car seat placement for toddler and baby?

[gremlin44]

I've been trying to look in the archives to find this info, but I must not be coming up with the right keywords.

I have a 2003 Saturn SUV. My 22 month old son currently rides FF in his Marathon (because my pregnant back can't seem to lift him into the seat RF) in the center position of the back seat. Our 2nd child is due at the end of August, and he will be using our my DS's old SnugRide.

When you have a newborn and a toddler, what are the recommended positions for their carseats? Who should go in the middle and who should go by a door? If I had to guess, I'd guess the baby goes in the middle and the toddler goes by a door.

[Joolsplus2]

Actually, it's the other way around..."the most protected child in the least protected spot" is ideal, so you would put the rearfacing child by the door, since in a crash their head is going to stay encased in the plastic seat shell, whereas a forward facing toddler's head is going to fly forward a good deal and not be protected within the seat shell.
That said, any seat in back, especially for a child in a harnessed seat, is VERY safe, and honestly, you might want to go with convenience and the baby's safety from the toddler (sometimes otherwise loving older sibs can "help" with the baby by sticking their finger in the baby's eye or whatever else you can imagine a toddler doing).
Personally, I put my newborn behind the driver, since the infant seat fit fine there and I could drive comfortably, and the toddler behind the passenger seat so I could glance back at my toddler easily, hand him a french fry, whatever... But whatever works best for you is what you should do, even if that's baby in the middle, toddler outboard...as I said, any child in a properly installed and used car seat is very very safe in the back seat :)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx