Using child's passport for 5 years... a problem?

[Beeches24]

Anyone else have issue with passport control in other countries with a child's passport? I only had issue with it at the weekend. It wasn't a country where human trafficking is prolific but she even threatened to take us into a room.

I have been through security in numerous countries with him since birth and past couple of months. He flew into USA and also a separate journey to Canada in part few months.

Context: my child is 2, his passport pic is of a 10 week old baby. I think the features are same but hair is different. His hair is curly now (like mine). I do think he looks largely thr same but apparently the official didn't think so.

I understand security but is it really necessary to renew a toddler passport before 5?

My DD used her passport with a picture taken as a newborn until she was 5 years old without issue. Its an accepted thing that children don't look like their photos, so they do things like say the child's name to see if they respond.

As above, both my DC used passports with a baby photo (approx 3m old) until these passports expired and I don't recall it ever being an issue

What are you supposed to do? Kids grown and change rapidly, that’s why passports are 5 years and not 10. They have to expect this at passport control.

It's good that they are cautious human trafficking happens everywhere. She could have taken you into the room and you could just show her photos of your DC on your phone at different ages.

My dd's first passport was when she was 3 months old. By the time she was 5 and it needed renewing, she looked nothing like the picture (and hadn't for a few years).

We used the passport a few times a year and never had a problem. There might have been someone who asked her name or asked who the grown up was that she was with but if they did, it was such a minor thing that it hasn't stuck in my memory.

Never had an issue and my son's photos was of when he was 4 weeks old on his first one. Passport control people usually just laughed because he looked nothing like that by the time he was 5. Do you have the same surname? That would be the only cause the query it I would imagine.

Yes they do expect it. They also get told "the kid has grown since then" by traffickers and kidnappers / parents removing their children without permission. So if they have any reason to thing twice about it I would prefer that they act with caution and not abandon.

I have never had an issue with the passport picture at all. I have been asked why I am travelling with a child without the dad, where the dad is etc. I've had to produce birth certificates as my children have a different surname. I've always answered these queries politely and helpefully on the basis that border control is not the time to be rolling my eyes or getting frustrated, no matter how irritating it is.

Do you have a different surname? That seems to be a real trigger in the UK. But I'd just produce some pics on your phone and that should do the trick. A friend is Italian and her passport is in her maiden name. she gets stopped every time she leaves the country with her kids to see her parents on a weekend. Her husband rarely comes as she generally goes when he's on a long haul work trip. She takes their birth certs everywhere now. She did say that it's handy that their UK passports get stamped now post Brexit as there's evidence of them coming and going regularly.

You can always renew early. The 5 yr old pic usually looks broadly like the same child at 10. They only last for 5 yrs don't they?