Yep, agree with the last two posts as well. We've got two little ones. Admittedly, the rear facing car seats take up a ton of room, but that's only temporary and think of how much bigger the car will feel once you turn them around.
Personally I wasn't a fan of rearward facing because the way I see it, the most likely accident I was going to get into was being rear-ended. In a rearward facing seat, that allows an awful lot of whiplash on a little one in a rearward facing seat...
As soon as I was able to turn them forward facing, I did (20 lbs/1 year old). I know everyone says kids are safer facing backwards, but you also have to consider if you have big kids, they'll only fit for so long rearward facing. Our daughter had her legs bent because she was too tall and couldn't stretch out... I turned her forward facing.
On a side note, we also found that both our girls were happier forward facing as well because they could see more.
Just my $0.02.
Good luck.