the thing that angers me about all these responses about 'big kids' is it doesn't matte rif you have a 30lb 1yr old or a 15lb 1yr old, their bone structure is STILL THE SAME! And its not neck muscles or control or if your can can ru na marathon at 10 months old, the fact remains that until your child is 3-6yrs old, the spine has not yet fused to the skull meaning hte only thing protecting your childs spinal cord is soft tissue. Please look up INTERNAL DECAPITATION, JOELS JOURNEY and EXTENDED REAR FACING.
No, your daughter, if still in an infant seat, should not be forward facing. Get a convertible, kids her age (I'm assuming she's 8-10mos old since still in an infant seat) HATE being reclined and when you get a convertible car seat you can have it more upright, therefore your child can sit up and check out the world.
And no, kids who are 'social' don't need to be forward facing. Unless your vehicle has no side or back windows, your kid can see out the back window, all the side windows, the view is identical to forward facing (where, ironically, the front seat is right in front of them in the face, duh!)
My 9yr old was 30lbs at a year old ,but he remained rear facing until 18mos old because I was too damn lazy to re-install his car seat and I knew it rear faced to 35lbs.
My 6yr old rear faced until he was 3yrs old, he was 42" tall and 35lbs when he went forward facing.
My 4.5yr old daughter came home from Ukraine at 3yrs old and went straight to a rear facing convertible car seat. She was 35" tall and 25lbs when she came home. She's now 38" tall and 30lbs nad still able to easily rear face.
Please get a convertible (look for one with at least 35lbs rear facing there are many that rear face to 40lbs now and are under $200!) and one that has at least 50lbs forward facing. This means you can use the seat until your chlid is 4-6yrs old and then can purchase a simple booster until your child is big enough to use the adult belt alone. It seems like a big expense, to spend $200 on a car seat, but its the one thing that will help save your childs life, isn't that important? And you will be able to use it, barring an yaccidedents, until your child is 4-6yrs old. I think its worth it.
Please do the research, and don't use excuses. Kids aren't too tall, rear facing kids dont' break their legs (however the most common non-fatal injury in forward facing kids is broken legs!), and they won't become anti-social.
A rear facing car seat is outgrown when the child reaches the weigh limit, or there is less than one inch of hard shell seat above the head. Until one of these is met, a car seat is NOT outgrown rear facing.