daycare incidentals--or, my kid is starting to get expensive

[cats]

Next month we are starting baby off in daycare.  The daycare in question is a large chain with a lot of Rules.  They were not our first choice, but in terms of what turned out to actually be available, they definitely seemed like the best choice.

Today, the daycare sent me a list of supplies we will need to send.  Most of the stuff we have or would expect (spare clothes, milk, etc.).

The list also has a set of things that are to be sent for the baby's earthquake kit (we live in California), including a 72-hour supply of formula and also non-perishable baby food.

Our kid is only recently getting into solids and I have been making all of his food fresh, so we have no experience with non-perishable baby food.  I went to check out how much those cute little squeeze pouches sell for on Amazon and immediately got pissed off.  First, a whole bunch of things that were not baby food showed up.  Then, I found the baby food and good GRIEF!  These squeeze pouches are something like $1.50 for 50 calories.  Obviously we will just be buying what's required for the earthquake kit but yikes.  I'm having a small heart attack here.  Thank goodness we got some samples of ready made formula from the formula companies back when I was pregnant, I just need to inventory and make sure we have 72 hours worth (somehow I think not...grrr).

This also got me wondering what other overpriced incidentals other people have had to deal with when sending their kids off to daycare, and if there are any mustachian workarounds you'd care to share?  I can already see pressure to do things like provide easy but expensive snack foods (e.g., Cheerios, squeeze packs, other random processed stuff that I probably don't even want to know exists). 

I also feel like almost every parent I talk with regularly IRL is a proponent of convenience foods for their kids ("give yourself a break!").  Grumble.  Makes me want to take my family off to hide out in the nearest cave.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Why would you buy pouches when the little plastic cartons are so much cheaper? I mean, surely the daycare has spoons, being a daycare and all.

I just spent $80 on school supplies... for preschool and K. I had to send six tubs of disinfectant wipes, two dozen dry erase markers, and these giant pencils that you have to order from Amazon, just for starters. Not to mention uniform shirts at $10 a pop and the $30 iPad fee. Sigh.

[snacky]

The only "hack" I've encountered, after more than a decade of relentless expensive demands, is buying yoghurt in tubs but sending it to school in little reusable containers. Saves me a couple of dollars per week.

I wish i had more suggestions.

[cats]

Why would you buy pouches when the little plastic cartons are so much cheaper? I mean, surely the daycare has spoons, being a daycare and all.

I just spent $80 on school supplies... for preschool and K. I had to send six tubs of disinfectant wipes, two dozen dry erase markers, and these giant pencils that you have to order from Amazon, just for starters. Not to mention uniform shirts at $10 a pop and the $30 iPad fee. Sigh.

Didn't know the cartons existed and my preliminary search for "baby food" on Amazon yielded pouches pouches pouches.  Apparently I need to check further into the search results!

Ergh , school supplies.  It's only going to get worse, is that what you're telling me?  Sigh indeed.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Why would you buy pouches when the little plastic cartons are so much cheaper? I mean, surely the daycare has spoons, being a daycare and all.

I just spent $80 on school supplies... for preschool and K. I had to send six tubs of disinfectant wipes, two dozen dry erase markers, and these giant pencils that you have to order from Amazon, just for starters. Not to mention uniform shirts at $10 a pop and the $30 iPad fee. Sigh.

Didn't know the cartons existed and my preliminary search for "baby food" on Amazon yielded pouches pouches pouches.  Apparently I need to check further into the search results!

Ergh , school supplies.  It's only going to get worse, is that what you're telling me?  Sigh indeed.

Well, yes, I fear it is. But I would just grab what's on sale at the grocery store! If the dates are good enough, maybe you could donate to a shelter of some kind if it never gets eaten.

[Tiger Stache]

The pouches are more expensive because they're the most convenient. Go to the grocery store or Target and get those little plastic containers of baby food. They're usually around a dollar but you could find them on sale and stock up.

[cats]

The pouches are more expensive because they're the most convenient. Go to the grocery store or Target and get those little plastic containers of baby food. They're usually around a dollar but you could find them on sale and stock up.

This may be part of my problem--we pretty much never go to target or mainstream grocery stores (not trying to be snobby, just the way our shopping needs and nearby stores happen to work out).  As a result, it appears I've been conned into thinking the pouches are the only option because it's what I see people using and because Amazon wants to push them in my face.  I think the circle of people I interact with on a daily/weekly basis may be a bit too spendy to be a trustworthy source of information...I keep getting reminders of that but need to work on being more cognizant :)  Thank goodness for the MMM forums, right?

