Originally Posted by FWAAA
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?
FWIW: when my son flew at 4 months in a bucket car seat, Alaska insisted he face forward. Don't know if it was official policy, or just the FA's we encountered.