Cost of having baby Rynus

Rynus' Godpa, Renzo's uncle Zheng Cheng, oh yah apparently our 2 little boys do not share the same Godpa for God knows (well Daddy should know though) what reason, has been visiting baby Rynus pretty often and interestingly, the little boy does follow some good traits of his Godpa, both being smiley, quiet and extremely easy going =)..

Anyway so the other day, the Godpa popped this one million dollar question out of curiosity, which, indeed made me seriously wonder a bit before I could give a good answer..

So, how much does it cost to have our little baby Rynus?

Before I start diving into the details, let's just look at the comparison here on the cost of having Renzo in 2009, vs. the cost of having Rynus in 2012.

Do note that a single bedder at Thomson Medical Center is a pretty common choice, but my gynae Dr Lim Teck Chye at the Tow Yung Clinic is a famous and reputable doctor who doesn't come cheap. Usually the gynae package costs around S$500 - 1000 and mine was above S$3000, but definitely for a good cause. You will agree with me on that if you have read the birth story of Renzo and Rynus. Medication cost dropped more because I started to understand which are the supplements required so I didn't buy a lot during Rynus' time. And full scan cost also dropped because I did the OSCAR scan during Rynus' time, which was more detailed than the blood test done during Renzo's time.

Were we stressed over the daunting task of accumulating funds before we decided to have 2nd child? In actual fact, nope we weren't. If a couple has a good habit of saving about 20% of monthly income, then it's not too difficult and not to forget, we do get some sort of help from our government. For babies born after 2012, Aug 26, there is a cash gift of S$6000 each for 1st and 2nd child, and S$8000 each for 3rd and 4th child. The payout is much faster than before and you get S$3000 after child birth, S$1500 when baby is 6 months and another S$1500 when baby is 1 year old. For Renzo and Rynus, they received S$4000 each. And during their time, the payout was done in 4 installments from birth to one and half years old. 

Child Development Account (CDA) is a special savings account that you open at any OCBC or Standard Chartered Bank and you can save in this account any time until your child turns 12 years of age. The savings will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to the cap of S$6000 each for 1st and 2nd child, S$12000 each for 3rd and 4th child, S$18000 each for the 5th and subsequent child. The amount sounds huge but in actual fact, we spent the saved S$6000 and matched S$6000 in Renzo's CDA account by the time he turned 3 years old, that's a whooping S$12000 spent mostly on his pretty decent childcare center, for S$520 a month after a S$300 subsidy from government for working mother. I am sure for Rynus, we will get his CDA account wiped out even faster, as this poor little boy gets flu bugs often and each visit to specialist can easily cost us S$200 - 500. Comparatively, the money we spent on his vaccination (about S$550 after S$400 deduction from CPF) at private GP, seems extremely affordable. Cost of the vaccination will be cheaper at polyclinic if you do not mind the long queue and the hassle to take leave during weekdays. And of course doctor visit can be cheaper, or even FREE if you bring your little one to normal GP every time. Like for our case, my company has all my dependents' medical bill covered at panel doctors, but unfortunately, most of the time Rynus can only get recovered faster under the treatment of pediatrician, for that, I can only claim a S$40 consultation fee per visit from my company.

The only one additional financial help I got in terms of having baby, is the S$2000 flexi benefit from my company which could be used to claim for pre-natal, post-natal checkup at gynae's clinic, and delivery charges at hospital (obviously that's not enough to cover everything since my gynae package is way above average ones). And we were also given a one time pay out of S$2000 cash gift for up to 3rd child, both to female employees and spouse of male employees. But in all honesty, such kind of benefit is very rare in the market (another reason why I want to retire here in my current company, LOL).

Of course having kids is not just the money. Many couples have concerns mainly because they do not have a caregiver to look after the baby when both of them need to work.

Hiring a foreign domestic worker will cost you at least S$600 (with S$170 levy going to the government) a month and be prepared to pay a lump sum of S$3000 to the agent before you even get to see your helper in person; a nanny or infant care costs at least S$800 or $1000 respectively, but you do not have the flexibility of sending/picking up your child at any time you want. Getting help from either set of grandparents might be the highly sought after option, but for them to give up their job, or retirement lifestyle to help you at such age, I bet you have to give them even more, and with a guilty heart.