[Tiger Stache]

The pouches are more expensive because they're the most convenient. Go to the grocery store or Target and get those little plastic containers of baby food. They're usually around a dollar but you could find them on sale and stock up.

This may be part of my problem--we pretty much never go to target or mainstream grocery stores (not trying to be snobby, just the way our shopping needs and nearby stores happen to work out).  As a result, it appears I've been conned into thinking the pouches are the only option because it's what I see people using and because Amazon wants to push them in my face.  I think the circle of people I interact with on a daily/weekly basis may be a bit too spendy to be a trustworthy source of information...I keep getting reminders of that but need to work on being more cognizant :)  Thank goodness for the MMM forums, right?

I'm still relatively new here, but only shopping Amazon and specialty stores for food may not be the most Mustachian way to go.

[cats]

The pouches are more expensive because they're the most convenient. Go to the grocery store or Target and get those little plastic containers of baby food. They're usually around a dollar but you could find them on sale and stock up.

This may be part of my problem--we pretty much never go to target or mainstream grocery stores (not trying to be snobby, just the way our shopping needs and nearby stores happen to work out).  As a result, it appears I've been conned into thinking the pouches are the only option because it's what I see people using and because Amazon wants to push them in my face.  I think the circle of people I interact with on a daily/weekly basis may be a bit too spendy to be a trustworthy source of information...I keep getting reminders of that but need to work on being more cognizant :)  Thank goodness for the MMM forums, right?

I'm still relatively new here, but only shopping Amazon and specialty stores for food may not be the most Mustachian way to go.

Depends on the food you are buying.  We are accustomed to buying for adults and cooking largely from scratch and we do things like buy all our vegetables at a specialty produce store...because it has a "final sale" shelf where we can typically get a week's worth of (cosmetically imperfect) veg for <$20.  Staples like dried beans, nuts, and rice we get at the local Indian grocery, where those items are much cheaper than any chain grocery store.  So for the groceries we mostly buy, specialty food stores are pretty awesome.  However, the ones we like don't sell baby food (well, the produce store probably does, and I'd be willing to be it is even more expensive).

[TabbyCat]

You could ask on your local buy nothing group or ask a facebook moms group. My buy nothing groups gets baby food all the time when people give away flavors their kid didn't like.

[Cranky]

Go to the grocery store and buy some actual jars of babyfood. It's not really that expensive, and babies don't really eat all that much.

I would guess that this isn't something that the daycare has just made up, btw, but is probably a state requirement. Schools here don't have to have earthquake supplies, but we do actually have to stock a certain amount of emergency food and water in case there's a disaster that requires us to shelter in place.

[Ceridwen]

Our daycare incidentals are very minimal.  Diapers and wipes, hat, bathing suit, swim diapers, bottles, sippy cup and extra clothes.  No emergency supplies.  We needed to provide formula but they provide the milk and food.  They provide the bedding sheets and we launder them on the weekend.

The only way I saved money on the above listed was sending a re-usable swim diaper instead of disposable ones. 

[KCM5]

Yes to going to a normal grocery store to buy the jars/tubs of food. Or even Walgreens, maybe?

We also avoid most prepackaged food. Once you have enough containers of the right size it's really not too hard to package them up for the kid at daycare. We also did a version of baby led weaning, so would send a small mason jar her food chopped up in it (pea sized - I didn't want the daycare dealing with any possibility of choking) that they would warm in the bottle warmer for her to eat for lunch. This would work for easy snack foods for them too. Really, I think they're just looking for something that they can give her/him without prep. One of the easiest foods we would give the baby was frozen peas. Not cooked, just frozen or thawed. There are also some freeze dried veggies/fruits that we would give as finger food when we didn't have access to a fridge in lieu of puffs and the like: https://www.shopkarensnaturals.com/collections/large-bags. Her favorite was the "Just Peas." They were about $3.50/bag.

Regarding just letting go with the baby's food - I did eventually just have them feed her their food, which included things like puffs and a jarred baby food snack. There's a balance and you'll find it eventually. We still don't give her convenience food at home, though. It's really not that hard and you'll be fine.

We also had to provide a blanket and pillow for nap. Just grabbed some from around the house. Other than than, spare clothes, bathing suit, hat, sunscreen, etc.

