What is the average medical costs for having a baby?

[Mrs. Turbo]

I have 4 boys and one girl and I found that raising children doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. They are as expensive as you make them, aside from the $4,000-$5,000 hospital bill from having them (our insurance sucks) We breastfeed, make our own baby food, cook a lot from scratch, grow a big garden, and use cloth diapers as much as possible.....among other things. These savings alow me to be a stay at home mom. My kids also use hand me downs from their siblings and I buy clothes at the end of a season for them to wear the following year. We are also in the position to put our kids through college when the time comes. We made some investments when we got married so we wouldn’t have to worry about the added cost when the kids get older.
I also think that if you come to a forum to ask if you are ready to have kids the answer is probably no…..that is a personal decision and when the time is right you will know.

 

[EweSheep]

Sometimes I wonder how the figure of caring a child would be so expensive but it is no where near that cost per year. Sure we live nice and comfortable but I don't have to give my dd all the bells and whistles, up to date with name brands and so forth.

Salv. Army, thrift stores are all good places to get clothes, cribs, etc. as well as the "hand me downs" from relatives and friends. most of the time, the changing table, you can get a good sturdy table or crib that sits up higher, you can change diapers and all that.

Dont need all that fancy baby food, y ou can make your own in what you are eating when your baby is ready for solids. I think baby foods are a bunch of hype and it does not taste very good in most cases, bleck! Fruits are wonderful but please in moderation because it would really give them the squirts LOL!

Wet wipes and diapers, you NEVER could get enough....stock up ALOT of those in different sizes. We bought disposibles and for three years, we used it and when dd was potty trained but not at night, it was one year of nighttime diapers. (to this day, at age six, will be seven in a couple of months, she is still not trained to hold at night, so she still wears her nighttime diapers...that is another thread, another time).

And you would have to baby proof the house!

 

[reveriereptile]

I've been trying to think of ways to save money. I've been searching around online to give myself some ideas of what would be better to buy new and what to try to look for used. I've even been thinking of going to yard sales this summer to buy some baby clothes. I figured that if for some reason I am unable to have kids then I'd just give them to a relative that could use them. I was also looking on ebay and seen 80+ piece baby clothes lots for sizes 0-3 months for around $70 that had name brand clothes in them. I thought that was reasonable compared to the 22 piece set at some of the stores for $40. Since we don't have a Goodwill around here but there is one near my moms I could send her some money to buy me some and just ship it up here. Both sides of my husband's side of the family are very large and always has someone having kids or someone that finally just stopped that would be willing to give me some of their used items. I did see a set on Walmart that had a changing table, small dresser, and a crib that changes into the day bed with sides, w/o sides, and into I think a full size bed frame or twin size for around $250. That didn't seem to bad since it can be used as they grow instead of something that would need to be stored. I plan on going with a lot of neutral colors so I can save the items I use incase I decide to have more than one.

My niece was never really potty trained. She knew when she would have to go and could hold it but she didn't like using the potty chair. We never thought we would get her trained. She didn't like pull ups either and was out growing regular diapers. My sister was worrying that she would have to be running to her school to change her diaper. Finally she got her convinced to try underwear at least during the day. She didn't like getting weggies but liked not having a diaper on so she quit wearing the diaper and the underwear during the day. She did start wearing the pull ups during the night though. Even though she wouldn't wear the underwear my sister was glad to get her out of the diapers since it was costing money. For some of her outfits that were skirts she got the type that had the shorts under them so no one would notice. She just finally got her to try some bikini style underwear that doesn't cause the weggies and she started wearing them last year. She just turned 8 this past January.

I'll have to look up about making baby food. I know some of that stuff is nasty and some of it isn't to bad. My sister kept buying the tutti-fruiti for herself. The meat stuff looked and smelled nasty and I wasn't even about to taste it. My sister tried most of the baby food and didn't buy the stuff she didn't like but she doesn't like meat so she wouldn't try the meat kind either. I know it can't be to good when it isn't even refridgerated when you buy it. I know I need to get my diet changed around. I don't eat much veggies or fruit. Never cared for veggies but as I've gotten older I do like them more depending on how they are cooked. I hate peas but will eat them in stuff that drowns out their taste. My husband is dieting to lose weight and now would be a good time for me to change eating so we both can be eating better. He is mainly just not eating hardly anything other than some fruits, eggs, and oatmeal. He knows he will need to change his diet to be more healthy but is just mainly trying to get his stomach use to less food. He has lost 13lbs so far in 12 days without any excersize either. I'm underweight but eat all the time and even as much as he did before his diet. We both sit around feeling tired all the time because we eat junk. I started buying those steamer frozen bags since they are more healthy than what I've been eating and I like them. Need to get some skinless chicken breasts to go along with it would be nice.

