Budgeting for Baby

There’s no doubt babies cost a lot of money, whether you’re trying to conceive one, adopt one, or feed and diaper one. Yet Americans spend millions on babies every year, even before baby arrives. We are a culture obsessed with “life events” and, if you believe the advertising, no money can ever be enough for life’s truly priceless moments.

According to an article published Sunday in The New York Times, baby showers and the requisite registries that go along with them, are a $240 million business annually. Expectant parents today register for an average of 50-60 gifts ranging in price and practicality from diaper pails to cashmere blankets. The article reports that expectant parents today are registering for items that even five years ago they would not have dared put on a registry, such as nursery furniture. According to Babies “R” Us, 37 percent of mothers who already have at least one child create registries, too.

Good news if you are in the baby business. 

A colleague of mine recently returned from visiting her newborn granddaughter in Washington, DC. When we met over lunch today, she commented on the sheer volume of “baby stuff” her daughter had in the house. She asked me, “What does she need a vibrating baby chair for? Really? And those breast pumps? Back in my day…..”

You can imagine where the conversation went from there.

But my colleague, a proud new grandmother, has a point. And in many ways, she’s right. I can’t tell you how many baby items I was given, and how many I purchased myself, that were never used. I know I am not alone, either. My good friend from college created a picture-perfect nursery for her first daughter: the paint, the furniture, the Wendy Bellissimo bedding was all perfectly coordinated and ripe for a Martha Stewart Baby cover. Sad truth is her daughter never slept in that nursery. Baby girl started co-sleeping with mom and dad and never left until she had already outgrown her crib.

American women like to shop and we like babies. Whether we’re having them ourselves our buying a gift for an expectant friend, it’s easy to go overboard (even just a little). Here’s my advice for all Moms 2 B about budgeting for baby:

•    Figure out what you’d like to spend on baby’s room and stick to the budget. When you can, shop online to avoid being “sucked in” by the perfectly adorable, tricked-out nursery in the showroom. Fact is, the first time your baby throws up or has diarrhea all over the new bumper pads, you’ll be glad you didn’t buy the most expensive ones.
•    Talk to other moms about what practical items really worked for them. Is a sealed diaper pail that requires fancy inserts really necessary, or will a plastic bucket with a lid do the trick (the answer may lie in how often you take out the trash).
•    Research online and read customer reviews whenever possible. I registered for a stroller combo that my mother-in-law was kind enough to buy, only to be disappointed by the way it worked when I started taking baby out of the house. I later read a number of online reviews where parents reported similar frustrations. If only I had looked beforehand!
•    Consider borrowing items, especially those that are good for the infant stage. You will be surprised how quickly baby outgrows those 0-3 outfits (in about 5 minutes), a moses basket, and the infant baby carrier.
•    If you do use a registry, consider a large retailer like Target or Wal-Mart. Your friends and shower guests can always elect to give a gift card that will come in handy when you are buying diapers, formula, and over-the-counter medications later on.
•    Lastly, celebrate baby. But remember that unlike your wedding, where people may have commented on whether you splurged for surf ‘n turf or served stuffed chicken breast, baby has no idea whether the stroller he’s riding in cost $599 or $59.


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