Hi Im still trying to convince my Dh to have #3 and he keeps saying we cant afford it. So my question is to those that have 3 already... Does it add a lot more expence to you family?

Hi! I have 3 young sons. If your car and house can stay the same (ie fit car seats and have enough bedrooms), 3 is not that much more expensive! We did change cars as we needed 3 childrens car seats so that was the biggest swap. You just really need to "add" to what ever you already have and by the time you have your third, i found you dont mind having second hand items if they are in good condition - where as with your first you tend to want new items!School fees are also reduced for larger families, which helps too. The thing that does change (esp if they are close together, like mine) is your amount of washing and how hectic life becomes! you tend to wash EVERYDAY or you fall behind (esp as newborn clothes get washed seperately. I love the busy schedule tho! I am so glad i had 3 and even would love one more!!!!

Not so far.

My youngest is 15mths and asides from nappies and wipes etc she isnt costing us anything extra at this stage.

We have used the same cot for all the kids, but did buy a new stroller this time. We have all the clothes toys bedding we need already. She eats the same food as us now so dont need to buy baby food or formula.

We were lucky to be able to fit 3 car seats in the car, and have enough room in the house.

As the kids get older I think we will notice.
3 x school fees, uniforms, books etc
3 x after school activities (swimming, gymnastics, soccer)

So in the short term, not much difference.
In the long term I think we will notice.

Not so far.

My youngest is 15mths and asides from nappies and wipes etc she isnt costing us anything extra at this stage.

We have used the same cot for all the kids, but did buy a new stroller this time. We have all the clothes toys bedding we need already. She eats the same food as us now so dont need to buy baby food or formula.

We were lucky to be able to fit 3 car seats in the car, and have enough room in the house.

As the kids get older I think we will notice.
3 x school fees, uniforms, books etc
3 x after school activities (swimming, gymnastics, soccer)

So in the short term, not much difference.
In the long term I think we will notice.

Totally agree. With No.3 I probably buy her two new outfits per season. Only because DD1 was a spring baby and DD2 an autumn baby so we occassionally need something in a different size for the season.

Nappies, wipes and 8 months worth of formula. Mind you she was exclusively breast fed for 10 months so we didn't go through many cans!

We know it will get worse down the track but hopefully we will be a little more financial by then and if not, we'll deal with it!

Interesting topic for me to read because hubby says exactly the same thing to me that we couldn't afford another one but i think we would manage. I have 2 girls already and have already saved soooooooooooo much money on them both wearing the same clothes. They weren't really the same season but DD1 one was tiny and DD2 is even smaller so it worked out well lol.

My car can easily fit another big seat in (i know because i always have 3 in my car for my friends kids lol) We have a 3 bedroom house and the 2 girls already share a room so it wouldnt make any difference having a bub in the other room. I also use cloth nappies so have about 50 so wouldn't have to buy anymore (only problem is if its a boy i have a lot of pink/girly nappies lol) I do agree that i think it would be expensive when they are all in swimming/dancing/kindy etc as i'm already noticing how much extra it costs having 2 in swimming lessons.

I think realistically it might cost says $100 more a month depending if you formula feed nappies etc.

Great question


I have 2 boys one's a teenager & other one is 13 months.

We live in 3 bedroom house .I have E F ford 3 car seats fit along back seat no worries.

Ttcright now if I conceive baby will be born in october.
13month old was born in december
So baby can wear his clothes unless I have girl ] then she can have some new stuff most of his was unisex anyhow.


Can use bassisnet I already have .

Will need another pram . Nappies. Formula. Wipes.




Can't to see if I have conceived .

Hoping to give my boys a little sister .

If you need to re-buy everything a baby needs yeah, could get a bit expensive. But, you've nine months of time to laybye and that makes things more affordable.
Baby clothes, pfft, cost bugger all. If you ain't too prissy second hand shops you can pick items up for 50c a piece and you know what, sometimes thats better because they grow so fast why waste so much money.
Initially, having another baby will cost minimum. Unless you need to buy a bigger car then you've buggered yourself.
Like has been said, your really going to notice that additional cost when kindy starts then school and then outside schol activities like swimming lessons etc. So you could get away with it cheap for the first three years probably then after that, costs are going to rise and they're going to be noticable.

Thank you for your replies.
I have kept everything and I mean everything from my boys,(I have a 5 and 3 yr old) so we wont have to buy anything, only if its a girl then would need to get a few clothes and we have a commadore station wagon which fits 3 seats in the back. So I cant get through to my Dh that for the first yr or 2 its not going to cost much more and by the time it does start costing more I'll be back working a few days.

I agree with everyone in not noticing much when they are little but once school starts it makes a huge difference, i have 3 in primary atm and compared to having the one in school its a big shock to the system!

I have 4 children 1 at high school and one in primary school, and 2 at home.
We really haven't noticed any difference majorly but little things like car seats prams and clothes has really only been the extra differences I have noticed. We are a one income family and we built a brand new house 3 yr ago. I really suppose it depends on your own situation (financially) how much difference it will make.
We are TTC#5 at the end of this month, and we wouldn't do so if we didn't think we could handle it financially.
Hand me downs really do help keep costs down. As does buying things second hand.

We are stopping at two because I want to return to work to save for a house. And if we had a third it would probably mean another 3 or 4 yrs solely at home.

Other things we considered was family holidays - air fares etc, university costs and after school interests like sport/dance/music...