| $ Breastfeeding and Homemade Baby Food: $0 - $25 | $ $ Jarred Baby Food: $50 - $85 | $ $ $ Baby Formula: $50 - $150 |
Baby food is one of the main ongoing expenses when having a child, but it can greatly differ depending on your child’s needs, and your nutritional preferences as a parent.
The food options available for your baby will be determined by a variety of factors, such as the possibility of breastfeeding, the use of formula in the first six months of your baby’s life, whether you prefer organic food, making the food at home from scratch, or getting previously made baby food.
But, how much does baby food cost?
How much can you expect to spend every month on baby food?
We’ll talk here about the most common choices for baby food depending on your baby’s age, as well as the price ranges for each case.
Table of Contents
From 0 To 6 Months
When we talk about newborn babies, the options are particularly limited since they’re still not able to process solid food because their digestive system is just not ready for that yet.
In these first few months, you can either breastfeed your baby or feed them with baby formula, which is a powder specifically created to meet the nutritional requirements that your baby has.
Breastfeeding
The cost of breastfeeding is practically zero: you should only be worried about eating healthy for you and your baby.
However, you might have to get a couple of accessories like, special brassieres for breastfeeding ($15-$25), and even a breast pump ($13-$200), but what you’re spending here it’s usually cheaper than buying baby formula every month ($50-$150).
Baby Formula
Some people don’t have the choice of breastfeeding, or they just prefer not to do it, so the remaining option is baby formula, and the cost of it will vary according to the brand of the formula and its ingredients (soy, amino acids, rice hydrolysates formulas for allergic babies could end up being more expensive).
From 6 Months Onwards
After your baby is 6 months old, you can start giving them solid foods, like fruit and vegetable purees, cereals, grain, cheeses, yogurts, and even meat.
So you will have more options to choose from.
There are two main categories here: jarred baby food and homemade baby food.
Jarred Baby Food
You can find previously prepared food (also called jarred baby food) that comes in jars or pouches in any supermarket.
The cost of this type of baby food will depend on the quantity and the brand, as usual.
You can expect to spend between $50 to $85 a month.
Homemade Baby Food
This is a great option if you want to know exactly what your baby’s eating and if your baby has allergies or is sensitive to some food groups.
It could also be a great way to bond with your baby even further, but not every parent has the opportunity and time to do this.
You’ll probably have to create daily or even weekly menus for your baby and plan ahead, so it could consume a lot of your time if you and your partner are both working.
But if you do have the time, you could end up saving a lot of money.
A month, you would end up spending around $18 to $25, which is significantly less than buying baby jarred food.
You could spend more if you choose organic food, so that’s something you must consider when going grocery shopping.
There is something you should always remember if you’re having doubts about what your baby should eat: it’s important to follow your doctor’s tips and suggestions when it comes to the nutrition of your child, so they can start developing good eating habits from an early age that will ultimately lead them to have a healthy life.
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