Cost of a Baby Calculator

The short answer

Our example family in England buys mid-range big items, uses formula and disposable nappies, and puts the baby in childcare for 30 hours a week from age 1. With the calculator’s example prices:

• Year one spending is about £3,050; Child Benefit brings back £1,407, a net cost of £1,643.
• The mother’s pay falls by £13,747 before tax over 39 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay, and the partner’s by £811.
• Including that, the first year costs the household about £16,202.
• To age 5, the net cost of spending is about £9,167, after funded hours and Tax-Free Childcare.

About the example prices

Prices for prams, formula or nappies vary hugely between brands and shops, and over time. So the spending figures in the calculator are examples to start from, not averages from a survey: change them to the prices you see. The help figures are different: Child Benefit, Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, the maternity grants, Healthy Start, funded hours and Tax-Free Childcare all use the official 2026/27 rates.

All figures are at today’s prices, without inflation, and leave out housing, a bigger car or other changes a baby may bring.

Big items: what you really need

The calculator lists nine one-off items. With mid-range example prices they add up to £1,190:

Not everything is essential from day one. A car seat is needed if you will drive the baby home from hospital. A highchair is not needed until weaning, at around 6 months. Many families skip the monitor or the Moses basket.

Budget, mid-range or premium

The "Big items" choice fills in all nine prices at once. The gap between budget and premium is £2,350 in our example, more than a year’s Child Benefit. Year one net cost changes like this:

The budget line includes £300 for a reusable nappy kit; it is cheaper still with disposables bought on offer or hand-me-down equipment.

Feeding: breast, formula or both

Breastfeeding has no formula cost, though you may buy a pump, breast pads or nursing bras. If you use formula, the NHS says first infant formula is the only formula a baby needs in the first year; follow-on formula is not necessary. From age 1, pasteurised whole cows’ milk can be the main drink, so the formula cost stops.

On a low income, Healthy Start can be used for infant formula as well as milk, fruit and vegetables.

Nappies: disposable or reusable

With an example £35 a month for disposable nappies and wipes, and nappies until age two and a half, the cost is £420 in each of the first two years and £210 in the third: £1,050 in all. Reusable nappies cost more at the start (an example £300 kit) and then about £10 a month for washing: £120 a year, or £600 to two and a half including the kit. Some councils offer vouchers or discounts for reusable nappies.

Clothes, food and everyday costs

The example also includes:

• Clothes: £300 in year one, as babies outgrow sizes quickly, then £250 a year.
• Food: the NHS recommends starting solid food at around 6 months. The example adds £30 a month from 6 to 12 months (£180), then £60 a month for food and milk from age 1 (£720 a year).
• Other: toiletries, toys, books and activities at £30 a month (£360 a year).

Pay during maternity leave

For many families, the drop in pay is bigger than everything they buy. Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is 90% of average weekly earnings for 6 weeks, then £194.32 a week (or 90% if lower) for 33 weeks. The last 13 weeks of a full year’s leave are unpaid unless your employer pays more.

Taking the full 52 weeks raises the drop to £21,547. If the employer pays full pay for the first 26 weeks, the drop over 39 weeks falls to £5,274. Tax and National Insurance also fall when pay falls, so the drop in take-home pay is smaller. The maternity pay calculator shows week-by-week pay and Maternity Allowance if you do not qualify for SMP.

Partner's pay and shared leave

Statutory Paternity Pay is £194.32 a week (or 90% of earnings if lower) for up to two weeks. A partner earning £600 a week gets £388.64 instead of £1,200: a drop of £811. Some employers pay full pay instead. Parents can also share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay; the Shared Parental Leave calculator compares the options.

Child Benefit

Child Benefit is £27.05 a week for the eldest child and £17.90 for each other child in 2026/27: £1,407 or £931 a year. If the higher earner’s adjusted net income is over £60,000, the High Income Child Benefit Charge takes back 1% for every £200 above that, and all of it at £80,000. At £70,000, half is taken back, leaving £703 a year for a first child.

Maternity grants

On Universal Credit or another qualifying benefit, the Sure Start Maternity Grant pays £500 once in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, usually only if you have no other children under 16. In Scotland, the Best Start Grant pays £796.65 for a first child and £398.35 for later children. Neither has to be paid back.

Healthy Start

Healthy Start pays £4.65 a week in pregnancy (from 10 weeks), £9.30 a week for a baby under 1 and £4.65 a week from 1 to 4, on a prepaid card for milk, formula, fruit and vegetables. Families on Universal Credit qualify if their take-home pay is £408 a month or less. For a new baby that is about £484 in year one and £242 a year at ages 1 to 4. Scotland has its own Best Start Foods scheme.

Childcare: the biggest cost

Once a parent goes back to work, childcare usually dwarfs everything else. In the example, 30 hours a week for 48 weeks at an example £7.50 an hour costs £10,800 a year before any help. Prices vary a lot by area and provider, so ask local nurseries and childminders and enter their hourly rate.

The childcare costs calculator handles more than one child and shows the help side by side.

Funded hours in England

In England, working parents can get 30 funded hours a week, for 38 weeks a year, from when their child is 9 months old until they start school. In the example, that covers £8,550 of the £10,800, leaving £2,250 a year to pay. Check eligibility with the free childcare hours checker. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have different schemes, which this calculator does not include.

Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit

Tax-Free Childcare adds £2 for every £8 you pay, up to £2,000 a year per child. On the £2,250 left after funded hours, it adds £450 a year. Without funded hours, as in the other nations here, it reaches the £2,000 cap. On Universal Credit, you can instead get back up to 85% of childcare costs, up to a monthly limit; you cannot use both.

Tax-Free Childcare is not available if either parent earns over £100,000, and in that case working-parent funded hours stop too. Use the Tax-Free Childcare calculator for the details.

The cost to age 5

Without Tax-Free Childcare the five-year net cost rises to £10,967. In Scotland, with no funded hours modelled, the same plan comes to £37,167, which shows how much funded hours matter; Scotland’s own funded childcare would bring that down.

A low-income example

A family on Universal Credit with budget items, formula, no paid childcare and no earnings before the birth gets the £500 grant, £484 of Healthy Start and £1,407 of Child Benefit in year one: £2,390 of help against £2,290 of spending. Universal Credit itself also rises with a child element, which this calculator does not include; the Universal Credit estimator shows it.

Ways to cut the cost

• Borrow or buy second-hand clothes and big items, but buy a new cot mattress and only use a car seat with a known history.
• Wait for gifts before buying everything; many items are not needed until 6 months.
• Plan leave and pay early: read your employer’s maternity and paternity policy and check whether pay is enhanced.
• Apply for Tax-Free Childcare and funded hours in good time, as codes need to be reconfirmed every three months.
• Check whether you can get Universal Credit, especially while on leave, with the benefits checker.

When to claim what

1. 10 weeks pregnantHealthy Start

   If you qualify.

2. 15 weeks before the due dateTell your employer

   About the pregnancy, due date and leave dates.

3. 11 weeks before the due dateSure Start Maternity Grant opens

   Claim up to 6 months after the birth.

4. After the birthChild Benefit

   Claim within 3 months: backdating is limited to 3 months.

5. Baby is 23 weeks oldApply for funded hours

   England: you can apply from 23 weeks; hours start from 9 months.

6. Before childcare startsTax-Free Childcare

   Check your provider is signed up, then reconfirm every 3 months.

The pregnancy due date calculator turns these into dates for your pregnancy.

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