Travelling with Babies: Maximum Safety on Every Ride

Child & baby safety18 June 20264 min read

A long ride with a baby or toddler is not only a safety question - it is a planning question. Parents heading to the airport at four in the morning with a two-year-old know that the difference between a calm trip and a hard one is mostly decided before the car even arrives. Here is what we have learned from thousands of rides with children, on both the safety side and the practical side.

The safety seat: which one suits whom

Israeli regulations require children to travel in a safety seat or booster suited to their age and weight. The fit is determined mainly by weight rather than age alone, which is why it helps to give us both figures when booking.

The usual categories:

Infant carrier - up to about 9 kg, installed rear-facing. This is the safest configuration for babies and it is worth staying with it as long as weight and height allow.
Convertible seat - up to about 18 kg, with a five-point harness. Suits most toddlers.
High-back booster - roughly from age 4 upward. The back matters because it positions the shoulder belt correctly and protects the head and neck.
Backless booster - only for older children already tall enough for the belt to cross the shoulder properly rather than the neck.

With us the seat is installed and secured in the vehicle before it leaves for you, for ₪50 a ride. The charge is a single one and does not change even if two or three seats are needed on the same journey. That means you do not have to drag your own seat to the airport and you do not have to fit anything yourself at the moment of pickup.

Planning the ride around sleep

This is probably the tip that changes the most in practice. A journey that starts at your baby's usual sleep hour is almost always a quieter one, even if it is less convenient for the parents. The motion of the car and the white noise of the road work in your favour, and on long rides that can be the difference between two hours of sleep and two hours of crying.

If you have no choice and must travel during an alert stretch, try to arrange the first part of the ride to fall after a meal. A fed baby settles far faster than a hungry one in a seat they are not fond of.

What to keep within reach

Not in a suitcase in the boot - in a small bag that rides with you on the seat:

A bottle or water, and a pacifier if your child uses one
Wipes and a nappy or two
One change of clothes, for the child and a spare top for the parent
A plastic bag for wet clothes or mess
A dry snack for older children, and something quietly absorbing

A restroom stop, or a short stop simply to settle a child, is perfectly fine on a long ride. Just tell the driver in advance that you might need one, so he can plan where it is comfortable and safe to pull over.

The ride itself

The atmosphere in the car matters more than you would think. Our drivers lower or switch off the music, dim the lighting and drive more gently when there is a baby on board - fewer sharp accelerations, fewer late brakes. It is not a clause in a contract, it is simply how we drive when there is a small child in the back.

One more small thing that helps: if you are travelling in summer, ask for the car to be cooled before pickup. Putting a baby into a vehicle that has been standing in the sun is a poor start to a journey, and it is a very easy request to accommodate when we know about it in advance.

Give us the children's ages and approximate weights when you book, not in the coordination call on the day. The right seat is assigned to the vehicle in advance, and on busy days that is the difference between getting the correct seat and settling for a compromise.

Ready to reserve your airport ride?

Give us a flight number and a pickup point, and get an agreed price before the car even leaves for you. A human dispatcher is available around the clock.