TAMPA, Fla — If you’re having your first baby or growing your family with a second or third, be prepared to spend a lot — especially in that first year of life.
According to a report by pregnancy and parenting app BabyCenter, parents can expect to spend a third of their income on their new bundle of joy and that doesn't include labor and delivery!
“It’s a tough time to be a parent. It’s never easy to be a parent, but there’s a lot going on right now in particular with the economy," said Robin Hilmantel, the senior editorial director at BabyCenter.
Hilmantel talked with me about their first year baby cost calculator. It helps families financially plan for the first year and found, on average, “Parents can expect to spend a little over $20,000 in baby’s first year," she said.
The receipt includes all the gear like a cart seat and stroller, and then diapers of course, and formula, or a breast pump if you're breastfeeding. The list also includes all those cute clothes for baby, and childcare! The price really adds up.
“When you put a number on it, it is shocking," said Sara Weber, a mom in St. Petersburg. "I didn’t think it was that much but you kind of know having a baby is expensive and I think that’s a reason why a lot of people choose to not have children nowadays.”
Weber is right! More on that in a moment, but regarding that $20K, Babycenter said it was recalculated this year for several reasons.
“Obviously there’s a lot of talk right now about the economy, there are concerns about inflation, concerns about the cost of childcare, about tariffs and how that might impact pricing," said Hilmantel. “It’s really stressing parents out. 9 out of 10 moms that we surveyed said that this is impacting their mental health.”
Which is leading to some difficult decisions — and back to Sara’s point — family planning.
A quarter of the women surveyed in the report said they are deciding to have fewer children and 26% are delaying having more.
“You want to put them through college, you wanna give them the best life, you wanna give them the best school all of that. And so you have to factor that in," said Weber.
She and her family shop at Sam’s Club and buy in bulk, which is one way to save! You can also get some things second hand, like clothing and toys!
“Babies use it for such a short amount of time that they can still be in great condition," Hilmantel said.
A good place locally to do that is Once Upon a Child.
But there are items you should buy new, specifically car seats, strollers, and high chairs. Hilmantel says you don’t know what they’ve been through or if their safety has been compromised, such as a car seat that was involved in a crash.
Sara’s family dealt with flooding in St. Pete after our back-to-back hurricanes last year.
“We lost our double stroller, and that’s very sad and we thought oh we can save that, but to be honest all of the wheels had rusted, so it’s not even salvageable," she said. "But I’m seeing a lot of people trying to sell theirs and you just don’t know. I don’t necessarily want something that’s been in floodwaters.”
Instead, BabyCenter recommends choosing a car seat or stroller model from last year or the previous year.
Also, all car seats sold in the U.S. meet the same safety standards — so it says a cheap one is just as safe as an expensive one.
And for childcare -- Babycenter says look into a home daycare as an option.
Florida law requiresanyone who provides child care in their home for more than one unrelated family member must be registered or licensed through the Department of Children and Families -- but do your homework and look up the home daycare online to see if they're following the rules.
"If they have violations for inspections, what those violations are, they might be something really minor or they might be something you're not comfortable with," Hilmantel said.
And if you want to get into a regular daycare, Weber encourages you to be your own advocate.
"We do have some great options here and we kind of got on the waitlist pretty early and if I could say anything to a new mom, it's get on the waitlist while you're pregnant. Get on them right away," she said.
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