How to Freeze Your Child’s Credit: A Step-by-Step Guide for All Three Bureaus

If you are paying attention to the news or even socials, you have seen the issues with PowerSchool. Data leaks like this in Student Information Systems (SIS) can cause long lasting damage to your child's credit, most of the time you won't find out about it for years!

Update: PowerSchool issued a code for Experian Identityworks Minor Plus Membership here. Note that this is not a freeze, you should still freeze your child's credit to protect them long term.

In our first book, Cyber-Smart Parenting: Protecting Your Child in the Digital Age ( Buy on Amazon #ad), we provide actionable steps to protect your child's digital footprint. This blog post elaborates on that steps and guides you through the somewhat complex process of freezing your child's credit today.

Freezing your child’s credit is one of the most powerful ways to protect them from identity theft. Unfortunately, the process isn’t as easy as clicking a button—it involves paperwork, patience, and some running around. In this post, I’ll walk you through exactly what you need to do to freeze your child’s credit with all three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

You should expect to spend about two hours completing this process, initially. Then, budget some time for scanning and printing required documents and a trip to the post office. Just remember, you are making copies of the documents, NOT sending originals.

This process cost me $22 per child. At UPS via USPS.

🔒 Equifax: Paper Form + Mail-In Documents

Steps:

1. Download and complete this form:

   Equifax Minor Freeze Request Form (PDF)

2. Fill it in (digitally or after print) print the form and gather the following supporting documents:

You’ll need:

• Proof of your identity (choose one):

  • Driver’s license

  • Government-issued ID

  • Social Security card

  • Birth certificate

• Proof of your relationship to the child (choose one):

  • The child’s birth certificate

  • A court order

  • Power of attorney

  • Foster care certification

• Proof of the child’s identity (both required):

  • The child’s Social Security card

  • The child’s birth certificate

Mail everything to:

Equifax Security Freeze

P.O. Box 105788

Atlanta, GA 30348

🔒 Experian: Online Form + Mail-In Documents

Steps:

1. Fill out this online form with your information.

   Pro tip: Save the completed PDF, then swap in each child’s information in the only form and save a new copy so you aren't filling your own info in multiple times.

2. Print and gather the required documents:

You’ll need:

• Your government-issued ID

• A utility bill or bank/insurance statement with your current address

• Your child’s birth certificate

• Your child’s Social Security card

Mail to one of the following:

Standard mail:

Experian

P.O. Box 9554

Allen, TX 75013

🔒 TransUnion: Personalized Letter Request + Documentation

Steps:

1. Write a letter requesting a “Protected Consumer Freeze” for your child. See bottom of post for a template!

   Pro tip: Fill in all your details once, save the letter, then duplicate and edit for each child.

Your letter must include:

• A written request for the freeze

You’ll need:

• Proof you can act on the child’s behalf (choose one):

  • Court order

  • Power of attorney

  • Birth certificate

  • Foster care documentation

• Proof of identity for both you and the child (pick from the following, you cannot use the child's Birth certificate for both):

  • Social Security number or card

  • Birth certificate

  • Government-issued ID (driver’s license, etc.)

Mail to:

TransUnion

P.O. Box 380

Woodlyn, PA 19094

✅ Final Tips

• Do not send original documents. Always send copies.

• Make extras of each document to reuse across bureaus.

• Stay organized by labeling folders or PDFs for each child.

• Track mailings with delivery confirmation if possible.

Conclusion

Freezing your child’s credit is a small investment of time that can prevent a major headache down the line. It may not be digital or instant, but with a bit of preparation, it’s totally doable—and absolutely worth it.

Have you frozen your child’s credit yet, or are you planning to? Let me know how it goes!

Bonus: Here is template that you can use for the TransUnion letter:

-------------------------------------------------

Your Name

Your Address

Date

TransUnion Protected Consumer Freeze

P.O. Box 380

Woodlyn, PA 19094

Dear TransUnion,

I would like to place a security freeze on the credit file of [Insert protected consumer – Childs name].

I am including documentation providing sufficient proof of authority to act on behalf of [Insert protected consumer – Childs name] in the form of a:

(Remove this blurb: Please select and include one of the following documents to show ‘sufficient proof of authority’)

• An order issued by a court of law

• A lawfully executed and valid power of attorney

• A document issued by a Federal, State, or local government agency in the United States showing proof of parentage, including a birth certificate

• With respect to a protected consumer who has been placed in a foster care setting, a written communication from a county welfare department or its agent or designee, or a county probation department or its agent or designee, certifying that the protected consumer is in a foster care setting under its jurisdiction.

I am also including documentation for sufficient proof of identification for [Insert protected consumer – Childs name] in the form of:

(Remove this blurb: Please select and include one of the following documents to show ‘sufficient proof of identification’ this should not be the Birth certificate again if used above)

• Copy of a Social Security card

• Certified or official copy of a birth certificate issued by the entity authorized to issue the birth certificate

My current address is:

(Remove this blurb: If you have lived in you current address remove the former address wording below)

My address has changed in the past 2 years. My former address was:

Your Former Address:

My Social Security Number is:

My date of birth is:

I am including proof of my identification by providing a copy of my:

(Remove this blurb: Please select and include one of the following documents and insert the name above after the semicolon)

• A social security number or a copy of a social security card issued by the Social Security Administration

• A certified or official copy of a birth certificate issued by the entity authorized to issue the birth certificate

• A copy of a driver’s license, an identification card issued by the motor vehicle administration, or any other government-issued identification

Yours truly,

Your Name