There are plenty of car seats that’ll fit 3 across in a CR-V. There are plenty that’ll go 3 across in a civic, although the lack of trunk space for strollers would obviously be an issue with three children. You can’t buy any random car seat, of course, but an ounce of up front research will help you pick one that’ll fit.
I find it kind of perplexing how many people pretend that you simply cannot put 3 child seats in a small SUV, it’s incredibly trivial to Google and find ones that will fit. This isn’t rocket science, I found a site that’ll list which seats will fit 3 across in which cars in the first hit on Google.
Which Civic are you talking about? Here's a review that shows they can only really fit two seats (and this car only has two ISOFIX fittings on the outside seats).
> Installing child seats came with a few difficulties too. I could fit two child seats in the Civic in the outer back seats, there was not enough room for a middle child seat too.
I’m not sure about ISOFIX anchors, but here in the US the LATCH anchor system actually has a relatively low weight limit, typically 40-65 lbs (including weight of seat) depending on how it’s installed. Beyond that weight limit, you’re supposed to skip the anchors and just use the regular seatbelt.
This would be an issue if you have 3 children that need rear facing seats. But given that we typically transition kids into forward facing seats between 1-4 years old, realistically you’d need twins or triplets before this is a necessity. A parent with 3 kids could attach a seat in the middle via seatbelts for the oldest child, and use the anchors on the outside seats for the younger child.
Not as convenient as a 3 row SUV, I’ll agree. But far from impossible.
The problem is that you don't just put child seats into the car for fun - you are supposed to put children in them too. Children are not going to teleport in and out and they need to crawl/be put in their seats. The middle seat will be a hard reach in a compact.
That is a wholly different argument from “they won’t fit”.
I absolutely agree that a larger vehicle is more convenient for people with 3 or more kids. But that isn’t the argument people have been making in this thread. The assertions it that you can’t fit 3 car seats in these cars, an assertion which is provably false.
I don't see anybody making the argument that no 3 child seats can fit in a compact car, I've only responded to your post claiming that Americans drive giant cars and using the bestseller list as a proof.
I find it kind of perplexing how many people pretend that you simply cannot put 3 child seats in a small SUV, it’s incredibly trivial to Google and find ones that will fit. This isn’t rocket science, I found a site that’ll list which seats will fit 3 across in which cars in the first hit on Google.