Expecting Parents FAQs

Should I Have one?
One of my friends posed this question 'Why have Kids?'. I could not answer it then, I don't have a right answer yet. That question never occurred to me. I just thought of it as a natural part of life. It was always a matter of when if not now. The question of when was answered with our planning of finances and career position. 'Should we?' was never raised. There was pressure from the grandparents and family but that did not alter our time frame. I could be philosophical about life being precious and that bringing one to the earth will be a right thing to do etc. But I am not philosophical. Now that my kid is here, she is a bundle of joy.

What does it cost?
This is a very touchy subject that raises a lot eyebrows and how dare he's. But the fact that kids cost a lot is a fact that one must be aware of before the plunge. From the day you know that your wife is pregnant, to the day the kids are independent and on their own, there are a lot of costs involved. I will summarize the immediate costs here and give a small estimate of what it might cost to raise one kid.

There will be monthly visits with your Obstetrician and in the ninth month there will be weekly visits. There will be 2-3 ultrasound scans of your wife for determining the wellness of your baby while inside. There might be emergency visits to the hospital. We had 3 emergency visits. One in the night and twice while she was at work. Luckily for my wife she works at a hospital and the emergency was a elevator button call away. But a good insurance is important. Find out what is covered and what is not. I have heard of scary stories where the bill came out to 25K etc. 25K might not be a lot for a few, but if you are an immigrant and just starting your life, it might mean a lot of debt for sometime. Some sites put the cost of delivery between $5,000-$8,000 for a normal vaginal delivery, up to $12,000 for a cesarean delivery. Of course this does not include other services like the suite, medication and health care in case of complications.

There will be stuff that you have buy for the infant baby that might cost 2K-3K depending on what and where you buy. I will list what to buy for the immediate few weeks and months later on. Then there is the cost of day care, play school, preschool, school, college education etc etc as they grow up. Here is a good summary of what it cost to have a baby. The calculator by the US Department of agriculture puts the annual cost of an infant at $20,500. The longer term cost to raise to the age of 17 at about 270K that's about $16K/annum. The first few years could be more expensive if you plan to have them in a day care or have a part-time/full-time nanny. Full time nanny can be $1500-$2500 out of your pocket. If you plan to fund their college education as most parents do add another 100K-150K. Basically what you could save towards your retirement would be channeled towards raising your kid.

What to buy before the kid is born?
I have listed the most items in the next section, but what I list here are other care giving matters.
Cord Blood Storage - If your family has a history of cancer or diabetes, you might consider storing Cord blood of your infant. Cord blood is the blood in the cord that could be collected at the time of delivery and stored for later usage. Cures to about 40 diseases have been found with stem blood. We have used Stembanc and it cost us about 2K including the registration and 20 years storage. There are other places like Cord Blood registry and Viacord that were expensive. It is kind of medical insurance. There are places where they do the storage for free but the blood stored there could be used for research purposes and could be used for other persons if the blood matches them. Utilizing private firms like Stembanc would ensure that your kids blood is saved for future in case your kid might need it.

The second thing is to find from the hospital your wife is scheduled for labor/c-section if they need a pediatrician appointed beforehand. Some insurance firms might need that your pediatrician be within your network etc.

Third but not least find from your insurance provider how and within what time frame you need to add your infant to your insurance plan. Typically the first month is covered under the mother's plan and you should add your kid to the plan within that time frame.

What to buy for infants?
It makes sense to start buying the items listed below a few months ahead of time as they list is quite big and procuring them is very time consuming. I bought most of the items from Walmart as I found them to be the cheapest and of same quality (many times same products at a far lower prices than Target or Babies R Us).

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Tooling Around
_____Car seat - Infant Car Seat up to one year. You need a car seat to take your kid home. The nurse will come and inspect the safety of your car seat and I heard that they won't let your take your kid home unless you have a car seat. I was not sure about it but did not want to risk the safety of my kids. I bought Graco travel system.
_____Stroller -
_____Travel System - I bought Graco Travel system(carseat+stroller) for $155 at Walmart.
_____Booster seat for kids 20lbs and up. Not need to buy now. Could be bought later on when the kid is about to complete 12 months.

Beds and linens
_____Crib (if you plan to have a bassinet, you do not need this immediately)
_____Crib mattress. About $50-$70 at Walmart
_____Bassinet/cradle (if you don't want to put your baby in a crib right away. This could be good for only 3-6 months). $80 at Walmart
_____Two to three fitted crib sheets.
_____Four or more waffle-weave cotton receiving blankets for swaddling baby.
_____Two mattress pads.
_____One to two waterproof liners (for crib or bassinet).

Swing/Rocker to make your infant sleep
_____Rocker - Fisher Price
_____Swing - Fisher Price

Diapers
_____Diapers. Disposables: One 40-count package of newborn (birth weight under 8 pounds) or of size 1 (birth weight over 8 pounds). Cloth: Two to three dozen, plus six to 10 snap-on, waterproof outer pants, and two to three sets of diaper pins, eight to 10 all-in-ones or diaper system covers;two to three dozen diaper system inserts. I bought a big box of Huggies containing 264 of them from Sam's club for $40.
_____Diaper pail (with refills or bags as needed).
_____Diaper bag.
Diaper Dispenser - Diaper Genie is one brand and you have buy the pail for storing used diapers.

Bathing/Grooming
_____Plastic infant bathtub. Summer bath tub spa from BabiesRUs for $30.
_____Three soft hooded towels.
_____Two packs of baby washcloths.
_____Baby body wash that doubles as shampoo.
_____Pair of blunt-tip scissors or baby-sized nail clippers.
_____Zinc-oxide-based diaper rash ointment.
_____Soft brush and comb.
_____Mild laundry detergent.

Extras: Nice but optional
_____Baby monitor.
_____Changing table - New one in target for $80.
_____Changing Pad - Babies R Us carries this for $30.
_____A rocker or glider.
_____Sling or strap-on soft carrier. Walmart
_____Boppy, a Croissant-shaped pillow designed to make holding baby during breastfeeding or bottlefeeding easier. Bought it from Walmart $20. Very useful.
_____Nursing cover up. Attaches at your neck and allows for private breastfeeding when you and your baby are in public.
_____Infant swing - Fishcer Price Rain Forest in Amazon($112). Retail $140 in Babies R Us. If you are not buying Bassinet this is needed.
_____Bouncy seat/Bouncer.
_____Night-light. Any table lamb which is not brightly lit bulb would do. You don't want the kid in the dark, and you also want to sleep.

Some of these items could be bought at craigslist like the car seat and cribs. There is nothing wrong with that and do not feel guilty about doing that(like I did). Most parents are as careful as you and take good care of them.

Future Planning
529b plan for education.

I will add to this list as I learn my way along.