[MayDay]

Aldi has cheap pouches if they have one near you.  Really I cannot imagine 3 days of baby food is more than 10$, right?  They are like 50 cents a pouch IIRC. 

I am not a huge diasater preparedness person (like AT ALL, I probably should be better about it, oh well) but I cannot see complaining that daycare wants 3 days of shelf stable food in case of emergencies when you live in a disaster prone area.  And if I was the daycare teachers, I would strongly prefer pouches because they are like 1/10th the work of spoon feeding a baby, and at least where my kids were in daycare, the teacher ratio was 4 infants to 1 adult.  So anything that makes feeding less time intensive means my kid gets more attention during play time, nap time, diaper time etc.  Especially during an emergency! 

FYI, I didn't feed my kids pouches.  They didn't even exist (crazy how things change- my kids are only 6 and 8!).  But I sure as hell would buy the convenience food for emergencies, as well as for stuff like long car rides, etc.  Mine did baby led weaning for the most part. 

If 10$ for emergency food bothers you, you better prepare for things to get way worse!  The fees, required supplies, extra curricular stuff, etc, is only going to get 10x worse. 

[FLBiker]

Aldi has cheap pouches if they have one near you.  Really I cannot imagine 3 days of baby food is more than 10$, right?  They are like 50 cents a pouch IIRC. 

Aldi is where we get ours, too.  We mostly do baby led weaning, but use pouches sometimes.

[cats]

You could ask on your local buy nothing group or ask a facebook moms group. My buy nothing groups gets baby food all the time when people give away flavors their kid didn't like.

Oooh, good idea!  We have gotten quite a bit of other baby stuff via this way, dunno why I didn't consider baby food as a possibility. 

Also, for the folks saying I shouldn't complain about an emergency kit--I'm not.  I am totally on board with having an emergency kit and we keep one at home (it is not yet stocked with baby food as baby only recently started on solids, so up to this point we have only kept emergency formula on hand).  However, a millionaire is made $10 at a time, so when your first pass at figuring out emergency kit supplies turns up food that is 10-15x more expensive per calorie than what you are accustomed to paying, it seems worthwhile to question whether or not that is really the best/only option, no?

Sadly, we do not live anywhere near an Aldi.  I gnash my teeth about this anytime I hear about how cheap and fantastic they are.  Someday, maybe.

Thank you also to everyone for the tips on swim diapers (that sounds like an awesome daycare), repackaging yogurt (my mom totally used to do that also), and baby/toddler snacks in general.  As for the ultimate hack of having one of us quit work and stay home so we can bypass daycare entirely, it's definitely been discussed.  We aren't quite there yet but it's definitely on the table if we ever have a second kid.

[MayDay]

You could put a regular sized can of beans or peas in the kit. My kids loved canned black beans as babies/toddlers. Lots more calories in a 1$ can of beans than in a pouch! Same with canned mixed fruit- the kind diced into tiny bits.

[MayDay]

Actually- if you do BLW, you could just do all sorts of "regular" shelf stable food- raisins, canned fruit/veg, regular applesauce, canned corn for a carbohydrate, etc. Just make sure the cans are the pop top kind

[TrMama]

This is just the beginning. To really give yourself a heart attack go look at the school supply list for your local elementary school. Then look at the cost of summer camp for when the little darling is too old for daycare. Then look at the cost of orthodontics and educational therapy for when Jr turns out to have crooked teeth and a bit of dyslexia.

[bogart]

To the larger question, ironically, given Landlady's current post on this same board, I just learned from a friend that her son's (private) elementary school doesn't allow the kids to wear clothes with logos, characters, or words on them to school.  Would definitely necessitate a new wardrobe for my kid :) ! 

I'm going through the school list right now and buying my son's supplies but honestly -- it's pretty much what you'd expect.  There are headphones on the list, but the school requests inexpensive buds, though I've opted to buy expensive over-ear headphones with volume limits, because I worry about protecting hearing.  And in any case, we've had these since 1st or 2nd grade and he's been able to re-use the same set each year.

It's not just the schools (etc.), though ... your kid will develop their own preferences and opinions, too (er, not that the very littlest don't have them too, but they may play out in different ways in the months/years before the kids are (a) verbal and (b) aware of stores). 

