Definitely, any more than 3 kids and you need to buy a van (or 4WD aka SUV for americans). Or so we thought... turns out that once they grow bigger, you need a 3-rows car anyway because if you jam 3 kids next to each other they fight like rabid cats.

At least in Europe the car seats are so wide and the benches so narrow that you can forget having 3 children in the back row. Also isofix is usually missing in the center “seat” which is typically smaller or even raised.

The only case that I have seen work is with two rear facing seats on the outer seats and a small/narrow front facing seat in the middle.

I wish manufacturers hadn’t killed off MPVs. Now we are stuck with older models with less to no hybrid/electric drivetrains at higher than new cost. Or getting a huge (for Europe standards) car or an gas guzzling van.

Edit: turns out that, in the Netherlands, a car seat in the center seat isn’t required if it doesn’t fit in your car. Only a raised seat is allowed if the kids are smaller than 135cm. But what about safety? Then the middle one won’t have a car seat.

My brother, sister and I rode in the back seat over a two week (one way) road trip halfway across the country.

It's surprising what you don't "need" when you can't have it.

Even with just two kids we'll often ride with one parent in the back and one kid up front, which we have found to greatly reduce fighting.