Many demands are made on The Bank of Mum and Dad. But the cost of having children can start much earlier than you'd expect.
New research by Halifax Home Insurance reveals that, on average, parents are spending more than £2500 on their children's home nurseries. That's even before the child is old enough to ask you for the many toys, gadgets, clothes and accessories that they can't live without.
This is timely information for expectant parents, as it's easy to under-estimate the likely cost of kitting out the nursery, especially if it's your first born.
So what is all this money being spent on?
Go on, my son
Gone are the days when a few teddies and a box of Lego were all it took to keep a toddler happy. Nowadays one in five children under three years has got a TV in their room: and it's unlikely to be an old portable. It's estimated that parents with children under three have invested a staggering £358M on televisions for their children's nurseries: their tots are watching Teletubbies on high end plasma and LCD sets.
And it's not just state of the art TVs that the nation's children are being treated to. According to the research, many nurseries are being kitted out with designer and hand carved antique furniture, rare film memorabilia and even original works of art. One in twenty parents is also considering installing CCTV, which is not inexpensive either.
In some cases, the nursery is also an opportunity to encourage the child in its future career: ambitious fathers admitted to including signed football strips in the décor, in the hope that this will inspire their son from an early age, to be the next Beckham.
But - whatever you plan to spend, whether a little or a lot and whether you go over budget, or not, there are other financial implications involved in doing up the nursery. In other words, the additional expenditure can have an impact on your home insurance arrangements.
So, check your policy and make sure you are adequately covered, to include the cost of your nursery contents. If not, it could be worthwhile to review it in the light of your new requirements and make any necessary changes. Otherwise you could find yourself seriously out of pocket, in the event of a claim.