[Certhas]

You're aware that people had families before oversized SUVs were a thing...?

We used to go on long trips with a family of 5 in normal sized cars regularly. Of course I would never do that today. Like many families we don't have a car and rent as needed. Long trips with kids are just infinitely much better by train.

[locustous]

Not sure where you live, but here car seats or boosters are mandatory for children under 8. This is a relatively recent change. Car seats have grown more in size than the cars.

Used to be that putting unbelted kids in the back of a vehicle was fine. I grew up using such vehicles. The regulatory environment and equipment have changed significantly over the years. Can't really compare today with the past as trying to live that way will get you seriously fined if not arrested.

[Certhas]

Here, too. Three kids in the back would be tight (edit* not possible), but it's completely absurd to claim that you can't fit boosters/car seats into compact cars. We have on occasion done just that in a small rental, or even in a friends three door tiny compact car. Talking about this style:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9020706

Though the ones we have are a bit more bulky.

[lelanthran]

> We used to go on long trips with a family of 5 in normal sized cars regularly. Of course I would never do that today.

Of course you won't - the baby seats that are safe enough to pass regulations are too large to fit 2 of them into the back seat of that old normal sized car.

Long family trips in smaller cars were done without baby seats or booster seats.

[CalRobert]

What??? You're saying you can't fit two car seats in the back of a "normal" car? I have two of them in a Honda Jazz (aka Fit) at this very moment. A car classed as a "subcompact". Until recently, one of them was a bulky Axkid (though it has since been outgrown).