Originally Posted by BuffyTVS65
Thanks for that Jason. Our new arrival will be barely 3 months old when he/she flies so will be in a rear facing baby basket thing unfortunately
Originally Posted by SptCA
Could you clarify what you mean by baby basket? I'm not sure if you're refering to a wicker type Moses basket, or to a bucket style car seat for an infant. If it is the car seat, in the US it is allowed to secure those to an airline seat, but you're right, it must face forward.
While there may in fact be requirements in the UK for an infant in a seat to ride facing forward, in my experience, there are no such requirements here in the USA. Perhaps individual airlines have such rules, but there are no FAA rules requiring that infant seats face forward.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants less than one year old and less than 20 pounds ride in rear facing seats. The forces of deceleration are best absorbed by a young infant by the back against the car seat, not by the chest against the straps.
My girls traveled extensively as infants and always faced the rear of the aircraft until they reached one year and 20 pounds.
Have other parents of infants been forced to turn seats forward facing on domestic flights?