I just noticed EweSheep that you aren't to far from my hometown. I use to live in Paris, IL and that is around where my parents still ive.

 

[dianaross77]

Personally, I think if you waited until you were "ready" you'd never have kids. You're never really ready. I managed to keep from getting pregnant for years until we got married and 6 months later.... OOOPS! You make the best of it. Would I have chosen to have a baby just after my first anniversary? NO. Could we have had more money? Yes. You make due with what you have. I bought a lot of stuff used and baby showers are great for some of the bigger things that are hard to find the money for. I took back a bunch of clothes that I didn't like or wouldn't need and bought diapers, wipes, and other stuff I did need.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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[EweSheep]

Yep, Paris isn't too far, and small town too!

 

[hollymh]

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Agree and you don't want a baby in a smoke filled house, it causes so many problems for kids and puts the baby at high risk for SIDS. As for the cost, my first cost me $3.25(2007) and my second cost me $23(2010) b/c we are military.

 

[reveriereptile]

One reason I've held off on wanting any is I'm still young and would like to do some things before bringing in a baby. I've never been on an actual vacation before. Another thing is that my parents don't really have the money to come up so I've been either driving down with my husband or flying down once a year to see them. If I fly down I stay a month to make sure I see everyone since a week goes by fast. I'm worried that having a kid will make it difficult to see them and my dad's health isn't to good with heart problems. Even though I grew up with my dad in the house he barely says much so I don't really feel like I know him. Only been the past few years that I've learned a little more about him. When I got with my husband I knew he would probably move back up around his family since he was in IL at the time going to law school even though he took the IL bar. I knew that I'd see my parents a lot less but I had to keep in mind that I'm trying to get my future set up and knew I wouldn't find another guy like my husband. We may have to buy them plane tickets so they could come up to visit here more which isn't really all that expensive. Only costed me $103 for a round trip compared to the $300 or more for the gas to drive down and back. My parents drove up here for my wedding and that is a hard drive for them to drive straight through. I know I shouldn't let that stop me from having kids since if I wait around to long neither one of them will get to see another grandkid. My sister had her tubes tied so there won't be anymore from her and she is almost 40 now anyway. I go in and out of wanting kids also. Usually spring time is when I start wanting some cause I've gotten out of my winter depression I always have and I think with seeing all the baby animals gets me in that motherly instinct. Whenever I think about having kids my thoughts are always thinking of the pregnancy and the delivery. I guess it is just one of those things most women worry about. I've watched different shows on tv showing the labor. I've also read a bunch of different articles about complications. I do know if any occur to read everything that I'm signing and make sure they explain to me what they are going to do also. I definitely don't want any forceps used to pull my child out. Read to many articles of hospitals having a person sign something but not really tell them what they are going to do and then they use the forceps and hurt the baby's head to where a healthy baby now has mental problems. I don't mind the C-Section if it came down to it. When my sister went in her water had already broke and the person that does the epirdural (spelling?) wasn't there and she usually can handle pain but that was more than she could hardly bare. To make things worse the cord wrapped around the baby's neck on the way out so it kept pulling the baby back up. Took the doctor a bit to get the head out enough to snip the cord while my sister was cussing in pain. Luckily my mom was there with her since the baby's dad would rather be at work getting a bonus check then watch the birth of his child. My mom said my sister wasn't feeling good and didn't even want to hold her baby for a while after she was born cause she thought she was going to start throwing up. She was happy that the baby came out with hair. She didn't have morning sickness and people were telling her that the baby might not have hair cause they had sickness when theirs did. I know of other people that have had problems also and ended up needing C-Sections. I guess we will probably get the insurance set up and then after we are able to be covered then work out when we want to start and make sure we are prepared. The sleeping is going to be most likely the toughest part for me to get use to. Since I was a kid I always had to sleep 12 hours or I would be falling asleep during the day and start seeing things. I still don't feel right without sleeping that long. I also don't fall asleep easy no matter how tired I am. Takes me at least an hour or more to fall asleep. Even when I have to get up to take the dog outside in the middle of the night I will get back in bed and lay there for an hour before passing out. Don't know why my sleep is like that.

 

[ranchhand]

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You know, I'd love to help. But I can't even read the above post. Please use paragraphs.

 

[satay]

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Wow i think you may have a bad policy there. For those in the U.S. we can give birth for free here in the public system but if you choose to have private health cover you can. You get your own room, choice of doctor etc at a private hospital. My sister in law gave birth recently at the mater private and she only paid a couple of hundred dollars out of pocket. She did have what is said to be a simple birth, no c section etc
I am sure glad I gave birth in Austalia.