Here’s How Much Our Child’s Third Year Cost

For anyone following along, this is our third post outlining details of baby-related items and costs we’ve encountered.  If you missed the first two posts + our post on tips for new baby items, you can check them out here:

• Our Baby Item Tips For New Parents
• Here’s How Much Baby’s First Year Cost
• Here’s How Much Baby’s Second Year Cost

We’re now going to dig into the costs during our baby’s toddler’s third year. Sad… she’s not a baby anymore 🙁 She is officially a threenager.

Some caveats:

• We live in Canada where healthcare costs for doctor and ER visits are free.  Vision is also free for kids under 18.
• She turned 2 right around when COVID-19 went on a tear and the world shut down.  Our activities for the year are thus on the low end as many places were closed or we did not feel comfortable going to.

The Breakdown:

• Diapers & Wipes: $78
  • 516 Size 4
  • We switched over to size 4 right around when she turned 2.  We also started potty training right around this time too.  She was showing signs that she was ready to start the process and with all the COVID lockdowns we thought the timing made perfect sense since we were going to be spending a lot of time at home anyway.
  • We are very grateful and happy that she did such a great job with potty training and 3 months after turning 2 she was 95% potty trained.  She would occasionally have a pee accident in the middle of the night (~once a month) and she asked to sleep with a diaper on.  For awhile, we were reusing the same diaper at night until it stopped sticking (~1 week) – or of course if there is an accident in it.  She has very sensitive skin and was developing a rash on her lower back along the edge of the diaper so we switched to reusable cloth diapers (free, second hand) that are much kinder to her skin. A year later… she still feels more comfortable sleeping with a cloth diaper on at night so that’s how we’re rolling.
  • We spent $118 on 516 diapers which comes out to an average cost of $0.22 per diaper (the bigger the size the less per box aka the more expensive the diaper).
  • We were able to sell a box of the 900 Costco wipes for $20 as well as 3-4T pullups for $20 as we did not need these.
• Medicines/hygiene: $58 
  • Thankfully those damn teeth are finally in!  We had enough Camilia stocked up that we didn’t need to buy anymore but we did pick up some kids Tylenol and ibuprofen.
  • She was a damn boss during her first dental cleaning this year and did SO well (proud momma moment as my dad was a dentist and I grew up never being afraid of a dentist and don’t want her to either!).  This ended up costing $35 out of pocket after 70% of it was covered with my employer’s health plan.
  • She also had her first eye exam this year and crushed that too.  Our eye doctor said she listened better than some of the 10 year old’s she sees.  She is SUCH a teachers pet and seeing her listen to directions from other adults is another proud momma moment.  Funny side note on the eye exam.  The only picture she couldn’t identify was a rotary phone…. no one has these now-a-days!  Cost for the eye exam was $0 as Alberta Health funds all eye exams for patients 18 and under (and 65 and over).
• Random things: $472
  • Strider bike ($5, second hand), Schwinn double bike trailer ($75, secondhand), Costco water bottles x3 ($20, new), more water bottles ($20, new), Inside Out Feelings Books ($5, second hand set of 5), velcro catch/ball set ($5, new), tree swing ($10, second hand), barn animal figurines ($3, new), full size sheets ($20, new), rug ($40, new), Martin Luther King book ($5, new), craft beads ($4, new), Chariot double bike trailer ($40, secondhand), ski boots x2 ($10, secondhand), kids skis ($60, second hand – she will be in these for years), Mr. Potato Head ($2, second hand), Dora busy board book ($3, secondhand), Curious George busy book ($7, new), little people figurines and house ($10, second hand), Montessori style sling book shelf ($10, second hand), little people barn ($5), paintbrushes ($4, new), kids cutlery ($2, new), bento box for when in school ($9, new), water beads ($4, new), crafts/coloring books ($7, new), fishing rod ($2, secondhand), bike items – training wheels, streamer, basket ($28, new), sandbox sand ($20, new), black out curtains for the new house ($33, new), bug box & magnifying glass ($4, new)
• Christmas items: $35
  • • Scribble Scrubbies ($16, new), pink lollipop ($1, new), Xmas jammies ($2, new), kinder surprise ($1, new), set of musical instruments ($5, secondhand), Peppa busy book ($4, new – hands down best purchase of the year), seek and find books ($3, new), reusable sticker book ($2, new), chapstick ($1, new), shapes and colors flashcards ($0, secondhand), mini trampoline ($0, secondhand)
• 3rd Birthday items: $53
  • • Plasma car ($20, second hand), dollhouse ($8, second hand), board games – Pengolo, Quirkle, and Go Fish ($8, second hand – haven’t given any to her yet, will wait until Christmas or next bday), build-a-bear ($12, new via Count Your Candles program + the most expensive little balloon ever), goodie bag giveaways for a few of her little friends at the park ($25, new)
• Clothes: $81
  • Purchased clothes for a total cost of $120
    • Native shoes ($6, second hand, she LIVED in these in the summer), Columbia 3T jacket ($5, secondhand), jumper ($2, new), Bogs boots ($10, secondhand), Keen boots ($15, secondhand for this upcoming winter), Native shoes ($8, second hand for next summer), toque & mitts ($4, new – clearance), 5T jacket ($20, new – clearance), 4T fleece jacket ($12, new – clearance), balaclava ($8, new – clearance), wool socks x6 pairs ($28, new), 3T PJ ($2, new – clearance)
  • Received a 3-4T lot, two 4T lots, and two 5T lots for free.  A lovely mom also gave us her favorite shirt that she would wear every day if it was up to her in size 4T for free.
  • Sold more clothing items for $39
• Activities: $155
  • Thanks to COVID, our spending on activities was abysmally low this year.  I WISH we could have spent more here!  No sports center (her/our fav!) so no pool, no indoor ice rink, no watching hockey games, no gymnastics, no indoor turf.  No zoo, no library story time (free), no Parent Link Center (free), no science center passes (free). Ugh 2020 sucked in that regard.
  • We spent A LOT of time outside, most of which was free.  In the warmer months we were out for walks, hikes, bike rides, scavenger hunts, throwing rocks in the river, making mud soup, playing at playgrounds, swimming (pool at the cabin was open for a few months), hanging out at the cabin, and exploring mountains.  In the colder months we were making bonfires, sledding, checking out Christmas lights, making luge tracks in our back yard, skating on outdoor rinks, and skiing.
  • Of all those activities – everything was free except swimming and skiing.  We spent $25 on pool entrance fees over the summer at the cabin and $130 on passes to the bunny hill at our nearby ski hill over the winter for the 3 of us.
• Things we received for free as gifts or for free from random other moms in our community on Varage Sale: $0
  • Gifts from friends & family:
    • Christmas: Melissa and Doug wooden construction set, Melissa and Doug wooden sandwich set, Lite Brite, painting sets, costume dresses, hoodie, PJs
    • 3rd bday: baby Elsa doll, Peppa cake, Peppa play set, Peppa clothes – can you tell she’s into Peppa?!, art easel, bath robe, Skye/helicopter, unicorn figurines, puzzle, taller balance bike (which we had to wrap in pink duct tape in places for her to show any hint of interest…), gift certificate to local ice cream shop
  • Free items (mainly from random other moms via the Varage Sale app):
    • kids portable potty, kids potty seat for on top of the toilet, step stool, kids kitchen and play food, board games (Pop Up Pirate, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Monopoly Jr, Snakes & Ladders), kids lawnmower, kids push car, lunch kit (aka lunch box for anyone outside Canada), sandbox, teeter totter, scooter, toy bin/storage container, tinker toys, Lego, puzzles, books, ski boots, City Select double stroller, 12 inch bike, 16 inch bike, cash register machine.
• Items we sold: -$165
  • Diaper genie and insert refills: $40
    • We had received this as a gift years ago and never used it
  • Chariot double bike cruiser: $125
    • We saw two double bike cruisers at super low prices and picked both up.  We knew purchasing it for $40 was a steal and a few months later after we decided which one we wanted to keep we flipped this one for $125.

