# Xbox Live upgrade child account to Gold **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 23, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xbox-live-upgrade-child-account-to-gold/607145 "2011-12-23T02:24:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xbox-live-upgrade-child-account-to-gold/607145/1 "2011-12-23T02:24:48Z")
This is something that should be so easy as to be able to do it in my sleep but I am going around in circles. Please do not mention the irony of wanting to sign up with a software company that cannot make a web site that is easy to use. My 13-year-old son wants an Xbox Live Gold account. Child accounts need to be registered under a parent account. I have the accounts all set up. So then I logged into my son’s (free) account to upgrade it to gold. But then when I click the upgrade button it says it’s not allowed, and prompts me to login to the adult account. But I don’t want to upgrade the adult account, I want to upgrade the child account. The page with parental control settings says, “On [Xbox.com](http://Xbox.com), purchasing is restricted to adult accounts only.” I am guessing that maybe I have to do the upgrade from the console itself. Is that the only way? ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xbox-live-upgrade-child-account-to-gold/607145/2 "2011-12-23T08:47:51Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > But then when I click the upgrade button it says it’s not allowed, and prompts me to login to the adult account. But I don’t want to upgrade the adult account, I want to upgrade the child account. The page with parental control settings says, “On [Xbox.com](http://Xbox.com), purchasing is restricted to adult accounts only.” > > I am guessing that maybe I have to do the upgrade from the console itself. Is that the only way? When you have authorised the transaction from the linked adult account, the _child account_ will be upgraded. Been there, done that. Had to smile last weekend when I powered on my sons XBOX360 to play with something (a very rare occasion). I got prompted for the latest update, with a change in conditions that required authorisation from the adult account. My son is nearly 20 - _MS Live_ know his age, but obviously don’t automatically do that sort of update to the accounts. To sign in as an adult took a hotmail password I have not used for years, I was honestly unsure if it still worked. Since my son leaves for uni shortly (sans XBox) I guess I can deactivate all that stuff soon. Si ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xbox-live-upgrade-child-account-to-gold/607145/3 "2011-12-30T14:29:16Z")
Finally got back to this and it works just like you described. It looked to me like I was signing into my own account but in reality it presented exactly the same page as a login page but was using it just to verify parental consent. After I entered my login information, my son’s account was still logged in. All set–thanks **si\_blakely**!