Did you know that the mass of the head of a small child is about 25% of the body mass whereas the mass of the adult head is only 6%! In a head on automobile crash the force on a child's neck and spine is so great that in an infant it can have deadly consequences. This is why it is the law to keep infants rear facing until they are 1 year old AND weight at least 20 lbs. There are new recommendations that suggest keeping infants rear facing until they reach the weight limit on their convertible car seat.
In a rear-facing seat, the head, neck and spine are all kept fully aligned and the child restraint absorbs the bulk of the crash force. The difference is that in a head on collision an infants head would snap forward in a forward facing seat whereas if they are rear facing their entire body sustains the force of the crash therefore preventing their head from snapping forward and causing permanent damage to the spinal cord or even death.
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