Cost of raising a baby during first six months..

First of all, congrats! This might be obvious but the costs will largely depend on the coverage of your health insurance. I hope for both you and your baby that everything goes smoothly, but make sure you check with your insurance what will be covered (especially if you take leave from work) and make sure you do not find yourself in a situation where you cannot provide you or your baby with the necessary healthcare due to a lack of money Oh and to add, we got quite a lot of our baby stuff (blankets, sheets, sleeping bags, chair, cot etc) from Ikea. Prices and quality IMHO are very reasonable

I dont think Babywipes are neccesary when you can buy little bundles of face cloths from the likes of C4 and use them instead. Use them with baby soap and rinse the baby with plain water afterwards , and thats something that you cant do with a babywipe - rinse the baby after wiping their face, hands, bottom or whatever. If you're going out you just need to keep damp one's in a toilet bag till needed. Wipe with tissue before tackling a pooey bottom then use the facecloth - they can be washed the normal way. Its what people did a long time ago and we managed really well :) <em>edited by DesertRose1958 on 22/03/2012</em>

Re Baby Einstein DVDs, they are good - we bought a couple but later on discovered the much cheaper option: Brilliant Baby in Geant for AED 7 per disk! They are a bit hidden so you may need to ask for them as DH found them when looking for something completely different and the Baby Einstein were in the more obvious place. Now DS actually prefers the Brilliant Baby ones (we bought a whole lot) over the Baby Einstein ... Lol

Very useful list indeed. I am about to deliver my first baby and I can tell you that we get all things we need for the baby and mummy for about AED3,000. Here I include cot, carry cot, stroller, car seat, changing table, baby monitor, nursing bras, breastfeeding cloths for me, baby bjorn, bath plus the majority of things SA_Babe has in her list. All good brands. How? Here you have some tips: - Dubizzle: But you need to log in every 2 days to see what it is available and phone and be ready to collect quick. A lot of products are too expensive but you do find sometimes somebody on a hurry or reasonable who wants to sell quick. - Baby Shop sales - Keep an eye as they are regularly and you do safe loads in cloths and stuff. Max is worth a look for certain things. - Avoid dummies and bottles - I am very aware of nipple confusion when breastfeeding. See how it goes once baby is here though. - Shops online in the UK and Europe are much cheaper than here. I have ordered bras and breastfeeding cloths from Debenhams and Mothercare in the UK websites and delivered to relatives who will bring them to me. - I don´t know the gender of the baby so I cannot go crazy when I am in the shop and I see that little pink vest :). Seriously, if I would know the gender I would have bought much more cloths. - Don´t be shy asking what you need in baby showers and friends and relatives. They really want their pressies to be useful. - Avoid Mamas and Papas, Just Kidding (such a rip off!)and use Mothercare and Baby shop. Carrefour is good for shampoo, sudocream, nappies and other daily stuff. Boots have sometimes some offers. I hope this tips help to organise your budget.

Yip No 2 is now 4 months old :)

Most of what you need for the first 6 months you will probably recieve in gifts from freinds who visit or baby showers so try not to buy too much clothes - eveybody always has too much of these and the baby outgrows them in no time! But to give you an idea of what you need forthe first year or so - below is a snippet of a baby planning doc you could also circulate this to people who want to get you gifts Category / Item Quantity Age Status Shop Amount Nursery (baby's bedroom) Beddings 0+ Cotton cellular blanket large Mothercare 70 Cotton cellular blanket small Mothercare 30 Fitted crib sheets 0+ done Baby Shop 50 Sleep positioner Baby Shop 79 Clothing Bibs 6-8 done Cotton blankets 1-2 done Day outfits 5 done Night outfits (bodysuits) 5 done Sweaters/jackets done Bathing bath tub 1 Bath supports for infant 1 Baby Shop 50 Bathing toys 2 3 mths+ Hooded towels 4 done Baby Shop 59 Water thermometer 1 Baby Hygiene/ Medicine Alcohol / Surgical spirits Antibacterial spray Antibacterial ointment band aids 1 Bum cream/Diaper rash cream/Sudocream done Pharmacy/Mothercare/Baby shop 30 Cotton Wool Electrolyte solution Pharmacy Gripe water Pharmacy Hand sanitiser Pharmacy Infant acetaminophen/infant tylenol/non aspirin liquid pain reliever Pharmacy Lavender oil Body Shop Comb & Brush 1 Mothercare 150 Digital Thermometer Mothercare Pair blunt nail scissors 1 Mothercare Toothbrush 1 Mothercare Tweezers 1 Mothercare Medicine Dropper / Spoon Mothercare Saline drops 1 Pharmacy Topical calamine lotion or hydrocortisone cream Pharmacy Feeding 240ml avent bottles these come with no. 2 nipples 8 2mths + Sterilizer kit 1 Baby shop 240 Washing up bowl 1 Breast Feeding - for mommy Breast pump (electric expressing machine) 1 Mothercare and Baby Shop 845 Freezer bags Nursing pyjamas Transportation & Logistics mat to be placed under car seat to protect car fabric/leather 0+ Entertainment Any educational toys that do not make a noise! baby einstein dvd's 3 mths + jumper 5 mths+ music mobile (above his bed) 0+ My first girl bunny blankie (soother) play mat with interactive arc 0+ play pen 6 mths+ shapes box 12 mths + stacker toy 6 mths+ stroller toy 2 mths+ teether toy 6 mths + Home Improvements Baby books, dvd's and cd's baby monitor 0+ done Mothercare 900 Bouncy chair Clock Infant swing Laundry basket Name letters Quilt/duvet from 6 months Windup music box

