9 months of costs when having a baby…

[dennisrainey90]

I’m not having kids anytime soon but would genuinely like to hear from some folks about the costs surrounding having a child in Ireland.

Aside from the items like a stroller, clothes, formula and all that good stuff, how much do people pay purely for doctors appointments and actually giving birth?

Considering everything is above board, healthy baby, and no complications, how much are check ups and how often do you go? how much does it cost to actually give birth in the hospital?

Would love to hear your experiences!

 

[jhonn]

@dennisrainey90 Stroller: €1700

Clothes: Cheap or free, mainly gifts everytime some visits. Can be bought cheaply at Tesco or Next.

Forumula: €20 per week currently

Doctors: Childcare is free pre birth and after birth. (may not be the same for non nationals)

Hospital birth: Free (may not be the same for non nationals)

Nappies: €60 per month.

Lack of sleep: Priceless.

Edit: When I say stroller, I mean the full car seat and basonet in those combined things with the buggy.

ALSO CARPARKING for partner. €4.00-€4.20 per hour. Theyll probably be there from at least 8am-9am If youre in the hospital for a few days, it adds up.

 

[cosmicmind]

@jhonn Just to add, hospital bill could be more if you're going down the private/semi-private route

Stroller seems about right for mid-range travel system.

 

[chxl]

@jhonn It’s been a while but iirc l the stroller we got for the eldest was around that mark. Bugaboo chameleon, came with everything, car seat and base etc. best buy ever, we have had 3 kids and 15 years with it and it’s still going strong. My sister in law in the same period has been through 3 or 4 different buggies and new born prams all of them “cheaper” than the bugaboo.

Most supermarkets do a monthly special on nappies and formula around the time the child benefit is paid, we used to pick formula and nappies for the month and it was normally €40 or so cheaper than buying them weekly

 

[brea555]

@chxl I got the bugaboo chameleon with pram, buggy etc for €250 on FB marketplace from someone upgrading to a double buggy. Also got the sun shade and the Snuggie thing on FB marketplace. Obviously bought the car seat and base new, but we probably saved about a 1000.

Parent’s recycling groups also often have buggies to take away.

It’s literally all I used facebook for now.

 

[bmag]

@brea555 I bought one second hand too for €250 on Done Deal. Gets a lot of use here on child 2.

 

[hewhoknows]

@jhonn

ALSO CARPARKING for partner. €4.00-€4.20 per hour.

For our 3 lads we were there for 2 or 3 days after the birth and the car parking fee is capped at a certain amount for the day. Something like €15 or €20 maybe? I seem to remember there was a special rate for those in maternity also? You had to ask security about it. This was back in 2015. This was in CUH.

 

[jhonn]

@hewhoknows Hollestreet. No dedicated parkinng and you could only par for 3 hours I think at a time.

 

[hewhoknows]

@jhonn Ah, nightmare! The lads in CUH were very good to us.

 

[katie_indy]

@jhonn Our kid was born in 40 mins. Was able to move car

 

[katie_indy]

@jhonn Our kid was born in 40 mins. Was able to move car

 

[dennisrainey90]

@jhonn the only thing that surprised me there is the cost of a stroller wtf????

Thankfully I am a permanent resident so all these lovely benefits apply which is great! but damn, nappies and stroller…

 

[levizappa]

@dennisrainey90 You can get nappies for much cheaper than that in Aldi or Lidl (and actually in my experience they are better than the expensive brands).

 

[dennisrainey90]

@levizappa I am a die hard Aldi fan so when the time comes i’ll definitely be shopping there!

 

[scandinavian97]

@dennisrainey90 Well, let me give you the bad news. The aldi nappies are pretty terrible. The lidl ones are far better! (Source, 3 kids under 5, 1 in nappies)

 

[cidalia]

@scandinavian97 I think it’s the way they are made. With my little boy they were great. But my friend with two girls - a disaster

 

[scandinavian97]

@cidalia Interesting! We had all girls and they were terrible for us, they just would never sit right. So maybe its just the kids.

The amount of leaks and back scratchers we had, made is stop using them. We also found Tescos to be very similar tbh.

 

[jhonn]

@levizappa You can but having gone through them all, I found Lidl and Aldi really poor, constant leaks. Tesco never have there smaller sizes in. Only really getting pamper.s