[I'm a red panda]

Actually- if you do BLW, you could just do all sorts of "regular" shelf stable food- raisins, canned fruit/veg, regular applesauce, canned corn for a carbohydrate, etc. Just make sure the cans are the pop top kind

Do daycares generally support BLW?

All the infants I cared for who did BLW only got breastmilk during the day.  (But we didn't do 72-hour emergency kits for the babies either. That's really smart in an earthquake zone.)

[KCM5]

Actually- if you do BLW, you could just do all sorts of "regular" shelf stable food- raisins, canned fruit/veg, regular applesauce, canned corn for a carbohydrate, etc. Just make sure the cans are the pop top kind

Do daycares generally support BLW?

All the infants I cared for who did BLW only got breastmilk during the day.  (But we didn't do 72-hour emergency kits for the babies either. That's really smart in an earthquake zone.)

My very run of the mill daycare did, sort of. In that they would feed the food I sent with. I never tried to send large bits of food, but she would eat the small chopped bits that I sent. She probably didn't actually eat any food at daycare until she was about 8 months? I think that's when she was proficient enough to pick up the small bits and put it into her mouth.

They did, however, ask that they could feed her fruit mixed with oat cereal, which while I didn't do that at home, I wasn't a hard-liner about this BLW thing, so I was fine with that.

[Le Poisson]

Just a guess, but I suppose the daycare wouldn't accept a bag of rice, a bottle of water to boil it, and a pack of matches to start the fire with, would they?

[totoro]

I never found school or daycare supplies too expensive.  Daycare itself is extremely expensive -'especially for infants where I live.  We found it less expensive and happier for our schedule and stress levels to pay a relative for care and work from home.  Pre and post school and summer care can add up too - if there is any way to elminate this cost through work scheduling that path might result in more net income even if you work less.

[Kitsune]

Re: those food pouches (but not in a way that would actually help the OP, sorry): they're stupid-expensive where I am (1.50/pouch, ON SALE) and my toddler LOVES them... and frankly, if I'm packing a snack on the go, I'd rather she nom down on squash purree and apples rather than cheerios and chips, y'know? And the pouches don't make a mess, which is lovely (can't say the same about, say, a whole apple in the car... aish, apple bits schmeared on the seat, apple peel bits spit back out, etc).

Anyway: you can buy re-usable pouches. This blog post has a round-up of options: http://www.momtrends.com/2013/09/refillable-squeeze-pouches/

They're pricier than little ziplock containers, but not THAT pricy, and healthy snacks with no mess was something I was willing to throw money at to enable.

[little_brown_dog]

I also feel like almost every parent I talk with regularly IRL is a proponent of convenience foods for their kids ("give yourself a break!").  Grumble.  Makes me want to take my family off to hide out in the nearest cave.

The reason most parents are cool with convenient but still healthy (although more expensive) packaged baby food from the store is because they are exhausted and pressed for time, or because they feel like paying a bit more for jarred peas is worth it (rather than buying, cooking, and pureeing the peas themselves).
It sounds like you have the time and motivation to make your baby food and purees from scratch. That’s awesome! But you may change your tune if and when life circumstances change. Most parents who start off super intense regarding 100% homemade food fall off the bandwagon to some extent. Yeah, puffs aren't a great food staple, but damn they are handy when you have a fussy toddler in a restaurant who is refusing their organic carrots. No kid has died or developed diabetes from eating a convenient packaged snack on a rare occasion. Don't be so judgey about something as silly as baby food. Everyone hates that parent who flips out because their kid was fed goldfishies at a friend's house.

[MayDay]

My daycare dumped whatever I sent in front of my kid.  They wouldn't cut, cook, or mix stuff, they just put it in front of the kid. 

If you sent a puree they would spoon feed it, but again, they did no prep work. 

If the kid wouldn't eat what was sent, as they got closer to 1 year, they encouraged us to send stuff he would actually eat, and asked permission sometimes to try other stuff with him, with the goal of getting him off bottles by 12-15 months.  But at 6 months they didn't care if he just threw every bean on the floor. 

It was just a regular old daycare- a local chain with 3 locations. 

[charis]

I also feel like almost every parent I talk with regularly IRL is a proponent of convenience foods for their kids ("give yourself a break!").  Grumble.  Makes me want to take my family off to hide out in the nearest cave.

