This dad’s warning is a must-see for parents about to go out and buy their children swimsuits ahead of summer.

‘I’m hoping that the parents who see this are scared … I want people to know that these mermaid tail swimsuits can kill.’

Parents warned never to buy kids’ swimsuits in this colour

When my daughter was younger, she was obsessed with mermaids, and I mean, I get it. Mermaids are amazing, of course, and so it really is no wonder that swimsuits that make you look like you have a mermaid tail are increasing in popularity with young kids.

However, after a scary near-drowning incident, a US dad is now warning other parents about the risks posed by these mermaid tail swimsuits, as they bind the legs and hence, may put children at risk of drowning as their movement is restricted.

In a Twitter post, Adam Lisberg reveals that a couple of years ago, his two daughters, Annabelle, then five, and Ruby, then seven, were swimming in a small paddling pool in their garden while wearing the popular accessory.

‘The girls love mermaids, always have,’ Lisberg told TODAY Parents after his post went viral, adding that the girls owned similar swimsuits in the past and had worn them so many times that they fell apart.

‘We knew that with it blocking their feet, it’s harder to kick or walk, and they knew that, but we figured the pool is two feet deep. Even if they sit down, they can get themselves up,’ he explained.

However, aware of the drowning risk even in shallow water, Lisberg said that he or his wife regularly supervises the girls while they are splashing around in the little pool. But that on this particular day, though, his son Ben, who was five at the time, had decided he wanted to make guacamole, but only mentioned it to his parents after he had begun smashing avocados.

‘Every parent knows you have to watch every kid like a hawk, and you have to be careful all the time, but I thought, ‘I have two girls in the pool keeping an eye on each other, right below the kitchen with the window open so I can hear them. Meanwhile, I have a son who’s about to squish avocados all over the kitchen,’ the dad explained.

He added: ‘I figured it was safe to go up and make guacamole with him while looking out the window.’

Lisberg said there was even a false alarm that he responded to immediately, he heard the girls making crying noises, so he raced outside, only to find out they were playing a game together. However, a few minutes later, seven-year-old Ruby came inside and said her sister wasn’t moving.

‘I’m thinking, ‘This is not how it’s supposed to end. It’s a wonderful, happy Sunday afternoon, the girls are having so much fun in the pool, it’s not supposed to end like this,’ Lisberg said. ‘But when I got over to her, her eyes were wide, she wasn’t moving, and at first I really thought she was dead.’

The dad-of-three said that Ruby was lying on her side with her arms inside the mermaid tail. She wasn’t breathing, but began to respond after he performed CPR on her.

‘Ruby explained that Annabelle had been under the water and she saw her there and was trying to talk to Annabelle, but she wasn’t responding,’ Lisberg explained about the incident.

‘She got her sister completely out of the water. It was incredible. I wish she had shouted something, but her first instinct was to protect her sister, and she did.’

Later on, in the hospital, little Annabelle was able to describe what had happened; she explained that she had pulled her arms inside the suit.

‘She pulled it up to her shoulders and ended up under the water,’ Lisberg said.

‘She tried to reach for the part she could pull off, but couldn’t move her hands, and bubbles came out when she tried to talk. I think that put her into shock — she just realised that she couldn’t do anything.’

Also speaking to TODAY Parents, paediatrician Dr. Suzette Oyeku at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in Bronx, New York, agreed with Lisberg that the suits can be dangerous.

‘If (a toy or swimsuit) constrains their legs or arms and they are not able to float, then that can be a safety hazard for them,’ she said.

‘Any kind of device going into the pool that will obstruct a child’s ability to wade through the water is not advisable. … (The swimsuits) are definitely cute, but constrain their ability to move and can cause drowning.’

Keen to warn other parents about how quickly things can go bad, Lisberg said he and his wife have both felt ‘terribly guilty’ that they weren’t ‘literally watching the girls in the pool every single second.’

‘We thought we were doing the very best we could, but that one terrible moment, when things can go wrong, happened,’ he said. ‘Fortunately, our older daughter was a hero.’

The dad now urges parents to avoid purchasing the mermaid tail swimsuits, no matter how much children may want them.

‘I’m hoping that the parents who see this are scared … I want people to know that these mermaid tail swimsuits can kill,’ he said.

‘They’re adorable, they’re cute, kids want them, our kids had one like that for years and everything was fine, but I never expected she’d pull it up over her arms. Anyone who has a mermaid tail swimsuit … should never get near water.’