In 2025, the cost of living crisis has meant that prices are rising across the board, meaning that bringing a little one into the world has never been more expensive. Through our independent research, we’ve figured out the average cost of the question that you’re probably asking yourself right now: “How much does a baby cost in the UK?”

We can reveal that the cost to raise a baby in the UK in 2025 for the first year totals up at an estimated £7850.

But there is some good news! As well as highlighting and rounding up the biggest baby essentials costs, we’ve also found a few ways that you can save on these. It’s important to note that these prices are the average, and in many places, you should be able to make cuts through savvy shopping. 

And in even better news, 2025 will see the final stage rolling out of the funding of childcare costs, which should make a big impact for parents who require childcare, meaning that £7850 figure should reduce by around £2000 for parents from September 2025.

Read on to find out more about the costs of the first year of having a baby in the UK in 2025:

Car Seat

An infant car seat is an absolute essential for a newborn baby – in fact, some hospitals require you to leave with your baby already safely strapped into the car seat, no matter your mode of transport home. A crucial rule for car seat safety is to always buy new – this is one area that you cannot afford to scrimp on. Car seats can be easily damaged when involved in an accident, even at slow speeds, so buying new is the only way to ensure that the safety of the car seat is not compromised.

There are a huge range of different car seats available. The most important thing is that it meets the correct current car seat regulations in the UK. These do change from time to time, so your midwife or health visitor will be able to direct you to the most up to date advice, however the things that will not change are that the car seat should be rear facing and suitable for newborns. They can be fitted with either ISOFIX or with the car seatbelts depending on the type of seat and your car.

The typical prices for a car seat that is suitable for an infant range from £60 to £400. The price range is a big one as the car seat may have different features, such as a swivel feature or the option for extended rear facing. We’ve calculated the average cost for an infant car seat in the first year of life at £150.

Pushchair/Pram

Another item which is essential to parents is a pushchair, pram or travel system. It’s always a good idea to shop around, to try out different brands and styles to find out what works for you. A simple pushchair might seem like the best option to save money, but in the long run, a travel system which includes everything from a carrycot for newborns and pushchair seat for older babies, to items like footmuffs, raincovers and even sometimes a car seat, might be a more affordable option in the long term.

A pushchair takes a lot of wear and tear, so this might be something that you’re willing to invest in, but the most expensive option doesn’t always mean the best. There are brilliant options for pushchairs and travel systems from big brands starting at around £120 going up to £2000, but a survey by Which? revealed that the average cost for a pushchair in 2025 in the UK is £490.

Some parents opt for an additional alternative to a pushchair with a baby carrier. These can start very inexpensively for a simple stretchy baby wrap for around £20, but can be as expensive as £150. The average cost for a baby carrier is £50.

Sleep

There are two big topics around newborn babies: feeding and sleep. While we all love to rant about how well (or not!) our babies are sleeping, the most important topic should really be around safe sleep – this means ensuring that you:

  • Lay baby down on their back to sleep.
  • Use a clean, firm mattress.
  • Keep the sleep area clear from loose bedding, toys and bumpers.
  • Baby should be in the same room as you when sleeping for the first 6 months.

You will, however, need to ensure that your little one has somewhere safe to sleep as soon as they come home – your health visitor at your antenatal appointment may ask to see this space, and your midwife may ask at your home visit after birth.

Many parents choose to use a Moses basket for their little one in the first 6 months or so. This is a handy place to lay your baby down as they’re lightweight and can easily be moved from room to room, including having them downstairs with you throughout the day, and upstairs next to your bed at night time. Others decide to have a Moses basket downstairs for the daytime and a bedside cot for the night – it’s entirely up to your preference and budget, as both are safe, viable options for a newborn. 

The cost for a Moses basket could be as little as £25, with prices going up to £150 for different brands or ones with different features such as a base or a handwoven basket. The average price for a Moses basket is £45.

The cost for a bedside cot also varies between £100 and £250, again depending on brand and what’s included – some come with a mattress, some without. The average price for a bedside cot is £150.

As baby gets older, you will look to move them into their own room or at least into a full size cot. This is usually between 6 months and 1 year old, so is included in the baby expenses first year. A cot alone will typically cost around £150 to £300, but many parents find it easier to include it as part of a full nursery furniture set including a changing table, chest of drawers and wardrobe, which typically prices up at between £500 and £2000. The average price for nursery furniture is £700.

While cot bumpers and loose bedding are not recommended for safe sleep, you will need sheets on your baby’s mattress and blankets to keep your little one warm, or sleeping bags as they get older. The average cost for sheets, blankets, mattress protectors and sleep sacks for the first year is £60. 

Cots, Moses baskets and nursery furniture are a good place to look at saving money as they are often available to buy second hand. However you must make sure to buy a brand new mattress as a second hand one is not safe for a newborn.

If a mattress is not included as part of your cot, Moses basket or bedside cot, or if you buy second hand, you will need to buy one at an average cost of £40.