The reason most parents are cool with convenient but still healthy (although more expensive) packaged baby food from the store is because they are exhausted and pressed for time, or because they feel like paying a bit more for jarred peas is worth it (rather than buying, cooking, and pureeing the peas themselves).
It sounds like you have the time and motivation to make your baby food and purees from scratch. That’s awesome! But you may change your tune if and when life circumstances change. Most parents who start off super intense regarding 100% homemade food fall off the bandwagon to some extent. Yeah, puffs aren't a great food staple, but damn they are handy when you have a fussy toddler in a restaurant who is refusing their organic carrots. No kid has died or developed diabetes from eating a convenient packaged snack on a rare occasion. Don't be so judgey about something as silly as baby food. Everyone hates that parent who flips out because their kid was fed goldfishies at a friend's house.

lol.  yep.  There are many more, better reasons to hide in a cave than parents who dare to enjoy the convenience of convenience foods.

[cats]

Just a guess, but I suppose the daycare wouldn't accept a bag of rice, a bottle of water to boil it, and a pack of matches to start the fire with, would they?

Hahaha!  I'll admit the idea has appeal but I'm definitely not willing to fight for something quite that "extreme".  We are willing to *mostly* toe the line on these things. 

[CanuckExpat]

For the immediate baby food / non-perishables problem: Do you have a 99Cents Only Store or such near you? We found that a good place to get babyfood pouches and cartons for travel.

The biggest annoyance we've run into with daycare incidentals has been around holidays. They have everyone bring in cards, stickers, candies, etc (e.g. valentines). It's not the cost so much, but the annoyance factor of having to get a bunch of crap, on short notice from stores we don't normally go to. (I can't remember if they only gave us short notice, or I had forgotten until two days before).

[Zamboni]

Hmmm, I probably need to go restock my emergency drinking water supplies for the house . . .

Regarding childcare expenses, my favorite surprise was the "Tumblebus." It was one of those "new options" with a "small additional fee" that the daycare decided to start "offering." Basically it is a school bus with some balance toys, slides, and foam pits inside that drives around from daycare to daycare letting groups of kids inside for an hour to go haywire like preschool kids do. It was ~$10 per week per child for one Tumblebus visit per week, and trust me the tumblebus was so hyped by caregivers and the other kids that the peer pressure was really intense. Do I really want to be the only parent whose child doesn't get to go in the tumblebus, known to the children as the "greatest fun place on the the face of the earth?!" So we just paid it. Meh.

[Kitsune]

I also feel like almost every parent I talk with regularly IRL is a proponent of convenience foods for their kids ("give yourself a break!").  Grumble.  Makes me want to take my family off to hide out in the nearest cave.

The reason most parents are cool with convenient but still healthy (although more expensive) packaged baby food from the store is because they are exhausted and pressed for time, or because they feel like paying a bit more for jarred peas is worth it (rather than buying, cooking, and pureeing the peas themselves).
It sounds like you have the time and motivation to make your baby food and purees from scratch. That’s awesome! But you may change your tune if and when life circumstances change. Most parents who start off super intense regarding 100% homemade food fall off the bandwagon to some extent. Yeah, puffs aren't a great food staple, but damn they are handy when you have a fussy toddler in a restaurant who is refusing their organic carrots. No kid has died or developed diabetes from eating a convenient packaged snack on a rare occasion. Don't be so judgey about something as silly as baby food. Everyone hates that parent who flips out because their kid was fed goldfishies at a friend's house.

This.

I've fed my kid overpriced fruit puree packets because it was semi-affordable and convenient and hey, I'd rather she eat squash purée than a bag of chips, and we're at the grocery store right before dinner time and she's hangry and I'm exhausted and 1.50 for squash purée is TOTALLY worth avoiding a half-hour fit until I can get dinner on the table. Goldfish crackers and raisins in a plastic container keep in the bottom of the diaper bag FOREVER, and can be a lifesaver when, oops, you got caught somewhere for 2 hours and it's after lunchtime and Child is gonna have a hangry meltdown and you just need a band-aid solution to get everyone home and fed and into bed for a nap.

Realistically: there are 21 meals and 14 snacks in a week. If 6/7 of those are reasonably healthy, I'm refusing any guilt over goldfish cracker snacks for the 7th snack. Even if I think they're vile.

[I'm a red panda]

Hmmm, I probably need to go restock my emergency drinking water supplies for the house . . .

