Originally Posted by
cafeconleche
Uh, it's needed for you. I don't need or want it, neither for myself nor my kids who also have an EU passport that we carry with us when we travel (so they already have double the pages by default). I don't travel that much to countries that require tons of passport space, and I'm happy to renew if and when it becomes necessary, even years before it expires. It's a risk I'm willing to take
I would say that renewing outside of the US is generally at least a bit of an inconvenience for most parents with young minors. And the less often it is required to go into the embassy/consulate for ACS or anywhere lese for those passports, the more convenient it is.
If you get the chance, you could apply for US passports while in the US to avoid the "big book" version.