Child Account availability across devices?

[Adrenya]

Will the family acount be available with all trackers? I bought my son a Charge 2 recently and I'd love to be able to check in on his stats from my phone without having to disconnect my own Charge 2.

Moderator edit: edited title for clarity

[Julia_G]

Hi, @Karmlovich, no, you did not do anything wrong.  There is no continuity between regular accounts and kid accounts, so they can't be transferred into each other. 

If your son already has a reguoar account, his data will not be carried over if yu create a child account for him.

If you would like to add your son to a Family Account, and you want his information to carry over, you will need to add him as an ordinary member, not a child.  In this case, obvously, you will not have the same degree of control over his account as you would a child account, and obviously he should be 13 or over in the US.

If he is under 13 and you set up a child account, he will need to start over as a new user.

[Ms_Issippi]

I just gave my son a FitBit Ace for his birthday, but can't get him set up as a child on my Family account and logged into the app on his own device as well. He had to register as a user on his device and then I could add him as a family member, but not a child. How can he log into the app on his device using the child account login created on mine?

[Julia_G]

Hi, @Ms_Issippi, when you have created your Family Account, add your son as a child on the Family Account, if you have not already done so.  (If he already has his own account you may need to choose a slightly different user name as your preferred one will be already taken -- by him! but not the way you want...).  

Once he is added on your Family Account, under My Family you will see his name under "Children".  Click on his name and choose the option Switch to Kid View.

Once you are in Kid view you can add the Ace under his name there.  Once the Ace has been added under kid view, the Ace will disappear from the adult account you have set up for him.

Okay, once the Ace is all set up, borrow your son's device (phone, tablet, whatever he uses).  Open the Fitbit app.  If it is logged in to him as his own account that you previously set up, choose the account icon (it's the one that's meant to look like an ID card, and choose "log out")

Next choose log in to Fitbit but log in with YOUR account.  When you are logged in to YOUR account on your son's device, choose "Switch to kid view" .  

After that, just leave it there.  He will be logged in as a kid on his own device.

You might then want, on your own device, to delete him as an adult from your Family Account.  If you would like to delete his adult account altogether, you will need to get in touch with Fitbit Customer Support on contact.fitbit.com.  I know this sounds a little complicated, so please do post again if anything is unclear.

[EdSchreibs]

So does that mean that a kid can't use any fitbit other than Ace unless they lie about their age? Struggling to figure out how to get my daughter started with the Charge2.

[Karmlovich]

My 8yo has the flex 2. I had to change his age. For now I can't add him to the family account because it's not the Ace. 

[KateFitbit]

@EdSchreibs, @Karmlovich Fitbit designed Fitbit Ace to encourage kids 8 and older to be more active and build healthy habits with their families. Only Fitbit Ace can be connected to a child account. The child account allows you to control who your kids connect within the Fitbit app and see how active they are each day. You can find more information here. 

[Zimboysband]

My special needs son cannot wear a wrist device, especially one designed for a child. We wanted to have him use a Zip that we already purchased and now can’t use. Super disappointed ☹️

[QueenOfChile]

@KateFitbit, how does one set up a family account without owning an Ace? The link you provided doesn't work when I click on it.

[DavideFitbit]

Thanks for sharing this in the Community @Zimboysband and welcome to the forums. 

I'm sure other parents may have the same observation about not being able to add other devices to the child account. I do recommend that you vote for this idea in the Feature Suggestion board: Allow More Fitbit Devices than Ace to Family Account, this section is constantly reviewed by the team of developers for possible updates in the future. Thanks again for your feedback. 

It's good to see you visiting the forums for the first time as well @QueenOfChile, you can setup the family account in the Fitbit app > Account > Create family account. You can find all the necessary information and details here: 

• How do I set up Fitbit Ace?
• How do I manage my Fitbit family account?

I hope this helps. 

[SunsetRunner]

After being on fitbit for over a year, seeing the things adults post, because after all this is FOR ADULTS, I would NEVER allow my child access to fitbit with the social media platform. The things they will see are not much short of porn. So hopefully you've thought this through!!!!! Good luck with traumatizing your child. 

