Originally Posted by swise

There is no other option for a child under age 1 that will not affect the seat in front of it. You cannot put a child under age one in a forward-facing seat. And there isn't a rear-facing seat that will not impede the recline of the seat in front of it.
That shouldn't be problem of the other passenger.

All the parent can do is attempt to secure the bulkhead row, or put a family member in front of the rear-facing child's assigned seat. The latter is not an option for a parent traveling alone with two small children.
Then don't fly on that flight, on that of plane, if you can't get the bulkhead.

All that being said, Embraers are generally used on short hops, and, in my experience when I had a rear-facing child, passengers were very compassionate and understanding. I offered them a Starbuck's gift card for the inconvenience, and on probably 15-20 flights, only one person ever accepted it. No one ever expressed the slightest bit of displeasure or bother to us about the inconvenience.
There are a lot of people that won't share their real feelings in this situation, too bad for them.

Nearly every time, people went out of their way to share that they understood the complexity of traveling with small kids, having once done it, and they usually complimented our children on their behavior during the flight. I think it helped that we took the initiative to explain our situation upfront to the passenger and offer them something for their trouble.
Good on you for offering compensation. I don't like Starbuck's, but might make a cash deal for the inconvenience, if asked nicely (not expected to agree). However, you already expected that the inconvenienced customer would accept this, without giving them the option to refuse (I'm entitled to your space b/c my kid needs it). What if the person in front has to recline to be able to sit there with a bad back? They might have picked a reclining seat on purpose. It's like with seat swapping, OK to ask, but don't expect everyone to agree to your proposal.

And, on the flip side, there are many who believe that reclining a seat is an inconvenience and annoyance to passengers behind the seat and should only be done on flights where everyone on the plane is expected to be sleeping. *shrug*
Who believes that? If the seat reclines, it's allowed to recline. If you don't want the seat in front of you to recline into your space, get the bulkhead, or fly in first.

As a parent, you do what you can when you can. You try to prepare as best you can. Most people understand that it is challenging and stressful to travel with children (and also immensely rewarding), and they show compassion towards families.