How Much Does It Cost to Raise A Baby? (The First Six Months)

When my husband and I first learned that I was pregnant, we were ecstatic. Despite the uncertainty in both of our jobs, we thought this couldn’t have been a better time to have a baby.

We’ve been married for over five years, we’ve traveled the world extensively, and our careers are on track (even though the companies we worked for were undergoing major restructuration). Having a baby was the rational next step.

We knew raising a baby would be expensive, but somehow we felt that we could keep it under control. And thus I was curious to embark on a new task of tracking every expense of raising our first baby.

It may sound daunting, and arguably tedious, though I came to enjoy every aspect of it as it would allow us to better plan for our financial freedom (the ultimate personal finance goal). This task will also, hopefully, provide new or future parents with insightful data.

In addition to spending, this tracking tallies all of the inventories for the baby in her first six months including everything we bought (new and used), received as gifts or samples, and needed for healthcare.

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Total Itemized Spending up to Baby’s First Six Months: $2,267

To our surprise, we didn’t spend all that much for the first six months and we did so without using a budget.

The total spending from the day I learned about my pregnancy to when my baby turns six months total $2,692. Excluding pregnancy costs, the total expenditure for the first six months was $2,267 or an average of $378 per month.

One thing to note is that we live in Switzerland which is one of the highest cost of living countries. But since we planned to move back to the U.S., we didn’t want to overspend on baby items since we already have way too many things to bring back.

Another thing to consider is that this list excludes childcare, which undoubtedly is one of the largest household expenses. I also didn’t account for shared household costs like housing, paper towels (which we used a lot), cleaning items, etc. because they are immaterial.

Therefore, the $2,692 encompasses all of the baby expenses related to healthcare, breastfeeding, food, clothing, disposable items, baby gears, toys/books/games, and any miscellaneous spending.

The following are details of the itemized expenses grouped by categories. Notice any cost of zero implies that they are either gifts or free sample items.

1. Pregnancy: $425

It took only one pregnancy test for me to validate that I was pregnant, so I only bought one generic test from the pharmacy.

Most boxes of pregnancy tests in Europe contain one test, unlike in the US where most came in two. But one was enough for me to know that I was pregnant because I was feeling most of the first month symptoms.

The largest expense during pregnancy would be prenatal vitamins, which I took everyday. All in all I took three boxes with 300 tablets total. This cost $60 per box.

Once my pregnancy reached the first trimester, I quickly bought maternity pants, bras and underpants total $230 because I was starting to bust out of all of my jeans and work pants (undergarments soon to follow).

I also bought a maternity belt once I was about to finish my second trimester as I can feel all the weight of the baby and it was giving me back pain.

2. Healthcare: $952

Once the baby was born, the largest expense item is immediately the monthly health insurance premium. In Switzerland, we used Helsana which costs $120/month.

We also had to pay for some out-of-pocket health insurance expenses as well as an expensive osteopathy session due to our colicky baby.

3. Breastfeeding: $279

Contrary to popular beliefs, breastfeeding did not come free for me. In fact, it was one of the most painful experiences I had to endure.

Luckily my insurance covered three lactation consultations that allowed me to relieve my pain. However, the consultants did inflicted another level of ‘needle-poking-through-nipple’ pain that haunts me till this day.

Any additional consultation would be out of pocket at $100. All in all, I had four consultations.

Another thing about breastfeeding is that one cannot breastfeed endlessly so a breast pump would be quite useful. My health insurance covered for a breast pump of up to $340 so I bought a Medela double electric pump.

Finally, to boost milk production the lactation consultant suggested that I drink Weleda nursing tea. The taste was not my favorite, but at least I saw a difference as my milk supply went up.

Related: Why I Chose to Breastfeed My Baby

4. Food: $40

Once my baby finished exclusively breastfeeding (mostly*) for the first six months, I started cooking homemade baby food for her. I didn’t include the cost of grocery here as I took the ingredients from what we were already eating: potatoes, rice, tomatoes, carrots, and a variety of fruits (oh, and olive oil).

*Note: I had to use some formula (about 3-5 feeds) during the first month when I didn’t produce enough breast milk.

5. Clothing: $315

The biggest item we bought were cloth diapers, which I wanted to try after learning their numerous benefits such as environmentally friendliness and less overall cost comparing to using disposable diapers.

We were lucky enough to have had received many cute clothes from friends and family. This is also the first time I went thrift shopping since I learned how quickly babies grew. I didn’t buy too much though as I was still experimenting.

6. Disposable Items: $259

About 75% of the disposable items spending was, unsurprisingly, made on disposable diapers and wipes. This total $194 for the first six months while combining cloth diapers usage. Although cloth diapers are great, they are also very inconvenient when going out.

7. Baby Gears: $287

Since we rattled with the decision of whether or not to move back to the US after having a baby abroad, we decided to buy large baby items secondhand such as the crib and stroller so that we could leave them behind without feeling bad. Luckily, we were also gifted some used items from our friends such as a car seat, playpen, and Bobby pillow.

8. Toys/Books/Games: $51

One of the most exciting things of having babies is that we get to buy toys and games. It’s a great excuse to play with them ourselves! As for me, children books provide the best outlet to learn a language, and I was able to improve my French through reading baby books.

9. Miscellaneous: $84

Some small items that pop up throughout the first six months include baby bottles, nail clipper, night light, and thermometers for various measurement of the room. We also got some sweet samples as well as generous moms giving away their used baby items.

Conclusion

And there you have it. Overall I felt pretty good about our progress, thanks in part to the absence of unexpected expenses.

I wouldn’t call ourselves extreme frugal parents since we had spent on everything needed without hesitation, especially on expensive healthcare and pharmacy items.

However, we were being very careful to not always buy the most expensive items and for the first time, we experimented with buying secondhand stuffs so that had undoubtedly helped us save a lot.

Read More: Cost of Raising a Baby in the 7th Month, 8th Month, 9th Month, 10th Month, 11th Month and 12th Month

How much did you spent on baby items for your first six months? What did you find on our list that was unusual or peculiar? Did you have any surprising out-of-pocket expenses?

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