How many sims can you handle at once in a household?

I don't usually play households more than 6 but I do have a save with 8 sims. Autonomy comes in handy. I'd only ever do this if there were no toddlers.
I did once have a save where my poor sims struggled to take care of 3 toddlers at once. They didn't have much money, the mom was always working, so their father stayed at home and managed them best he could. No matter what I did, their needs were always in the red. Back then I didn't know much about mods or cheats.