Metro

Monday July 7, 2008

High cost of raising a baby

By PRISCILLA DIELENBERG


Rising expenses are enough to scare off some couples from having more children. Today’s parents are paying more for milk formula, disposable diapers, medical treatment, babysitter or maid, among other things.

Engineer Ho Chiew Yee, 22, who has a five-month-old daughter Sophie Lim, said prices of infant formula and disposable diapers were skyrocketing and she heard that medical fees were expected to go up soon.

“I used to spend RM56 on a tin of 800gm formula which lasts about a week but the price just went up last month to RM60,” she said, adding that the she would be glad to be switching to the second step of infant formula soon which was slightly cheaper.

She also noticed that even during sales, the price of a couple of disposal diapers brands had gone up by about RM5 for the largest pack since the recent fuel price increase.

Daksha spending quality time reading to Sentoash (right) and Threesshi.

“I spent about RM100 on disposal diapers but I feel it is more hygienic than conventional nappies. Besides, I live in an apart-ment which is not convenient for doing laundry,” she said.

Ho felt the pinch when it came to medical fees.

“Working parents don’t have the chance to take their babies to the government clinics for check-ups or injections, and so they have to go to private hospitals. A routine check-up at a medium-range hospital costs about RM30 while injections costs about RM70 to RM100,” he said.

Ho said she would like to have two children but she would stop at one because of time and money issues.

Lawyer V. Parthipan, 33, recently managed to save on dis-posable diapers when his son Sudarshan, who is turning two, was potty-trained.

“He now only wears them to sleep at night or when we go out,” he said.

He also saved on babysitter’s fees, as he would take turns with his wife, who lectures at evening classes, to look after their son.

“My son did not take to breast-feeding and he is lactose intole-rant, so I normally spend about RM52 to RM57 on a 750kg tin of formula, which lasts only about a week. And as he is also taking solids, we spend about RM300 to RM400 a month on his food,” he said.

”There are also medical bills and other stuff to take into consideration. Nowadays, parents take their children to paediatricians instead of general doctors, and there are many more injec-tions than before,” he said.

Teacher Norhafniza Abdul Hamid, 27, said she spent more than RM100 a month on disposable diapers for her 19-month-old son Uwaif Qarny Mokhnizam, and another RM100 on milk formula.

“Even before the fuel price increase, the price of milk formula that we buy went up from about RM21 per 1.2kg packet to about RM25, and this would only last about a week plus.

Ho changing Sophie's disposable diaper.

“With my parents in Negri Sembilan and my in-laws in Perlis, we have to send our son to the babysitter for half a day on weekdays and that fee has also gone up recently from RM180 to RM220 per month,” she said.

However, the rising cost of raising a child is not stopping Norhafniza and her husband from planning to have more.

“We would like to have three children. Although other parents with young kids keep telling us that it would be quite a strain on our finances, we believe it will work out fine as both of us are earning a living,” she said.

Accountant Tan Ai Ping, 35, has a 17-month-old son, Ayden Tan, and is now expecting her second child. She added that her in-laws took care of Ayden du-ring the day, with the help of a maid.

“It will be very tough for us, as everything is very costly these days, and we have to save for their education.

“Besides the initial charges for hiring a maid, the monthly payment for an Indonesian maid is now about RM500 and is expected to go up again,” she said.

Part-time college lecturer S. Daksha, 35, noticed the difference in expenses between her sons Sentoash Naidu, six, and Threesshi Naidu, two.

“I'm paying double for milk formula now than when Sentoash was Threesshi's age.

“I’m now paying RM19.70 for a 1kg tin of milk formula, and I heard the price is going up again,” she said.

“Disposable diapers are also expensive. Sentoash stopped wearing them during the day at age one, but Threesshi still refuses to go to the bathroom,” she enthused.

Fortunately for Daksha, her mother-in-law also cares for herchildren with a maid’s help when she is at work.

“The initial charge for an Indonesian maid is now RM7,000. I also incurred losses last year when my then maid ran away.

“My other expenses include sending my children to kindergarten and nursery. We started sending Threesshi to nursery for four hours in the morning a few months ago as he is very active and is quite a handful to handle for an entire day,” she said.

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