ByDueDate

First-year cost calculator

What will your baby's first year cost?

Your own budget, not a scary national average. We fill in how many: about 2,800 diapersand 8,400 wipes in year one. You add the prices you see in your store, plus the gear and monthly costs that apply to you.

Diapers and wipes

An average baby uses about 2,800 diapers and 8,400 wipes in the first year, from our diaper calculator. Copy the price and count from a box you'd buy.

Gear you buy once

Leave anything you were given or are borrowing at 0.

Monthly costs

The amount a month, and for how many months of the first year.

$0your first year

$0a month, on average

  • Diapers 2,800$0
  • Wipes 8,400$0
  • Gear you buy once$0
  • Monthly costs$0

Add the prices you see, starting with diapers. Your total builds as you type. Nothing you enter leaves your device.

We never show prices: they change daily and differ by store. Your numbers, your budget.

Why we don't give you a number

Most "cost of a baby" figures are national averages that mix in housing, food and childcare for families very unlike yours. They also go stale fast. So this calculator does the part that's hard to look up, how many diapers and wipes you'll go through, and leaves the prices to you. Prices you type are worked out on your device and never saved or sent anywhere.

What the official estimate says

The US Department of Agriculture's last estimate, from 2015 data, found that a middle-income married couple spent between $12,350 and $13,900 a year on a child (in 2015 dollars). Housing was the largest share at 29%, then food at 18% and childcare and education at 16%. Clothing was the smallest at 6%. It covers the whole of childhood, not just the first year, and doesn't include pregnancy costs. Source: USDA, Expenditures on Children by Families (2015).

Where the money goes in year one

  • Childcare is the biggest line for most working parents. Ask for quotes early, since some daycares have waiting lists.
  • Diapers and wipes add up because of the sheer number. Buying the right size at the right time (see diaper sizes) avoids waste.
  • Gear is a one-off, and much of it can be borrowed or given, if it is safe (see below).
  • Formula, if you use it, is a steady monthly cost. Your pediatrician can advise on how much your baby needs.

Ways to spend less, safely

  • Get your breast pump through insurance. Most US health plans must cover one. How to claim it.
  • Use a registry completion discount on what's left. Babylist, Amazon and Target each offer 15%: compare them.
  • Wait to buy bigger sizes and later gear until you know your baby. What can wait.
  • Borrow carefully. Check cribs, sleepers and car seats against CPSC recalls, and avoid a used car seat unless you know its history, as the AAP advises.

How we calculate

  1. Diapers and wipes: year-one counts for an average baby from our diaper calculator, times your price per diaper (box price รท count) and per wipe.
  2. Gear: the sum of what you enter.
  3. Monthly costs: each amount times its months.
  4. A month, on average: the year's total divided by 12.

This calculator is for planning, not financial advice.

Next on your list

Turn the budget into a timeline with the Due-Date Plan, or keep the gear list short with the minimal registry checklist.