Having a child is expensive, but it’s difficult to wrap your head around that until you experience it. Mr. Ice Cream and I have always been thoughtful about our purchases, but one of the best decisions we made was hiring a financial advisor. It’s not that we make a ton of money, but we wanted to start our lives together making smart retirement and savings decisions. At the time, with a kid on the way, she helped us figure out a budget that worked for us. Although everyone’s experience is different, here’s a breakdown of our first year’s cost. We were gifted many items by very generous friends and family. I’ve included the cost of these items in the total for each category.

PREGNANCY | $510

When I was pregnant, I avoided buying maternity clothes for as long as I could. I didn’t like the idea of buying items that I would only wear for a few weeks. But after finally purchasing a few items, I was so much more comfortable and realized I should have made the transition sooner. Other than clothes and prenatal vitamins, additional costs incurred were related to standard pregnancy check-ups.

Prior to giving birth, I was nervous about the hospital bill. I couldn’t find a clear answer to how much it would cost. Other than speaking with friends, I had no idea what to expect once the bills started coming in. Luckily, I participated in a healthy pregnancy program through our insurance, which waived the hospital co-pay so our final delivery cost came out to under $50.

NURSERY | $1300

Before we brought M home from the hospital, we decided we weren’t going to co-sleep. Knowing this, we didn’t buy a bed-side bassinet, but instead made sure his crib was set up a few weeks before my due date. We opted for a crib and changing table from Ikea, which was considerably less expensive than many options, yet still rated highly by consumer reports.

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To transform the space, we added book ledges and colorful shelves. I repainted picture frames we owned and added kid-centric prints. To include aspects that had some personal meaning, I painted a favorite Calvin & Hobbes mural from Mr. Ice Cream’s childhood on the wall. We didn’t have a strict color palette but stuck to a general scheme of grays and whites with a few pops of bright colors.

Items we used and loved: Ubbi Diaper Pail, Baby Swing, Glider and Ottoman

CLOTHES | $930

There will come a day when M wants to dress himself. But until then, I’ve loved picking out his outfits and dressing him every day. Well actually, if I’m being honest, dressing him is a struggle most days, but I love how adorable he looks once dressed. Although I always bought items on sale, I could have been smarter and bought secondhand. In addition to what we bought, we also received a ton of adorable clothes from friends and family. Here I’ve only included the clothing cost that we purchased.

DIAPERS + WIPES | $580

Knowing how many diapers infants go through in a year, we really appreciated the boxes of diapers we received as gifts (~$140 worth of diapers). We relied on Amazon’s subscribe and save options for diapers and wipes.

BREASTFEEDING | $200

I had the intention of breastfeeding for 1 year. But in reality, I exclusively breastfed for 7 months then supplemented with formula until 10 months (I wrote about my experience here). Most of the money spent includes what I needed to pump at work and store milk at home. Luckily, the biggest cost, the breast pump, was covered by our insurance. Items we used and loved: Medela Quick Clean Wipes, Medela Pump Parts , Bottle Cooler Set, Steam Bags, Disposable Nursing Pads

FOOD | $630 ($230 supplies + $200 food + $200 formula)

M started eating solids around 4.5 months. For the first year, we pureed/prepared most of his food, but also gave him some store bought baby food. Even though he was primarily breastfed, we still spent about $200 in formula. Items we used and loved: Tommee Tippee Bottles, Miracle Sippy Cup, Chicco Caddy Hook On Chair, Snack Cup, Bottle Drying Rack

PLAY | $800

When M started sitting up on his own we bought a SkipHop play mat so he could have a cushioned area to play. Then once he was mobile we set up a playpen so he could play safely. Overall we tried not to go overboard with toys. And instead of buying a ton of books, we borrowed from the library. In addition, starting from when M was 7 months old, we subscribed to weekly classes at our local Romp n’ Roll. Items we used and loved: SkipHop Geo Playspot Mat, Baby Playpen, Jumperoo

DAYCARE | $11,200 (10 months)

This was by far the biggest cost.

HEALTH + SAFETY | $380

This category includes bath and grooming supplies, baby proofing items and our baby monitor. Most of the items here were gifted to us. Thankfully M wasn’t a very sensitive baby, so he did well with a variety of baby lotions and washes. Items we used and loved: Baby Cam, Duck Tub, Baby Nail Clippers with Light

ON THE GO GEAR | $580

There are a lot of options for taking your baby around and you need to get what works best for you and your baby. I loved the idea of using a carrier to carry your baby close to you, but we tried several options (Moby wrap, Babybjorn and Baby Sling wrap) and never found one that Max liked being in. Items included in this category are the infant stroller/car seat, convertible car seat, wagon and umbrella stroller.

INSURANCE AND HEALTH COSTS | $1,154

We were lucky in that M didn’t have a lot of doctor’s visits the first year (knocking on wood) so the bulk of this amount was the cost of adding him to our insurance plan.

TOTAL: $18,264

Were you surprised by the first year costs?