There are many car seats that can turn from rear facing to front facing. They're called convertible seats and I actually don't like "infant" seats that cannot convert from rear to front because I think they're a waste of money.

That being said, just because your carseat manual says you can turn your baby at 6 months old, doesn't mean you should. It's SAFER to face the rear of the car than to face the front. You should rear-face your child up to the maximum weight that your convertible seat allows or when there is less than an inch of carseat left over your baby's head, whichever is earliest.

http://carseatblog.com/5168/why-rear-facin...-rf-link-guide/ has a lot of info explaining why you should rear-face for as long as possible.

fisher price is much better

My father-in-law bought a fisher price for his own car to drive his grandson around. And I think it is HORRIBLE. Like plastic, and impossible to get a snug, tight install rear-facing. As soon as they could face-forward my son in that carseat, we did, because it was far more secure, but even then, still shaky. The lockoff is RUBBISH and pops off! It feels like a TOY, not a carseat that will protect my baby. If it wasn't for the fact that my father-in-law has never been in a car accident, and his cars are all high end with great safety features in general, I would refuse to let my son be in that carseat.

I wish I could say better things about the fisher price car seat, but sadly, I can't.

Car seats crash tested by American standards: http://carseatblog.com/carseatblogcoms-rec...nded-car-seats/
Car seats crash tested by European standards: http://www.which.co.uk/baby-and-child/baby...hild-car-seats/ (but must pay GBP1 for one year's access)

Last weekend, I installed my son's Diono Radian in my mum's old Mercedes. 2006 C-Class, I think. Can't remember.

I installed the seat in the middle back seat, using the lap and shoulder belt. Pretty easy, no problem. Until it was time for my mum and I to sit at the back. We discovered that we could buckle the seatbelt behind the driver's seat, but we couldn't buckle the seatbelt behind the front passenger seat, because the middle seat's seatbelt, holding my son's Diono Radian, blocked the buckle access.

Remember, when anybody is unbuckled in your car, in an accident, that person can fly and injure the child in your carseat and your child's carseat can also injure the flying person. EVERYBODY has to be able to buckle up in your car.

So make sure when you're testing the fit of a carseat in your car, that you also test whether other people can still buckle up the other seats of your car.

Middle back seat is furthest from side impact, therefore safest from a car ramming you from the side. However, there are other issues to consider before assuming that middle back seat is the best choice in your car.

As I said before, your baby is safest in a carseat that is installed CORRECTLY. Middle seat often does not have LATCH or isofix. Some middle seats don't even have a seatbelt, or has only a lap belt, no shoulder belt.

If there is no shoulder belt, then it is NOT safe for even an adult to use the middle seat. If there is no belt at all, there is no way you can install a carseat there!

Let's say your middle seat has only a lapbelt, like my Myvi. If your carseat allows an installation with lapbelt only, then IF you can get a tight install with the lapbelt, then your carseat can gain the added advantage of being furthest from a side impact. Because my old Combi Coccoro enabled me to use lapbelt only, I could install in the middle seat. My Combi manual even instructed that if the Coccoro was installed on a side seat, no one should seat in the middle seat next to the Coccoro! So by installing my Coccoro in the middle, not only did I give extra protection from side impact to my baby, I was able to have two shoulder-belt seats for adults to seat safely beside my baby (admittedly it was a squeeze for them).

More links to choosing position of your carseat:
http://thecarseatlady.blogspot.com/2010/06...-be-riding.html
http://carseatanswers.com/which-seat-is-sa...babys-car-seat/
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qi...30102652AAN0z9m
Installing in center seat with LATCH

To ascertain how secure your carseat is, compare how you've installed it to what the carseat manual says. Then try to move it where it is secured. It should NOT move more than an inch, up down sideways any way, at the area where it is secured by isofix belt or seatbelt.