How Much Did We Spend?

Drum roll pleaseeeeeee…..

We spent a grand total of $767 during our little lady’s third year.  That comes out to $64 per month.

What!?  This is NOTHING!  We recognize this number likely would have been a bit higher if COVID-19 was not in place.  As mentioned above, I wish we could have spent more money on some of the activity type things.  If COVID wasn’t a thing, I’m guessing we would have spent another ~$700 on activity related things throughout the year.

We also contributed $2,500 towards her RESP education fund to get the full 20% match ($500) from the government so a total of $3,000 was invested into her future education this year for a grand total of $9,000 invested so far.

She’s also an eating machine and we are likely spending $75/month on food-related costs.  Here’s her typical day:

• breakfast with a show – cinnamon bread, waffle, French toast, Kodiak cakes pancakes, or yogurt parfait
• gummy vitamin “treat”
• morning walk snack (garlic peas, smoothie bites, fruit to go bar)
• lunch (whatever we’re eating, typically soup and sandwich and raw veggies)
• after nap snack (fruit, cheese, olives, with sun chips or pretzels & cream cheese)
• afternoon walk snack (dried seaweed, chocolate chips, cashews)
• supper (whatever we’re eating + her beloved ‘snow cheese’ to dip anything and everything into)
• desert 1-2 x per week (ice cream, smoothie, frozen yogurt tube)
• after bath snack (apples and cheese, oatmeal with fruit, or cheerios)
• occasionally she’s STILL hungry and has a peanut butter and oat bar

So if we also include the $2,500 RESP contribution and ~$75/month of food ((75*12)=$900) we’re looking at a total of $4,167 out of our pockets in her third year.  Of course, the RESP is elective and we recognize our privilege of being able to contribute this $2,500 towards her education each year.

There you have it!  Short and sweet as we really didn’t spend that much 😉

Next annual update we will have 2 kiddos in tow so we will break down how much we spend on each kid going forward.

Those with parents, are you as crazy as us and keep track of all of your kid-related expenses?  Would you say you spent more or less than $767 on toddler-related expenses (not including education and food) during their third year?  What was your largest toddler-related purchase?  How have your child-related costs changed compared to their first few years?  Our update next year will include figures just like above on spending on her in addition to our annual spending on nugget #2.

Those without kids yet, if you’re reading this blog you likely are not part of the herd mentality and hopefully you too can stay well under the average of $8,000-$13,000/year.  There is no right or wrong way to parent.  We are simply showing that the “norm” $8,000-$13,000 annually in the first few years can be challenged.  Any questions for us?  Hope this helps!

And again, if you’d like to check out the related posts on this topic, you can check them out here:

• Our Baby Item Tips For New Parents
• Here’s How Much Baby’s First Year Cost
• Here’s How Much Baby’s Second Year Cost

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