Most of what you need for the first 6 months you will probably recieve in gifts from freinds who visit or baby showers so try not to buy too much clothes - eveybody always has too much of these and the baby outgrows them in no time! But to give you an idea of what you need forthe first year or so - below is a snippet of a baby planning doc you could also circulate this to people who want to get you gifts Category / Item Quantity Age Status Shop Amount Nursery (baby's bedroom) Beddings 0+ Cotton cellular blanket large Mothercare 70 Cotton cellular blanket small Mothercare 30 Fitted crib sheets 0+ done Baby Shop 50 Sleep positioner Baby Shop 79 Clothing Bibs 6-8 done Cotton blankets 1-2 done Day outfits 5 done Night outfits (bodysuits) 5 done Sweaters/jackets done Bathing bath tub 1 Bath supports for infant 1 Baby Shop 50 Bathing toys 2 3 mths+ Hooded towels 4 done Baby Shop 59 Water thermometer 1 Baby Hygiene/ Medicine Alcohol / Surgical spirits Antibacterial spray Antibacterial ointment band aids 1 Bum cream/Diaper rash cream/Sudocream done Pharmacy/Mothercare/Baby shop 30 Cotton Wool Electrolyte solution Pharmacy Gripe water Pharmacy Hand sanitiser Pharmacy Infant acetaminophen/infant tylenol/non aspirin liquid pain reliever Pharmacy Lavender oil Body Shop Comb & Brush 1 Mothercare 150 Digital Thermometer Mothercare Pair blunt nail scissors 1 Mothercare Toothbrush 1 Mothercare Tweezers 1 Mothercare Medicine Dropper / Spoon Mothercare Saline drops 1 Pharmacy Topical calamine lotion or hydrocortisone cream Pharmacy Feeding 240ml avent bottles these come with no. 2 nipples 8 2mths + Sterilizer kit 1 Baby shop 240 Washing up bowl 1 Breast Feeding - for mommy Breast pump (electric expressing machine) 1 Mothercare and Baby Shop 845 Freezer bags Nursing pyjamas Transportation & Logistics mat to be placed under car seat to protect car fabric/leather 0+ Entertainment Any educational toys that do not make a noise! baby einstein dvd's 3 mths + jumper 5 mths+ music mobile (above his bed) 0+ My first girl bunny blankie (soother) play mat with interactive arc 0+ play pen 6 mths+ shapes box 12 mths + stacker toy 6 mths+ stroller toy 2 mths+ teether toy 6 mths + Home Improvements Baby books, dvd's and cd's baby monitor 0+ done Mothercare 900 Bouncy chair Clock Infant swing Laundry basket Name letters Quilt/duvet from 6 months Windup music box

Congrats Taurusbaby!!!! how exciting for you! I firmly believe that babies are as expensive as you want them to be. Try not to get too carried away with buying all of the nick nacks because chances are - you won't use them (although this sounds like your first pregnancy so it will be hard not to get carried away :-)) If you breastfeed, you will save lots of money but that is a personal decision of course. If you are keen to save money (which you probably are as you are doing a budget) then try to get things on dubizzle. You will be able to get all sorts of things on there. You can't really scrimp on nappies and wipes, and this will be your biggest ongoing expense unless you decide to go with washable nappies (Greenish will be able to point you in the right direction with this). If you opt for disposable nappies you will need about 8-10 a day and a packet or two of wipes a week. Best of luck;) <em>edited by Tru Blu on 19/03/2012</em>