Feeding

The other big topic when you have a newborn is feeding. Whether you decide to breastfeed, formula feed, or a combination of both, there are some costs associated with each method. 

Breastfeeding is often thought of as “free”, however breastfeeding costs not only include specific nursing bras (and sometimes clothes) and breast pads, which come out at an average of £120. 

You may also choose to or need to express breast milk when breastfeeding which will require a breast pump. There are so many options here, including single manual pumps right up to electric hands free double breast pumps. On average, we have estimated a cost of £100 associated with a breast pump.

We also have to mention that the total figure here does not take into account your time spent breastfeeding and how much that would cost! If you want to see how many hours you’ve breastfed, check out our breastfeeding calculator here.

If you are feeding your baby with a bottle, you’ll need to invest money in those. A starter set of bottles typically comes in between £25 and £60, but with different teats needed as your baby gets older, a variety of bottle sizes required, sets for nursery to keep and so on, the average price for bottles for your little one in the first year of life averages out at £80.

For those using bottles, you will also need to sterilise them. You can either invest in a sterilising machine, buy special chemical sterilising kits or boil them, depending on your preference. On average, parents spend £40 on sterilising equipment or chemicals in the first year.

The cost of baby formula in the UK is another figure that needs to be taken into account. Most parents spend between £50 and £100 per month on baby formula, although this figure does reduce once your little one passes the 6 month mark and begins to eat more solid food and reduce their milk intake. The average money spent on baby formula in the first year is around £720.

Once you reach the 6 month mark, you will begin weaning your little one onto solid food, which comes with a few more expenses in itself! We estimate the increase in your shopping bill as your baby tries (and throws!) their food to be approximately £30 per month. 

In addition to this, you will also need to invest in a few items, including a highchair. It’s important for your baby to be seated in a safe space when trying foods for the first time to minimise the risk of choking and falls, as well as helping to develop proper feeding habits and skills. There are highchairs available from as little as £15 which are suitable from baby’s first meal, right up to £200 for highchairs that are designed to grow with your child. The average cost for a highchair is £100.

Finally your little one will need their own plates, bowls, cups and cutlery to start learning to eat. You do not need to invest much in these, but it’s likely you’ll want to make sure you have some that are able to cope with a lot of wear and tear! You may also want to buy a few bibs or coveralls to protect their clothes while they experiment with food! The total average cost for this is £40.

We would estimate the total average cost for feeding your baby, whether breast or formula fed at £850.

Nappies

Nappies are an expensive essential that cannot be avoided with a newborn! Whether you choose to use disposables or cloth nappies, the cost comes out around the same when totalled up, but it’s entirely up to your own preference.

A single disposable nappy typically costs between 3p and 16p, depending on the brand. Considering that newborns go through between 10 and 12 nappies per day, that quickly adds up! Fortunately that number reduces to around 6 nappies per day after the first month or so. We’ve calculated that, on average, parents will spend between £80 and £370 on nappies, and that doesn’t include wipes or cotton wool, which end up at around £45 per year, especially as those wipes are also used on sticky hands and faces as they get older too!

Reusable nappies may seem like a big expensive purchase in the beginning at around £320 for a starter kit that takes your little one from birth to potty with cloth wipes included, however, if this is broken down by year and the cost per wear, that figure looks like more of an investment! Taking into account an additional £60 spend per year for the cost of washing nappies every second or third day, the cost for reusable nappies in the first year is around £120.

On average, the cost of nappies and wipes in the UK during the first year is around £220.

Clothes

As everyone says, babies don’t need much, but they do need to be kept warm and clothed! Fortunately, this is an area that you can easily save on as not only are baby clothes very easy to buy second hand, they’re usually in excellent condition too as babies grow so quickly that they barely get worn! You’ll find that friends and relatives are also very keen to buy cute outfits for your bundle of joy, so maybe make a wishlist of the items that you want or need that people can choose from.

To give your baby a basic wardrobe, that allows for a two to three days between washes and a few changes of clothes in between when accidents happen as they so often do with little ones (watch out for the poonami!), here’s our list of what your little one will likely need:

  • 10 vests (long and short sleeve)
  • 5 tops (vests may also be worn as tops)
  • 10 bottoms
  • 5 pieces of knitwear (jumpers and cardigans)
  • Socks
  • Coat and pramsuit
  • Other items such as smart clothes, dresses, hats and mittens.

Babies grow so quickly that you will need most of these items in 4 or 5 sizes. Baby clothes sizes in the UK are usually as follows:

  • Tiny baby (not always required)
  • Newborn
  • Up to 1 month
  • 0-3 months
  • 3-6 months
  • 6-9 months
  • 9-12 months

The average cost of baby clothes in the UK for the first year is around £430.