Regarding childcare expenses, my favorite surprise was the "Tumblebus." It was one of those "new options" with a "small additional fee" that the daycare decided to start "offering." Basically it is a school bus with some balance toys, slides, and foam pits inside that drives around from daycare to daycare letting groups of kids inside for an hour to go haywire like preschool kids do. It was ~$10 per week per child for one Tumblebus visit per week, and trust me the tumblebus was so hyped by caregivers and the other kids that the peer pressure was really intense. Do I really want to be the only parent whose child doesn't get to go in the tumblebus, known to the children as the "greatest fun place on the the face of the earth?!" So we just paid it. Meh.

Wow- I've never heard of such a thing. That looks ridiculous!  Oddly, though- the things inside said Tumblebus (based on their webpage)- most of the daycares around here have in their gymnasium/multi-level group play room that kids go to for a few hours a week anyway.

[cats]

I also feel like almost every parent I talk with regularly IRL is a proponent of convenience foods for their kids ("give yourself a break!").  Grumble.  Makes me want to take my family off to hide out in the nearest cave.

The reason most parents are cool with convenient but still healthy (although more expensive) packaged baby food from the store is because they are exhausted and pressed for time, or because they feel like paying a bit more for jarred peas is worth it (rather than buying, cooking, and pureeing the peas themselves).
It sounds like you have the time and motivation to make your baby food and purees from scratch. That’s awesome! But you may change your tune if and when life circumstances change. Most parents who start off super intense regarding 100% homemade food fall off the bandwagon to some extent. Yeah, puffs aren't a great food staple, but damn they are handy when you have a fussy toddler in a restaurant who is refusing their organic carrots. No kid has died or developed diabetes from eating a convenient packaged snack on a rare occasion. Don't be so judgey about something as silly as baby food. Everyone hates that parent who flips out because their kid was fed goldfishies at a friend's house.

lol.  yep.  There are many more, better reasons to hide in a cave than parents who dare to enjoy the convenience of convenience foods.

Well, this *is* a forum associated with a website that equates convenience with bedpans and catheters.  If I can't get judge-y here, where can I? 

FWIW, I do not flip out on my parent friends who sing the praises of puffs and squeeze pouches. I tell them thanks, I'll keep that in mind, because I'm aware things can change in the future and I don't enjoy eating crow.  Then I go and flip out on the internet, as one does.

[cats]

For the immediate baby food / non-perishables problem: Do you have a 99Cents Only Store or such near you? We found that a good place to get babyfood pouches and cartons for travel.

The biggest annoyance we've run into with daycare incidentals has been around holidays. They have everyone bring in cards, stickers, candies, etc (e.g. valentines). It's not the cost so much, but the annoyance factor of having to get a bunch of crap, on short notice from stores we don't normally go to. (I can't remember if they only gave us short notice, or I had forgotten until two days before).

There IS some kind of "dollar" something store nearby.  I'll check it out.  I bet it is a good place to get cheap holiday cards and candies too :)  I agree that half the "problem" here is the inconvenience of having to do something that is totally out of my routine.

[Venturing]

You can also reduce the cost by not buying the 'baby' version. 'Baby' is like 'wedding' to marketers.

Eg rather than buying baby purred Apple just buy a tin of pure apple sauce
Or if you want the pouches: you can buy purred fruit pouches here that are aimed at school kids. They're exactly the same as the baby pouches, just different marketing, but much cheaper.

[gipsygrrl]

I know I'm late to the party, but I wanted to share a few things that I've found adding up under daycare incidentals. Most fall under the banner of "an extra ____ for school." You mentioned clothes, but in addition we're now sending an extra coat, extra pair of shoes and extra hat/mittens, etc. to make sure that they have those items with them every day, even if we forget to send them or the weather changes. We've also had to buy extra bottles or sippy cups, extra nap blankets and extra sunscreen to send. We try to buy everything gently used, and they're all little things but they do tend to start adding up.

Also, and I hope that you are luckier than we are here, the first year in daycare can often bring sickness to your kiddo and to your household. In our first few months (which unluckily coincided with cold and flu season) our medical bills jumped, as did our consumption of kleenex, humidifiers, otc medicine, probiotics, etc. etc. I had the same thought as you : wow - this kid thing is really starting to add up :)

[Cognitive Miser]

Regarding non-pouch baby food... watch out for the glass jars.  Our daycare doesn't allow ANY glass whether it's bottles or jarred food or fancy organic sunscreen containers.  Actually, glass jars of baby food are getting hard to find, so it may be a moot point.  I had a mechanic at work ask me for some empty jars that he could keep screws in (because he knew I had a baby), and I had to tell him I had never bought any.

