I just bought it for my daughter & on the manual it says for it to be RF it must be fully reclined. My daughter is a little past a year & weighs 20 lbs. I'm guessing maybe because they assume your child is under a year if he or she is RF. However, I still want to double check..
Thankfully it wasn't as awkward as I thought It would be once we actually installed it in the car. She loves her new car seat & doesn't have a problem with it being reclined..
Anytime you keep a seat rear-facing it needs to be reclined as it is safer that way.
Also, the AAP is trying to get the word out that children should remain rear-facing up to age 2 or the weight limits of the seat for rear-facing. My Britax will go up to 33 lbs rear-facing and that's where my 25lb 22 month old will stay till she hits 33lbs.
I had a car seat question and used the following website to check. They were great help.
Unfortunately the answer is YES :( Our son had to graduate to his "big boy" car seat at 6 months because he reached the weight limit for his Maxi-Cosi Micro. A month and a half later he's now at about 24 pounds and still rear facing in the Maxi-Cosi Priori.
CA law is ONE YEAR and AT LEAST TWENTY pounds to FF so if you're comfortable with her weight I would recommend facing her forward. It's been almost two months and there are still times when our son cries even during short car rides. As you probably know, the way that it reclines is a little awkward and uncomfortable for them. It's kind of a halfway recline - just between fully reclined and fully sitting up.
We're counting down the days for his first birthday this September. (And I recently sold my Yukon and bought the new Sienna just for his comfort back there!) LOL
Hopefully she'll be comfy, good luck!
If its rear facing it needs to be reclined. Suggestions now, although its no law, are to keep children rear facing for as L. as possible.