Baby Essentials and Miscellaneous

There are a few more items that you might need for your little one. One example is toiletries and medical necessities which might include:

  • Baby shampoo
  • Moisturiser
  • Nail clippers
  • Hairbrush
  • Nappy cream
  • Calpol
  • Thermometer

These baby essentials cost around £50 in the first year.

Some other miscellaneous items include muslins, for catching any spit ups or spills, at around £15, toys such as a baby bouncer, soft toys, rattles, a playmat and educational toys at a total of around £150 in the first year (this is a cost that will likely rise as your little one grows!), and books at around £25. Toys and books are another excellent way to save a little bit of money as they can easily be bought secondhand and barely used, just make sure to give them a wipe down and check for any damage for giving them to your little one.

A final item that you might like to have, especially once your baby passes the 6 month mark and starts to sleep in a separate space from you, is a baby monitor. You can choose an audio or video monitor, and they can be equipped with all sorts of capabilities including moving heads, WiFi connections, the ability to sing lullabies and more! For a more basic monitor, prices start at £20 and go up to around £150. The average cost for a baby monitor is £100.

Classes and Groups

Prenatal classes and baby groups are not an absolute essential, however they can be a lifeline for many parents, especially if it is your first time as a parent or if you’re among the first in your friends and family to become a parent. 

A typical antenatal course will set you back between around £250 and £300, depending on your area and the type of course you take. This may be NCT classes, hypnobirthing, pregnancy yoga or another educational class.

Once your little one is born, you may like to start taking them to groups that are educational for them or simply just for the social aspect for both of you. There are many different options, including local playgroups that you may find in a village or church hall that are as little as £2 per session, or classes such as baby swimming, baby sign or baby sensory that can cost up to £15 per session. In the first year, these classes average a total cost of around £769.

Childcare

The final, but inevitably usually the largest chunk of the cost for having a baby in the UK, is childcare. Navigating the financial landscape of childcare in the UK requires careful consideration, especially with recent policy changes and the associated costs. This year marks the final stage of the rolling out of 30 hours of funded childcare, meaning that from September 2025, 30 hours of childcare costs in the UK will be funded by the government for all children aged older than 9 months.

Considering that statutory maternity leave in the UK tends to end for most mothers when their child is around 9 months old, the new roll out from September means that for children in full time childcare, you can expect to save around £2000 of your childcare costs.

In real terms, what are the costs for childcare in the UK before September 2025 and after?

For full time childcare in the UK before September 2025, for a baby under the age of 2, you can expect to pay around £300 per week. 

For full time childcare in the UK after September 2025, for a baby over the age of 9 months, you can expect to pay around £120 per week.

If we say that your little one is going to nursery full time after 9 months of maternity leave, the average cost for childcare before September 2025 in their first year is around £3600.

For the same scenario, the average cost for childcare after September 2025 in their first year is around £1440.

This is a huge difference of more than £2000 for parents, meaning that childcare costs by the end of 2025 should be considerably better for many. However, you will need to ensure that you check with your childcare provider, as many have had to cover additional costs such as:

  • Consumables like meals and snacks
  • Nappies and wipes
  • Educational materials like supplies for activities
  • Administrative fees – usually a one off registration or enrollment charge.

Private Healthcare

In the UK, we can access our healthcare free at the point of service, which means that you are not charged for medical care at the birth of your baby. Essentially, the cost of childbirth in the UK is free. 

There are certain services however that parents can invest in for more specialised care around the birth of their baby or afterwards. The private birth cost in the UK can be from £6000 up to £10,000 for a basic package at a private wing, however there are often additional costs for things like stitches, pain relief, scans, extra nights stayed and more. Which? estimates the entire service costing over £20,000.

If you don’t want a full private birth experience, but want something beyond the usual NHS birth care, you can invest in a private midwife which costs between £5000 and £8500.

While preparing for your baby’s arrival, you’ll invest in essentials to keep them safe and comfortable – but have you considered securing their future health too? Stem cell banking is an investment that many parents choose to make for their child as well as their siblings, with the ability to treat over 80 life-threatening conditions and ongoing research unlocking even more possibilities. Smart Cells offers this starting from £850 which includes storage for the first year, with a flexible monthly payment plan.

Sources & Methodology

The calculations and average price information is available to view here.

  • https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/how-much-do-you-need-to-spend-on-a-pushchair-aYC5Z4t0HXL9
  • https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/discover-the-average-spend-for-a-pushchair-and-a-child-car-seat-aRUJ57a4f2lQ
  • https://www.bellsbumz.co.uk/product-page/bells-bumz-full-kithttps://clothnappygeek.co.uk/index.php/the-cost-of-washing/
  • https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/high-chairs/article/how-to-buy-the-best-high-chair-aWXsW4e3Ypw3https://cpag.org.uk/policy-and-research/findings-our-projects/cost-child-reports
  • https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/birthing-options/article/nhs-vs-private-maternity-care-what-are-your-options-aeYb37A1bvRx
  • https://privatemidwives.com/prices-and-packages/