Mermaiding for children: a guide for parents

Children can enjoy mermaiding safely when it is learnt properly, in a pool, with an adult watching. It can be wonderful for confidence and swimming. Tails do add risk, though, and many children first meet one as a gift rather than in a lesson. This guide is for parents in either situation.

Most of the students Aliyah teaches are adults, and she teaches very few children. Everything here is general advice for families, wherever your child swims.

Why a tail changes things

A tail binds the legs together and turns the feet into a single fin. That changes balance, and it takes away the usual ways a child saves themselves: standing up, treading water, and kicking to the edge. Royal Life Saving Society Australia warns that tails and monofins can increase the risk of drowning. Australia's consumer safety regulator has pointed to a video of a girl stuck upside down in a backyard pool, on her first go in a tail. Her mother pulled her out.

None of this means "never". It means a tail is swimming equipment, not a toy, and it needs the same care.

What age to start

Our courses that accept children start at 6, and some start at 10 or 12. Each course lists its minimum age. An adult must be at the pool for children under 16, and anyone under 18 needs a parent's consent. Below that age, few children have the strength and water confidence to manage a tail.

Tails sold for children usually carry a recommended age of six and over, according to Australia's consumer regulator. Treat that as a minimum, not a sign of readiness.

Can my child swim well enough?

Royal Life Saving Society Australia says only competent swimmers should use a tail. Building on its advice, check your child can do all of these before they swim in one outside a lesson:

• Float on their front and on their back, calmly, for a while.
• Turn themselves upright from either position.
• Free their own feet from the fin, and reach safety on their own.
• Stay calm if they swallow water or lose their balance.

If they are not there yet, start with swimming lessons. In Singapore, SwimSafer is the national water safety programme. Its stages build from safe entry and exit and deep-end safety, through floating and sculling, to survival skills. Floating calmly matters as much as distance. See How well do I need to swim?

Tails bought online

Before your child swims in a tail at home or on holiday:

• Practise taking it off. In shallow water, with you beside them, until they can do it quickly and alone.
• Check the fit. Foot pockets should be snug but not painful, and the skin should not be so tight it is hard to remove.
• Consider ordinary fins instead. RLSSA suggests regular fins as an alternative, and advises avoiding tails that bind the legs tightly together.
• Check it before every swim: no tears, no cracked fin, nothing loose.
• Pool only, never the sea. RLSSA does not recommend tails in open water, where currents and swell raise the risk.
• Check the pool's rules. Some public pools in Australia have banned tails. Condominium and hotel pools may have their own rules.
• Set limits: no somersaults, long swims, races, or breath-holding games.

See Tails and monofins for more on fit and care.

Home and condominium pools

Pools close to home are where many children get into trouble here. A KK Women's and Children's Hospital study of child submersion cases from 2011 to 2015 found that over half happened in condominium pools. One in five happened during pool parties. Children aged six and under made up more than three quarters of the cases.

What helps:

• Active supervision. Royal Life Saving Society Australia defines it as an adult within arm's reach, with all of their attention on the child, all of the time.
• Name the watcher. The US CDC suggests one named adult supervises closely, with no phone, no book and no alcohol. At a party, take turns and hand over out loud.
• An adult, not an older sibling. RLSS UK and RLSSA both advise against leaving a child in another child's care near water, and Singapore's Families for Life says the watcher should be an adult, not an older child.
• Lifeguards do not replace you. Keep watching even when one is on duty.
• Floats and inflatables are not safety devices. KKH and the CDC both say so.
• Learn CPR. Parents are often first on the scene. In an emergency in Singapore, call 995.

Holiday pools

• Check before you book. RoSPA notes that many hotel pools have no lifeguard, and that pool attendants often just hand out towels.
• Villas. Without a lifeguard, you are the lifeguard. Look for fencing, and keep doors to the pool secured.
• First and last days. RoSPA notes that many holiday drownings happened on the first or last day, while parents were busy arriving or packing.
• Bright swimwear. RLSS UK points out that blue, grey and white blend into the water. Yellow, orange and green are easier to spot.
• Know the local emergency number before your child needs it.

A tail on holiday follows the same rules as at home: in the pool, with an adult within reach.

Breath-holding games

Children love seeing who can stay under longest. Please stop these games.

Over-breathing before going under delays the urge to breathe while oxygen keeps falling. A child can black out without any warning, and it can look like they are still playing. In a CDC-published review of breath-holding incidents in New York State, the most common behaviour was static breath-holding, including games and competitions. The youngest person in the review was seven.

Simple rules help:

• No contests, with friends or against themselves.
• Breathe normally before going under. No "big breaths" first.
• One length, one breath. Come up and breathe between underwater lengths.
• Swap the game. Smooth glides, gentle turns and graceful surfacing are just as much fun to judge.

Read Breath-holding and shallow-water blackout for the full picture.

Choosing lessons

A good course teaches a child to respect the tail: getting in and out safely, surfacing calmly, and what to do if something goes wrong. When you look for one, ask:

• Is the instructor certified to teach mermaiding, and by whom?
• How many children does one instructor watch? Every breath-hold needs someone's full attention.
• Is there a swim test before deeper water?
• Do they ask about health, and for your consent?
• Can you watch? You should be welcome at the pool.

Our guide Choosing a safe mermaid school or instructor has the full list.

At our school

Lessons are mostly one-to-one and never more than four, and every breath-hold is watched, one student at a time, in the shallow end. In lessons, a separate photographer takes the photos, so Aliyah's eyes stay on your child, not on a camera. Tails, fins and masks are lent during lessons, so you do not need to buy one first. Tell us about any health condition when you book; see Health checks before you start. Aliyah does not teach MFI's Junior Mermaid courses.