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I grew up in a family of 3 and we had baby sitters. My mom did trade with other families but it wasn't for all of us at once. I think baby sitters were ok with it though because we were spaced pretty far apart, so I would have been like 10 and my sister was 2 (with my brother between).

I used to babysit for a family of 3 as a teenager. They were my next door neighbours, and the youngest would always be in bed asleep when I arrived. The older two would go to bed less than an hour after I got there. It was NBD. I've babysat for single child households that were more trouble.

Oh yea, I also babysat for a family of four. Those kids were all close in age and CRAZY though. But their parents paid well and didn't care the house was a mess.

We only have two kids, but we are still reluctant to hire a baby-sitter! I don't think our kids are wild or difficult, but the older is just barely 2 and easily gets into shenanigans; the younger is 9 months and mobile--so her fair share of shenanigans, too--and has a lot of stranger anxiety these days. We each watch them solo, but it's definitely takes concentration. Bedtime, in particular, takes advance planning since they normally go to sleep at the same time.

I anticipate that we will be comfortable getting a babysitter during bedtime in the future, but not yet. (We have friends and relatives watch them sometimes, but they often have two adults around. And we get a paid babysitter for after bedtime.)

My brother has 4 kids and they can't get a babysitter. But their kids are definitely a handful.

I just remembered that I used to babysit for three or more kids when I was a young teenager. It seemed reasonable to me at the time, but the kids could all talk. (I only babysat for an infant once or twice, but I remember the lack of communication being terrifying!)

Maybe I am just trying to justify my own overprotectiveness :), but I think the age of your friend's kids certainly could be a factor.

I'm one of three kids, and we had sitters pretty regularly. I also babysat for families with 3 as a teenager, and was a nanny who occasionally did date nights for a family of 3. It can get expensive, and I think it's important to trust that the sitter can handle the chaos, but it's certainly not impossible.