Forward Facing Carseat

Keep you little one rear facing as long as possible. It is sooo much safer. To many parents rush kinds though using carseats. It is the biggest safety step down you will take. Oh and the law in every state is 12 months AND 20lbs. Reaching on of these is not enough.....you must reach both! So if you have a chunkey kid who hits 20 early they must stay RF until they are one. and if you have skinny kid they must stay RF after their birthday until they reach 20lbs. My dd is 30m and 24lbs and is very happy rf. Dont worry about their legs they just fold them. it is the head and neck you need to worry about.
Oh and dont forget that carseats expire. Watch the dates. 6 years is about what most carseats are good for. Never use and outdated carseat.

The Radian 65 and Radian 80 are supposed to be quite narrow. They're a bit spendy, but also reputed to be very safe. I don't own one personally but have a couple of friends who've been really happy with theirs. They go rear and front facing and up to 65 or 80 lbs depending on the model. The backs are tall, too.

www.sunshinekidsbaby.com

How old is your son?
My friend went to the fire station because her car seats didn't all fit in the back of her Toyota Corolla. They gave her a new convertible car seat and said it's the narrowest one on the market. Turns out, it's the same seat I have!
It's the Cosco Touriva/Regal Ride, but I think they've renamed it Scenera. My 2 1/2 year old son is about to grow out if it, but he's off the charts for height, so it should last most kids longer. It's rear-facing and forward facing.
I am having a car seat dilemma right now, too, and I'm thinking that I'll have to ask some friends and borrow their car seats to see if three of them will fit in my car. Maybe you could have the other mom bring over her seat, borrow an infant seat, and a forward facing seat and see if they fit.

I have found car seats on clearance, and I even bought one. It only saved me about $8, though, and I didn't realize this until I was installing it, but they are OLD. They've been on the shelf for so long that their expiration dates are that much closer. The seat I'd just bought wasn't going to last me 6 years, it was going to last only 5. And I didn't get enough of a discount to justify losing a whole year of use!
So I'd recommend NOT getting a clearance seat, unless you aren't going to have any more kids. If you aren't, your son will probably grow out of his seat before it expires, anyway.
If your son is too big for a convertible seat, look for a combination seat. It has a harness that you use until he's too tall for it, then you take out the harness and it's a high-backed, belt-positioning booster seat. They're not very narrow, though.

I wanted to respond just in case at some point the other boy you watch will use a booster seat. We have a dodge intrepid, which we purposely bought for the roomy back seat. We have a baby and two kids in booster seats. The car seats fit, but the frustration is that we have to buckle the older two kids' seat belts in between their seats and the baby's seat. Since the booster seats are not fixed in place, we slide them to the edge of the back seat (close to the door), buckle, then slide them back into a good position on the back seat and tighten the belt. Unbuckling or reaching over the front seat to buckle are a little harder as we have to squeeze a hand in between two car seats to find the buckle. It's annoying, but possible.
I hope you find a good solution!

Try some of the European manufacturers. The European cars are significantly more narrow. I haven't tried buying them here, though.

It's not possible to fit three carseats in the back-seat of a Honda. Trust me...I have tried SOOOO many times and tried with different configurations, etc. If you want to fit three car seats in the back, you will have to get a car with more that one back-seat.

My sister just went through something similar with her kids and her Honda Accord. She recently had a 3rd child, and she had to sell the Accord because it would not fit a 3rd car seat. She bought an SUV so everyone would be able to ride comfortably. I have a Subaru wagon, and it won't fit a 3rd car seat, either.
As far as a good forward facing seat, we LOVE the Britax seats (Both the Marathon and the Roundabout). Both my kids have them. Babyage.com has seats on sale all the time. You can check there!

I drive a Honda Civic and we bought 2 forward facing car seats, one for my car and one for my husband's car. The one we bought for my car wasn't as expensive or plush (no arm rests, etc.) as the other one we bought, but it's definitely a lot narrower and all around smaller. I think it's either a Graco or an Evenflo, but it was probably around $100 or less to purchase. It's great because it's very basic and small to fit in my car. I love it so much more than the more expensive one we bought. I know Britax is a great safety option too, but the ones I've seen are pretty bulky. I'd suggest going to Babies R Us to get an idea of what sizes there are, because they have a model back seat for you to try seats out. Good luck!

J.:

We drive an Accord and fit three carseats in the back:
Evenflo convertible forward facing, Graco infant carrier rear facing, and Evenflo booster (with the back still on). It's a tight squeeze and we'd love to have a minivan, but for now it works.

I'll be interested to read what others say about good prices on car seats :)

Never buy a used or outdated carseat!! Used ones and older ones can have wear and tear you are not aware of and are a very big hazard. My daughter who was on the petite side was rear facing until she was 15 mos as she hadn't hit the 20 lbs. My son who was large for his age (still is) we were allowed to turn him around face forward at 11 mos. So it totally depends what your Pediatrician says. It is about body strength not just being a year old.
Did you know carseats have expiration dates? I work for a man that is a fireman. Carseats are no longer considered safe after 6 years, manufacturers will not guarantee them after this point. And used ones are a big no no too.
Being you have very limited room in your back seat, you need to take into consideration that once there is a baby carrier in there, they are wider and have base.
I wouldn't take on another child other then the two you are, yours and the other little boy until you get the mini van. I have an Odyssey and it is great for taking more then two kids somewhere! Just my opinion.

We got both of ours off albeebaby.com both for less then they sell for...because of old patterns. Both are Britax. One is the Marathon, which is pretty big and the other is the Roundabout. I would recommend the Roundabout. We had it in the back of our Subaru Impreza and it fit fine.

K.

I used to have a Nissan Maxima that I could get three car seats in. I think it was close to the same size as an accord. I had to put the infant seat in the middle first. They were more than a pain to get hooked up but once they were hooked I didn't take them out. I found some narrow, very inexpensive seat from walmart about 40 bucks for the front facing. I think they were called scenera?? or something. It worked well. Just measure the seats at walmart and but ones with the narrowest base. Hope this helps.

Just so you know, they recommend keeping kids rear facing as long as possible!! Even though the minimum of 20lbs and 1 yr, we shouldn't do that!! We have a Britax Boulevard, kind of pricey and bulky, but it is so safe and secure. Here is a link of a video that you just HAVE to watch before making any decision. Most car seats that you buy can be rear for a while (until 30 lbs or so).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DVfqFhseo