UK consumers are paying almost 38% more for baby-related items than they were last year, new research has revealed.
The biggest rise has been nappy cream, up by 37.9% year on year, while baby bottles cost 17.2% more and baby lotion by 14.1%.
Other items that rose included nappies which went up by 8.9%, dummies at 8.4% and infant formula at 8.1%. Baby food has seen a comparatively smaller rise at 1.5%.
E-commerce group Pattern looked at the current average prices for the most commonly bought baby products on Amazon UK Marketplace, comparing the prices of the products in March this year to the same period in 2022.
Neal Fairfield, director of consultancy, Europe, at Pattern said: “As a result of high inflation, we have seen prices for consumer products increase across the board - sadly baby products are no exception to this.
"For parents, not only are they being affected by the price increases of essential household items, like washing up liquid or toilet paper, they are also being impacted by the rising costs of necessary baby items.
"However, depending on the products parents are buying, they may feel the sting of inflation more or less than others.
"While the overall price increases vary based on item, most have increased by a few percentage points.
“If parents can understand where inflation is the worst in their typical basket, they can be more discerning with their money for those items by buying in bulk or buying products that are less premium to make their money stretch further."
A spokesperson for Amazon UK said: "Customers come to Amazon to find low prices and we deliver by meeting or beating the prices of relevant competitors each and every day.
"In a study of 11,000 products independent analysts Profitero found that prices on Amazon were 13% lower on average than other UK retailers.
"This includes baby products, with Amazon prices 9% less expensive across the category compared with our competitors.”
Pattern said their rationale for looking at Amazon was as follows: "For this analysis, the average price of the most commonly bought baby care products was compared with the prices from the previous year.
"Since Amazon is one of the world's leading sales channels, Amazon price developments can well be seen as an indicator of general price trends of consumer products online."
How the average cost of goods relating to infant and toddler care has risen
- Nappy cream. 2022 price: £3.87, 2023 price: £5.34, percentage increase: 37.9%
- Baby bottle. 2022 price: £18.13, 2023 price: £21.26, percentage increase: 17.2%
- Baby lotion. 2022 price: £6.77, 2023 price: £7.73 percentage increase: 14.1%
- Nappies. 2022 price: £21.91, 2023 price: £23.87, percentage increase: 8.9%
- Dummies. 2022 price: £7.46, 2023 price: £8.09, percentage increase: 8.4%
- Infant formula. 2022 price: £24.82, 2023 price: £26.85, percentage increase: 8.1%
- Baby shampoo. 2022 price: £4.04, 2023 price: £4.25, percentage increase: 5.1%
- Baby wipes. 2022 price: £13.60, 2023 price: £14.17, percentage increase: 4.1%
- Nursing pads. 2022 price: £10.37, 2023 price: £10.57, percentage increase: 1.9%
- Baby food. 2022 price: £10.15, 2023 price: £10.31, percentage increase: 1.5%
