in your arms who is looking at you like you are the most important thing in their world. Or a four-month-old whose eyes follow you everywhere you go and smiles big tooth-less grins when ever they catch your eye. Or a seven-year-old who tells you that you are the best cooker in the world. Or a six-year-old who hates kisses, but every once in a while will climb on your lap and give you a hug.

There is no price that you can put on these wonderful gifts.

*I apologize that my links are acting up for some reason. They have blogger inserting before the address for some reason and I can't fix it. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow.