[fps]

There are plenty of narrow car seats that will fit 3 across in any car. I ran 3 Diono Radians in the back seat of a second gen Prius and there was plenty of space. Car seats and cars are the least expensive part of raising young children.

[pwinnski]

When I was in market 22 years ago, I'm not sure whether these existed, but if so, nobody at the several different retailers I talked to, nor the local fire department, knew about them. I'm glad to hear that at least one option exists today, although given the pride with which they market their seats, I'm not sure "plenty" is accurate?

Car seats are minor over the long haul, for sure, but they're often the first expense parents face. Especially, as is the focus of this article, parents of two children, who presumably already have many of the non-consumable items they need.

[fps]

We have google now, and lots and lots of parenting blogs. Googling "3 across car seats" shows that Britax, Chicco and Graco, the big 3 in car seats, all make several extra narrow car seats for packing kids in to smaller cars. Diono was the first to focus on narrow seats, but there's a whole aisle at most retailers for them.

[greesil]

It's car seats that are affecting fertility, and definitely couldn't be the cost of raising a child. /s

[throwaway0a5e]

Money and time are fungible on a societal level. If you throw up barriers to entry in the form of time and/or money you will get less of whatever it is you're throwing barriers in front of.

Car seats are just one example of a barrier.

[D13Fd]

Car seats are a bump in the road, while the cost of daycare, and private school, and college are Mt. Everest.

We’re debating the merits of reducing the bump while ignoring the much much bigger issues.

[greesil]

I'm going to guess you don't have kids.

[btilly]

Your snark is uncalled for.

I completely agree with the comment and I have 4 teenagers.

In fact having children has made me more acutely aware of the issue, not less. Because now I have more things I want to do, and face more barriers of both time and money that I have to trade off.

[whiddershins]

You can provide a better quality of life than any child had 100 years ago, for very little money. So why exactly would money be the limiting factor?

[dragonwriter]

> You can provide a better quality of life than any child had 100 years ago, for very little money. So why exactly would money be the limiting factor?

Because no one is setting their expectations (including child welfare agencies) on “what was practical 100 years ago”.

[greesil]

You also have a better quality of life than 100 years ago without needing to spend much money, why would you need extras like health insurance, or an education? Why would your wife (I assume you're a dude) need or god forbid want to work? It's ironic that 100 years ago is your baseline for success, yet you are posting your opinions using such futuristic technology as the Internet.

[pwinnski]

I'm not sure anybody ever makes any decision on the basis of a century ago. It certainly never crosses my mind.

I think only: can I afford this? What will I need to give up to afford this? Is it worth it?

[throw003away]

> Car seats and cars are the least expensive part of raising young children.

Yes but cars and driving are so holy to people. While the effect discovered was small, it seems subjectively true to me that people spend way more time thinking about car and car shit than they ought to.