The torture bucket... When did you turn your DC forward facing in the car?

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I'm just curious what others did.
DS2 is almost 6mo and hates, hates HATES his car seat. I'm talking crying, screaming, coughing, choking, getting hot and sweaty and distressed. He's been like this since newborn except now he doesn't even cry himself to sleep anymore (do I have the only baby in the world who doesn't fall asleep on a long car journey? )
Anyway I've no idea what bothers him but I suspect that part of the problem is that he is so curious and nosey and he can't see or hear what's going on really. If you throw in being a bit hungry or tired and probably a bit uncomfortable - he's constantly straining his neck up to look around - then its total meltdown. I often end up in tears by the end of it too and we just avoid the car as much as possible. My family live in France and we're considering cancelling a visit in May as can't bear the thought of the drive.
I think that when he faces forward it will get better. Plus I'm hoping that he just grows out of it.....??!!
I'm conscious of course that the longer they are rear facing the safer it is, but it's also unsafe for me to be so distracted and stressed by a screaming baby.
When's the earliest you put your baby forward facing and what were the reasons?

We turned DD1 at 4 and against her wishes as we had to make room for DD2.

Have you tried to get a bigger car seat- one that can both rear/ forward face? Often they are much higher up and the baby can see out better ( even if out the back window!). I think the very earliest you could turn FF would be 15 months.

The law says rear facing till 15 months.

Does it?! I thought it was based on weight?

In my opinion it would be very unsafe to forward face a baby as young as this.

In my experience children are often happier in the higher seats than the infant carriers so you could look aT an extended rear facing seat?

DD1 was like your LO in her infant seat. We bought an extended rear facing seat and she was much happier. I think the lack of a view in the infant seat was making her cross. She gets the best view in the car now out the back windscreen. She is 2.7 years and rear facing. She will be until at least 18kg.

DS1's car seat is forward facing and it says it's from 9mo so surely that can't be the law?

sorry, the changes are being phased in apparently.

www.parentdish.co.uk/baby/child-car-seat-confusion-guide-to-the-new-regulations-and-products/

But 15 months is going to be the new minimum which suggests it's unsafe to do it sooner.

DD1 at 7. DD2 is 8 this week and still rear facing. (We have Swedish seats, where it is law until 4, and swedish children are tall).

We moved into a larger ( group 1 I think, instead of 0-1 ) rear facing at 8 months because DS was so squidged in.

We are going to keep him rf until 4. We ff our other 2 DS at 1 year but I know better now.

15 months is the minimum, hence the new isize car seats.

Ds1 - I turned him around a few months ago when he turned 5.
Ds2 - he's just 4, I will probably turn at some point this summer as he will be over the weight limit probably then

Have you looked at a different style of car seat?

I did at about 9 months.

We bought a rear facing toddler seat for DS1 and I wanted to keep him rear facing for as long as possible as I reckoned it was only a matter of time before the law changed, but he started getting car sick and throwing up even on a ten min journey so unfortunately that wasn't a long time solution.
Will look into larger rear facing seats.

We have the Cybex sirona which is up to 18kg. I would look at the besafe izi options though next time as they go up to 25kg rear facing

at the moment the very minimum weight that a child can forward face (whilst the new laws are being phased in) is 9kg. so if your ds weighs less than 9kg then it is both illegal and unsafe (as he will be below the minimum weight for the seat) to forward face. my dd is 2.5 and is still rear facing and will be for quite some time yet.

SirVix do you have the Two Way Elite? Im trying to guage whether to buy another TWE for DS when he turns one (dd will be 3.10 but is very tall) or move her ff and usethe TWE for him.

Look up internal decapitation in babies.

Then make your decision.

For height based car seats it's 15 months but for weight based car seats it is 9kg. From the governments web site www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules

I have recently read about having to keep kids rear-facing until 4 years etc..... Is that right, 4 YEARS??? I am just confused as to where their feet go?

We bought the maxi cosi 2way pearl when my DS was six months - he used to cry all the time in the car, now he is happy playing with a toy for up to an hour or will snooze happily!

Just to reassure you, my DS was like that in the car seat. Never fell asleep, screamed and cried to the point of sweating, shaking, hysterical sobs. He would be utterly frantic. He seemed frightened. We avoided car journeys tbh. He did suddenly grow out of it once he was a bit older and then became a doddle in the car. He never sleeps but he learnt to eat, read, chat, play and gaze out of the window. For a while though, it was hell. You have my sympathies.

Wow rear facing at 7 and 8! Where do their Legs go? Sounds like keeping them rear facing is going to be a nightmare

Boots has the Britax First Class on offer (so do lots of places at the moment). It's about £80-£85 depending on where you get it from.

It's rear facing to 9kg then can be forward facing. Might be worth trying?

Here's a link to the boots one (not sure how to make it clickable?)

m.boots.com/h5/cat_hub?unCountry=uk&path=/en/Britax-First-Class-Plus-Car-Seat-Black-Thunder_1291862/

Ignore that last bit; it's showing as clickable on my phone

Have you tried a mirror, dangly toys etc, basically lots of distractions? My DD was just like yours, the distractions worked for a short while, some of the time, as did story CD's or favourite music (quite loud!), singing, and the fan from the air con in summer seemed to soothe her. I feel your pain!