I have 3 kids also, and i have a renault grand scenic, and this is perfect for us. 3 full seats in the back (all will take a child seat), with 2 extra in the back for the occasional friend coming for tea. Plus you can slide the middle row of seats forwards and back, and also take them completely out for a huge van like space for days out for 2 people with bikes (inside vehicle, deadlocked and alarmed) and bags, clothes, kit etc. What you can also do with the scenic, which others in its class can't do, is to remove say, the left hand rear seat and fold down the passenger seat to fit in 4 people and long packages/ skis etc. on the left hand side.