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If you absolutely have to stay two nights, rather than just an overnight, then you really need to include those nights as part of your holiday, in the big tent not the little tents.  Otherwise you've four days of discomfort out of a two or three week holiday - which is four days too many!  With three children you really all need to be able to relax and enjoy the site, not be fighting over trying to find something in the pile of luggage still in the car, or cooking a meal for five whilst squatting in the doorway of a pup tent!  Put the big tents up - but as 'art' says, practice at home first, so it doesn't take you as long, and be methodical about packing everything in the car so you know just where everything is and in what order it needs to be unloaded.  My friends are campers and they pack with military precision, but they can be pitched up and unloaded almost as quickly as we can with the caravan.

If you were just doing a 'quick' overnight, then pop-ups would be a good idea, but not to spend two days in. 

You'll have a bit more room in the car, too, if you don't have to take two extra tents - more space to bring some yummy food or wine home!

We've done the small tent thing for three nights on our way back through the Loire. The small tents took very little room. We also used the beach tent - which we had taken anyway - to keep the food cooking stuff in and a tarpauline to give us some covered space in case of rain.

Last year we took a second small tent with us for our 2 overnight stays on the way down to the Southern Ardeche, but after a long days drive it was far easiar to just check into a budget hotel for the night, which is what we did, and never got to use the second tent, so it just ended up taking precious room in the car, I notice that the Budget Hotel chain Etap are doing rooms at 39Euro from the 14th August onwards, now that is a dam good price for a Budget hotel, cheaper than B&B, Premier Classe, and even F1 in some cases.

AND - if you do decide to overnight in a hotel, don't forget to look up Chambres d'Hote!  You can find details on the Gites de France websites - and they are often   stunning places,  competetively priced, and giving funds back into local communities rather than the coffers of the big hotel chains.

We've found amazing places to stay overnight - two nights  in Les Mages, at the most attractive B and B -  with lovely hosts,  and as cheap as a Formule 1!   Check them out first, they're so much better than an anonymous 'chain' hotel.

Whilst your youngest child is only 2, you are legally allowed to stay in a french 'travel lodge' type establishement designed to sleep only 4 occupants even though there are 5 of you. Children up to the age of 3 are ok to share parents bed apparently (unlike here in theUK, where the insurance stipulates how many individuals are allowed to occupy a room)

Whilst our youngest was under 3 we would stay in budget chain hotels for overnight stop overs, and take a thermarest mat and a sleeping bag in for little one (personally I wouldn't dream of letting them share our bed!!) and that worked fine.

Once she was over 3 we did the 'pop up tent' thing for stop overs and eventually decided to upgrade to a caravan.