[KateFitbit]

@SunsetRunner I understand your concern, but children only have access through a Fitbit family account which parents control. The child view does not have access to Fitbit Community, the tab is not available. For more on who your child can interact with, check out this article. Also if you see something on Fitbit Community Feed that does not belong, you can flag the content for moderator review, we want to keep this a safe, healthy, and productive environment for all. 

[SunsetRunner]

Yes I understand with the NEW option that fitbit has offered. But as recently as today I have seen children using the social part of the app and I see it every day. They shouldn't be on it. I always report it. But it's common sense that a parent should be monitoring their own child not the rest of the world. I don't allow my children social media for the sole reason that there are just too many weirdos out there. 

[DavideFitbit]

Thanks for all your comments @SunsetRunner, I understand this would be a concern for many parents with any social network out there. As far as Fitbit is concerned, efforts have been made to have a product (Ace) and software (family account) specially designed for them and definitely taking their safety into account. 

Fitbit gives parents control over how their children use their tracker. The feature is compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA. If the child wants to connect with a person, they must be approved by the parents.

[Mary-Mary]

My son's wrists are too big for ACE I had to purchase an adult tracker for him. Please provide a way to link my son to my fitbit account as a family. 'Family' seems like a misnomer for fitbit. It really means underage person with an ACE only. Not family.

[DavideFitbit]

Thanks for the feedback @Mary-Mary, I'm sorry to see what happened and the confusion about the band sizes. 

Regarding the family account, it is actually composed by the guardians, other family members and the child accounts, so it's not only the Fitbit Ace (for adults), however, at the moment only the Ace can be connected to a Fitbit child account. The best thing for now would be to vote and support this idea that we mentioned earlier. 

About the Alta and Ace wristbands, they're not actually the same size, but they are compatible to use in any of these devices (Ace band is extra small, shorter than Alta and Alta HR bands in size small). 

You can also check here the Return Policy and Warranty, remember that you have 45 days from the date of purchase to request a full refund for a product purchased from Fitbit.com, if you're within this return period, you could get the refund and purchase an Ace, in case you'd like to use the other wristband options that you mentioned.  

I hope this helps. 

[Mary-Mary]

Thanks, for the reply. I voted and ditched the Charge 2 I purchased for my son. Not sure where to go now since the accessory bands for the Alta HR (which are compatible) are so expensive. $30-70 ? really? I'm thinking of ditching my fitbit as well but will most likely wait a month or so to see if fitbit can remedy the situation. Thinking fitbit would have been more forward thinking by not assuming children are all made 'one size'.

[Julia_G]

Hi, @Mary-Mary, the Ace is a new venture for Fitbit and they are definitely responding to customer experience.  If your issue is that the Ace band is too small for your son, then please get in touch with them on contact.fitbit.com.  If you have already purchased an Ace, and the band is too small, they will supply a larger one to you free of charge.

[Mary-Mary]

I called today. I have not yet purchased an Ace and they offered to let me purchase an Alta HR band at regular price.

[Julia_G]

If you have not purchased an Ace, how do you know that the band won't fit him?

If you would like your son under 13 to have a Fitbit, I would suggest ourchasing an Ace, which is specifically designed for children under 13.

When you get it, if the band does not fit him, then I think it is very likely that they will send you a larger one.  Obviously id you have not made the purchase they are not going to in advance send you a free band!

[Mary-Mary]

Julia_G I don't find any value in purchasing a product that will not fit my child and then having to work the system and deceive a company to rig it to work. When I called the company I inquired about purchasing the Ace and if they could accommodate my son's wrist size. She offered to sell me the band. NOT send it free.

I know it will not fit him because they have a fit guide to print out and I have a measuring tape. I actually do research before I purchase. BUT - Obviously I didn't do enough about the APP though. If you recall my ORIGINAL issue was that the APP does not actually support 'family' it only supports Ace. Ace is too small for my child - my child is my family.