How old should a child be to get a mermaid tail?
A lot of people buy tails for very young children thinking tails are harmless pool toys. This is false and very dangerous.
You would think it would be common sense that mermaid tails are only for strong swimmers but I have seen so many combos of water wings and tails in my 10 years as a professional mermaid.
The truth is: Simply saying that tails are only for strong swimmers just isn’t enough.
I have met kids who at the age of 5 can keep up with me in a pool that’s 12 feet deep and I’ve met adults who can’t swim at all. So suggesting an age for tails based on swim ability alone just isn’t enough.
A very important element of swimming in a mermaid tail (probably the most important part) is being able to stay calm and remember your emergency escape. This is in order to get out of the tail in the event of an emergency and swim to safety.
The emergency escape is easiest in a beginner fabric tail built for safety like finfun brand tails. The mermaid linden fin and the kids mermaid dream fin by finis are also super easy to get out of in case of emergency. A proper tail makes a HUGE difference. Read about proper vs improper tails here: https://haleymermaid.com/pages/tail-safety
Children’s brains are still developing. Your brain isn’t fully developed until around the age of 21. So what age is a child developmentally able to remember what to do in an emergency AND stay calm enough to actually do it?
The best examples would be calling 911 and “stop, drop, and roll”
Stop, drop, and roll is a bit outdated but that’s what you do if you are on fire. It was drilled into us like we would for sure be on fire one day and would need to know what to do. This was taught to children no younger than first grade because children under 6 weren’t developmentally able to understand.
Calling 911 in the event of an emergency is less extreme than remembering to lay down and roll if you are on fire. Calling 911 is taught to toddlers in case of emergency. There are some news stories of 4 year olds saving lives this way. There are far more stories of 8 year olds or older saving lives by calling 911 than toddlers because kids with more developed brains are better equipped to stay calm and react in emergencies. More news stories about children reacting in emergencies and saving lives include a 9 year old who saved someone from a fire, a 12 year old who rescued someone from drowning and an 8 year old who saved someone from choking.
Because there has never been a study done on kids remembering tail safety in the event of emergencies; I’m basing my age recommendations on the information that we do have. My recommendations are as follows:
*For very strong swimmers with proper tails and supervision ONLY
beginner fabric tails:
- ages 6+ with adult in water with them
-or ages 8+ with adult watching from the side
More advanced fabric tails: ages 12+
Hybrid tail: (fabric tail body with a silicone flipper or fluke) ages 12+
Basic silicone tail: (fabric inside and silicone outside with more professional monofin inside these are lightweight beginner versions of silicone tails) ages 13+
Silicone tail: 17+
Refer to chart for properly made fabric tails beginner vs. intermediate:
Find a full list of places to get properly made tails here: https://haleymermaid.wixsite.com/realmermaid/team-4