Question: ```
echo $form->input('birthday', array(
    'label' => 'Birthday',
    'type' => 'date',
    'dateFormat' => 'MDYMDY',
    'value' => $bday,
    'empty'=>false,
    'minYear'=>1900,
    'maxYear'=>$max_year-12
));

```

I have a user, whose birthday is 3/5/81 (m/d/y). It is stored as a unix timestamp. This is what is displayed:

<http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5946/ss20110620040305.png>

Notice my code - MDYMDY

If I use only MDY - it displays June 5 1999. However, MDYMDY displays June 5, 1999 and Mar 5, 1981. 

Am I missing some random code snippet?

Answer: 
Remove the `dateFormat` and `type` - if your field is datetime, it will automatically output the format you're hoping for.

You can also remove `empty`, since that's defaulted to false. And lastly, you shouldn't need to set `value` - if it's set up correctly, this will be populated by itself.
Just out of interest, have you tried changing the format to MDY and then hitting CTRL + F5?

Sometimes I find Combos don't change value unless they're forced.