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My son's Apple ID has his birthday entered, cough accidentally cough, incorrectly, so it appears that he is 28, when he's actually <13 (it was created when <13 accounts weren't possible).

With iCloud Family Sharing, this is problematic. I'd really like to use this, but an adult gets to purchase items without asking permission, so he needs to be a child first.

Attempting to change his birthday in the security settings in desktop Safari gives a "this cannot be changed at this time" error, and attempting to do so in the Settings app in iOS gives a "permission from a parent or guardian is required to create an Apple ID for a child of a young age" error.

Is there any way that I can correct the year of his birth? (It would be nice to not have to create an entirely new Apple ID).

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  • I had the same problem. I changed the year until he came up as 13. Although he's only 11, this changed the family share plan from "Adult" to "13 years old" which then allowed me to set the flag "must ask permission to purchase." Eventually my 11 year old will catch up to that age.
    – user97150
    Commented Oct 23, 2014 at 1:31
  • @tony-meyer did any of these work for you?
    – nthonygreen
    Commented Oct 24, 2014 at 14:32
  • Yes it is now. support.apple.com/en-us/HT204164
    – Novice User
    Commented Mar 6, 2015 at 20:28

4 Answers 4

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I had the same issue, I added my kids to Family Sharing but they showed up as adults (and so could make purchases without my permission). Fortunately you can easily change it.

If you go to https://appleid.apple.com and login using their account details, in the Password and Security section, you can change the year of their birth. 1/1/2001 works fine, I think the key is that they need to be over 13 to change from Adult to Child account. I left my kids' birthdays with the correct day and month but used 2001.

Going back to the iCloud section on my phone, it shows my kids as "Age 13".

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  • This doesn't work for me (and I think others). DOB is greyed out and non-editable.
    – j b
    Commented Oct 19, 2014 at 12:01
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    @JamieBullock that is strange, not sure why it doesn't work for you. I did it for my 2 boys without any problem. Not sure what could be different. Was there a credit card or gift card on the account? Maybe that would somehow lock it?
    – nthonygreen
    Commented Oct 23, 2014 at 15:49
  • I think the issue is that you can change the DOB if their accounts were originally added as "adult" accounts (as you implied in your answer), but not if they were set up as children using family sharing.
    – j b
    Commented Oct 23, 2014 at 16:00
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    This worked like a charm!
    – Paaske
    Commented Jan 3, 2015 at 8:43
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Apple should be able to do this for you. Go to apple.com/support/appleid/contact/, click Contact Us → Other Apple ID topics → The topic is not listed, enter 'change date of birth' or a phrase to that effect, click Continue and choose an option.

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    I called Apple and this is what I was told... You can not set the age to less than 13 years old if the account was originally created stating the child is 13 years of age or older; however, you can effectively make it a child account by limiting access.... Do not let the child know the password or security questions. Also, do not link the account to an email address they have access to. Make sure you turn on the "Ask to Buy" function. Doing all of the above effectively makes it a child account. Once the child turns 13, simply reset the birthday so it says age 13 again and then you are all set.
    – G-J
    Commented Oct 24, 2014 at 23:03
  • They also suggested that users with this issue go to apple.com/feedback and request a utility be developed that allows people to convert adult AppleId accounts to child AppleId accounts. They prioritize requests based on demand.
    – G-J
    Commented Oct 24, 2014 at 23:09
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I called Apple Support to get this done for both of my sons' accounts and the rep told me that there is no way to do this. He stated that I would need to create new accounts for them and be OK with them losing all of their stuff associated with the existing IDs.

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  • Here in Portugal costumer support gave me the same answer. This issue starts with email accounts, than apple account. No problem with real estate ownership (and physical address: but no, he doesn't have the keys!) and bank accounts in my 5yr old kid name! 2001 ok
    – user97110
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 20:49
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The rules around editing child accounts (or turning things into child accounts) seem to be very strict. Child is deemed as being someone under age 13, at least in the UK.

It seems:

  • You can't make an adult account into a child account
  • You can't change the date of birth on a child account
  • You can't remove a child account from a family (you can transfer it to another family)
  • You can't stop family sharing for a family with child accounts attached (and - see above - you can't remove them)

Short version - you need to set up the child account and do so right first time. Any errors in the date of birth can not be corrected even by Apple (I've been up to senior support advisors on this).

If you do make a mistake (as I have) then you can create a new, correct account but the old one will still exist unless someone will transfer it into their family for whatever reason.

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  • This is no longer the case, as of today, I was able to call and have my child's birthday updated. Our accounts are US based, but we are in London and called the +44 0800 107 6285 support number
    – ScottCate
    Commented Aug 10, 2019 at 11:06

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