I second or third or whatever the little plastic boxes with the peel-off foil lid for this purpose.  Gerber makes some, possibly even in organic versions.  We did BLW mostly, and I do sometimes use applesauce pouches from Sam's Club which come in at well under $1 per pouch.

We have to provide a spare change of clothes or two, a sheet and a blanket, a sun hat for the playground, and sunscreen if we don't like the brand the daycare uses.  No flip-flops - all summer shoes have to have closed toes.  And you have to bring in food sometimes, if your kid has allergies and can't eat the school food.  Also all the diapers and wipes, of course.  After 1 year old they just switch to communal wipes, so they end up using whatever other parents bring in on your kid until the container runs out, then open a new container.  But diapers are still all matched to the kid until they potty train.

[Kitsune]

Possibly too late for some, but: those super convenient packets of purée that are veggie/fruit mixes and that, around here, on sale at their cheapest, are 1.50$/packet?

Don't get those.

Go to whatever aisle has the packaged kids snacks, either at the grocer store or at Costco. They have those same packets of applesauce and fruit blends (no vegetables, though), and they wind up costing about 30 cents per packet (organic, sugar-free, etc). It's not a complete meal, obviously, since it's fruit-only, but it's a nice band-aid solution when needed.

[cats]

I know I'm late to the party, but I wanted to share a few things that I've found adding up under daycare incidentals. Most fall under the banner of "an extra ____ for school." You mentioned clothes, but in addition we're now sending an extra coat, extra pair of shoes and extra hat/mittens, etc. to make sure that they have those items with them every day, even if we forget to send them or the weather changes. We've also had to buy extra bottles or sippy cups, extra nap blankets and extra sunscreen to send. We try to buy everything gently used, and they're all little things but they do tend to start adding up.

Also, and I hope that you are luckier than we are here, the first year in daycare can often bring sickness to your kiddo and to your household. In our first few months (which unluckily coincided with cold and flu season) our medical bills jumped, as did our consumption of kleenex, humidifiers, otc medicine, probiotics, etc. etc. I had the same thought as you : wow - this kid thing is really starting to add up :)

Yes, we had to supply extra clothes, sleep sack, spare bottles b/c if he winds up needing milk from the freezer they can't wash and reuse a bottle, etc.  At the moment the clothes aren't a big deal as we've gotten loads of hand-me-downs for free, not sure if that will still be the case as he gets bigger.

So far we have been lucky on the sickness front (though only two weeks in, heh).  Kiddo was born at the tail end of cold and flu season so hopefully once it rolls around again he'll be bigger/older and better able to deal with stuff.  Our daycare is also pretty obsessive about handwashing, fingers crossed that has a payoff.

In case anyone cares about how the food for the emergency kit worked out...I wound up finding some pouches of applesauce for older kids on sale for ~50 cents each (pack of 4) at CVS.  Then used a coupon to get the other emergency items requested (ready to drink formula and baby cereal) fairly cheaply.  I also noticed later that Trader Joe's has 4-pack fruit pouches for under $4, so making a note of that if we need pouches for travel or convenience further down the road.

[ErrantPen]

Beech-Nut has a baby food line that only includes the fruits and vegetables listed (ie. the sweet potato jar only has sweet potatoes in it). That's what we bought for our baby for the 0.2 seconds that my husband decided to feed him purees. It's about $1 a jar. The downside is that some kids just don't like purees. My son won't eat them. He went straight to eating steamed or roasted fruits and vegetables.

We have to supply diapers, wipes, a change of clothing, and all food/milk for the baby when it is in the infant class. After that, the baby can eat what is on the lunch menu. I have seen other schools require that you bring sunscreen and/or bug spray. We don't have to have emergency kits at our daycare.

Be prepared to push back on things that you don't want to introduce to your child. My son's teacher has told me that I need to bring him rice cereal (I don't, since it's nothing but empty calories), purees (not really necessary since he's breastfeeding and wasn't eating them anyway), and puffs (I also refused to bring this). The teachers have more experience with more kids, but that doesn't mean that they know what is best for your child. I specifically stopped taking purees after a week because I found out that she was shoveling it into DS's mouth, even if he was crying. I now send a container of steamed or roasted veggies every day. He feeds himself what he wants to eat, and the rest gets thrown away.