(NewsNation) — If it’s hard to believe you’re paying more than $6 for a dozen eggs, imagine the price tag for child-related expenses, like a car seat or stroller.

Baby-related expenses now cost parents more than $20,000 in the first year alone, and that doesn’t include birth, according to BabyCenter, a digital parenting resource company that helps support expecting and new parents.

The site also has a first-year baby cost calculator tool, which parents can use to estimate the cost of common items needed for the first 12 months.

BabyCenter estimates parents will spend about $68 on clothes, $86 on diapers and wipes, and $222 on formula — each month. Multiply that by 12, and parents are looking at spending about $4,500 in the first year on these items.

A mother herself, BabyCenter executive editor Melissa Bykofsky suggests planning your baby budget as far in advance as possible.

“You’re pregnant for about 10 months, so there’s a really good chance that there’s a big holiday sale going on during that time frame, so it could be good to wait and watch sales because you don’t need (some) things immediately,” she said to NewsNation.

Bykofsky has a 9-month-old and a 4-year-old, and she strategically planned some of her expenses around their birth dates with upcoming holiday sales.

“I gave birth to my first right before Thanksgiving, so anything left on my registry that wasn’t purchased … I waited until Black Friday to purchase,” Bykofsky said. “And then same with my daughter. She was born right before Memorial Day, so we knew that a bunch of sales were coming up.”

In a recent survey, BabyCenter found a third of parents’ total household income goes toward baby-related costs.

The most costly items are child care, feeding, nursery set-up, diapers and baby gear, such as strollers and car seats.

Financial pressures on parents can extend to mental health concerns. The survey found that nine in 10 mothers face significant stress at home as their finances are taking a toll.

Half of mothers surveyed said financial concerns are influencing their family size: 25% are opting to have fewer children, and 26% are delaying family planning, according to BabyCenter.

“The best thing parents can do is budget,” Bykofsky said. “If they are starting to think about growing their family, they have a lot more time to crunch the numbers and start putting money aside.”