And not to forget some one time "indirect cost" incurred (depending on your own choice though), such as:

- Confinement lady (S$1900 - 2300 minimum), I have not engaged any for both of my confinement, and if you do, only one advice, DO NOT rely on confinement lady to look after baby, take care of baby yourself, especially at night, so that after the confinement lady leaves, you don't get a shock and start panicking about how to deal with your own new born.
- Catered Confinement Food (S$1500+), I only advise to take 1 week or 2 weeks supply if you have the need, which costs S$400+ or S$800+, but if you decide to prepare a nutritious confinement meal with expensive tonics yourself, it will cost you S$600-1200 easily (especially if the confinement lady is the one doing the marketing).
- Tonics for mummy (S$300 - 500), that's just talking about bird nests, is it necessary to have it? Well I only know that my episiotomy wound recovered extremely fast after my 2nd delivery and I could only attribute that to 12 big bottles of bird nest I had during my confinement month.
- Baby stuff including must haves like cot, stroller, carrier, thermometer (S$1100 and above), my only advice to save cost is, not to buy too many things (especially clothes and toys) at one go, invest on one or two items every month and slowly find out what is really needed.
- Full month baby shower (S$300 and above), we did not have any celebration for Rynus, but just the cheapest option of cake vouchers cost us more than S$200. I would think that out of courtesy, getting some cakes for friends and colleagues are definitely essential, but whether to throw in a big party at home or in a restaurant, it's up to individual but always take into consideration that mummy and baby will need plenty of rest at this early stage.

In a nutshell, how much is enough? The more the merrier my friends!!!
But just to be a little more precise, let me try to help out with the calculation here. Assuming the baby bonus of S$6000 is going to cover all the miscellaneous expenses ("indirect costs") I mentioned above, you need to set aside at least S$3000-5000 in cash to cover the checkup and delivery cost comfortably, and of course pray hard for a smooth delivery and healthy baby at the same time.

And every month, you need to fork out a minimum of S$300, to spend on milk powder if you are not able to supply your precious one with breast milk, and on disposable diapers if you do not wish to see your baby waking up frequently from a soiled cloth diaper. Cost on caregiver varies but S$600 is the minimum and so far we still believe hiring a helper is the best solution. Another S$100-200 needs to go to insurance (a good hospitalization plan and life policy or education endowment plan). So a monthly cost of S$1100 minimum on a new born baby, is the amount you have to set aside and maintain for at least 6 years till your child is in primary school.

We are definitely going to stop at 2, and indeed we are more than blessed to have our 2 lovely boys by now. If you are planning for kids, be quick!! Unlike property or car market, you experience crashes and prices come down once a while. Cost of setting up a family is just going to get higher and higher because there's just no way for you to expect a price drop on medical bills or education fees, at least not in our country!

Rynus the little smiley angel

Mummy has been away for a business trip for days and our little Rynus seems to be feeling it a little. Having the occasional blank look towards the gate and randomly calling out 'mama mama ma', in fact, our helper told me that on the third night when Mummy was away, Rynus cried out for Mummy in the middle of the night... haha.. must have been dreaming of Mummy~

But in his apparent i-miss-mummy state, Rynus still has enough attention on his toys and food to distract him and forget that his loving mummy is not within close proximity. He is still eating well and still as smiley as ever and that little 2 teeth that are breaking out of his gym are causing him to wag his little tongue across the bottom of his mouth in the cutest fashion. He used to be a little shy around strangers and when handled by them, would cry (only after he pushes himself far enough to realised it ain't the usual family members carrying him...lol) but recently, seem to be more adaptable to having others handle him, including my out-station brother who visited us recently and a very distant relative from China.

This little one is now full of curiosity and stronger than i previously thought. When placed in his crib which is conveniently (for him) positioned just beside my computer table, he would crawl to the corner and with his little round hands, start fishing for whatever he can grab onto, pens, wallet, coins, envelopes and even my wireless USB stick. And, with his newfound strength, he is able to rock the crib so hard that the crib knocked onto my computer table and caused my little glass bowl (which i use to hold my loose change and other coins) to drop and shatter... mehhh... now it's been replaced by an unglam plastic bag until I find a suitable replacement.

Speaking of new found strength, he seem to be able to sit up much longer than before and is finally about to stand up with support, though he still doesn't have the strength to pull himself into a standing position. But with a little encouragement from everyone, I'm sure he'll be there in no time~!