Right after my husband and I found out that we were expecting our first child, we instantly became excited. Since we knew that having a baby could cost upwards of $10,000 for just the first year we started looking for different ways to save money on baby items.
As we were going to be first time parents, it was hard to decide what we truly needed for our new little bundle of joy. Of course, there were some baby items that could be lived without, but we decided to slowly get only the basics at first.
It was not until we were pregnant with our second child that I was completely sure about what our family could manage to raise another baby without.
Here are 12 tips for saving money for a new baby.
(THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS HOWEVER, I WILL NEVER RECOMMEND ANYTHING THAT I DO NOT BELIEVE IN OR USE MYSELF. YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT MY DISCLOSURE POLICY HERE)
1. Breastfeeding
It may not seem like it but breastfeeding is one of the best ways to save money when you have a baby.
The average price for formula feeding is around $0.19/ounce. So by calculating that over the first year of your baby’s life, you could pay over $1,733.75.
On the other hand, breastfeeding is completely and totally FREE. Plus if the cost reason wasn’t enough, breastfeeding is equally beneficial for both a mother and her baby.
- 9 Seriously Lifesaving Breastfeeding Essentials
- 6 Reliable Tips for Breastfeeding in Public
- 7 Reasons Why I FAILED at Breastfeeding My First Baby
2. Get a Free Breast Pump Through Your Insurance
Breast pumps have made a huge impact on moms who plan to return to work after their baby is born. By having the option to pump breastmilk while you are away from your baby, you can maintain your milk supply and also provide milk for your little one while you are away.
There are many different types of breast pumps depending on how long you are going to be away from your baby.
- – A manual breast pump comes with a handle that you pump with your hand to cause the suction. If you are only planning to use a breast pump once in a blue moon you should be fine with a manual pump.
- – An electric breast pump has a motor in it that causes the suction. Electric pumps are ideal for moms who plan to pump regularly and might be away from their babies for long periods of time.
Aeroflow Breastpumps supplies breast pumps through health insurance to new and expecting moms every day. Find out how to get a FREE Medela Breast Pumps Through Insurance!
3. Cloth Diapering
Although cloth diapering is still very old-fashioned to most new parents, it has been the way I diapered my two children for most of their diapering career. I first started cloth diapering my daughter when she was only 4 months old to save money on diapers each week.
You may not ever realize that cloth diapering can save parents tons of money, but here are the numbers.
On average, diapering your baby in disposables can cost you upwards of $1,000 or more per year.
This means if your child is potty trained by the age of two that’s around $2,000from birth to potty training. That’s a HUGE amount of money for a disposable product that will eventually be ending up in the trash.
And if you save the cloth diapers and reuse them with any other children you have, that’s just double or more of your savings. These are my absolute favorite cloth diapers to use on my kids.
- Get the Best Deals on Cloth Diapers that Your Wallet Will Love
- How to Cloth Diaper without Breaking the BANK
- 5 Quick and Easy Ways to Fold a Prefold Cloth Diaper
- The Step by Step Guide to Cloth Diapering at Night
4. If You Don’t Choose Cloth Diapers – Buy in Bulk
If cloth diapering is not for you. No problem. Just buy disposable diapers in bulk and try to shop the sales. I recommend joining a membership like Amazon Family which offers savings and deals such as:
- 20% on diapers subscriptions
- Exclusive Coupons and Deals from Amazon Family
- Exclusive Baby Registry benefits
- FREE Two-Day Shipping on millions of items
- Unlimited instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows
- Unlimited, ad-free streaming of over a million songs and more Prime benefits
You can even try Amazon Family on a 30-Day FREE Trial to see if it is for you.
5. Baby Registry
After your due date, most stores will give you coupons to buy things left on your registry.
Get up to 15% off of the remaining items that you need from your registry at Target and Amazon. Target even gives you a FREE bag of goodies for signing up with their baby registry.
6. Have a Baby Shower
By having a baby shower, many soon to be moms are gifted tons of items mostly off of their baby registry. So make sure to send your baby registry to all of your guests so that they know what you need.
7. Make Your Own Baby Food
No matter what your baby’s got to eat. And most babies start eating solids right around 6 months old. Now if you plan to use store-bought baby food your monthly cost will be right around $50/month. That’s over $340 for baby food up until your baby’s first birthday.
But if you choose to feed your baby homemade baby food that you make on your own, you can cut that cost by over 60%. Plus by doing it yourself you will know exactly what ingredients are in your baby’s food. And it’s even fresher.
8. Buy Used Clothes
With tons of different consignment stores out there and not to mention the online yardsales, there are plenty of opportunities to find gently used baby clothing.
Seriously, your baby is not going to care one bit about whether another child wore the clothing. So you might as well save some money because babies grow fast.
9. Ask for Hand-me-downs
I am always on the lookout for moms who are giving away clothes and other baby gear on Facebook. In fact, that is where I got over 90% of my kids’ clothes. Buying new clothes is not something I do unless I find a really great sale.
Plus hand-me-downs are FREE.
So keep an eye out for members of your community or other church members that are giving away things that their children may have grown out of.
10. Forget About Shoes
Okay, this is something I have never understood.
Babies cannot walk for the first few months at least, so why would you spend money on shoes? Socks I understand but not shoes. Forget about baby shoes. They may look cute but they are definitely not worth the money.
11. Don’t Buy a Changing Table
I admit I had a changing table with my daughter but I completely regretted buying it about a month after she was born. It honestly just became a catch-all for EVERYTHING!
I felt like I used the bed or floor to change her more than anything. You can also use a long dresser and secure a changing pad to it for a diaper changing station.
12. Buy Gender Neutral
When it came to most of my baby gear, I always tried to buy gender-neutral since I knew I wanted to have more children after my daughter.
It turned out that I had a boy next so I was able to reuse a ton of the baby gear and clothes that I kept around, which saved me from having to repurchase in a different color.
All great tips and they’re also so eco-friendly too!
This couldn’t have come at better time!! My daughter just found out she is pregnant for the first time! This info will be super helpful!
Use a midwife, not an expensive doctor.
Do Elimination Communication; to be done with nappies by around age 1.
Don’t buy a cot; use a bed-sidebar to stop baby rolling out your bed.
Join La Leche League, because otherwise you get faced with the doctor ordering you not to breastfeed, when actually you can.
Don’t buy a pram, a baby-carrier is better, cheaper and safer.
Do Baby-led-Solids,,it is healthier and means you don’t need to buy any baby-food equipment.
A paediatrician is only necessary if baby is under 6 weeks of age.
Great tips, sometimes it can be so overwhelming with all the baby stuff out there. But though there are a lot of fun things a baby doesn’t need most of them. You really can find ways to save and be able to afford a baby on most budgets.
Thank you for the article! Great tips!
Thank you Sabra. I have always looked for ways to save money with kids and thought I would share with others.
These are really amazing tips! If you chose not to cloth diaper, have a diaper party or baby shower and do a diaper raffle. Request that guests bring a pack of diapers (any size) to be entered to win a prize. That got me through a solid 6 months without having to buy diapers!