Child safety fears

[BeanieRoo]

I'm a mum with a beautiful 5 y/o daughter and am 6 months pregnant with a boy.
I've been with my partner for nearly 3 years and he's fantastic with my daughter. The problem is that he seems to have a huge chip on his shoulder about being told how to do anything! I've spent the last year of us living together asking him to remember to turn plugs off/cover them. There's so much to remember about child safety that I would like him to start mentally preparing so it's not so overwhelming once our son is here. I know he won't be crawling for a while but the sockets is just one thing, there's a ton of other things I find myself repeating again and again re: child safety and I'm so sick of him belittling my worries. He always has an excuse but all it takes is one forgetful moment for an accident to happen. As I already have a child I have experience in child proofing a home and would appreciate him heeding my advice but I find his forgetful, flippant attitude arrogant, immature and worrying!
What would you do??

Maybe it’s about getting a balance? I have a 1 year old - I turn some plugs off and not others. No plug covers (although I would if I saw DS had an interest in sockets). I’ve made things safe as he has developed - e.g he’s just started going through cupboards so I’ve now added catches on the dangerous ones. I think the cotton wool approach can be damaging too. I was far more ‘cotton wool’ with my DD - to the extent that I’ve made her unnecessarily nervous about certain things.

What sorts of things do you want him to be doing? And are they actually sensible or more about your anxiety?

My oldest is 7. At 5, she was nearly to the end of reception year. We had expected her to not stick w wire in a socket and electrocute herself for probably 2 years by then. Children need to be exposed to age appropriate risks to learn how to keep themselves safe. I assure you none of her friends parents are still using socket covers, so you want her to learn these things to go out in the world.

A baby/toddler will be different, yes, but a 5 year old, short of a bonfire I’m not sure what you’d need to protect her from in the home, so it’s hard to say?

Agree - if a child is only exposed to a socket cover unplugged or with a cover, they may never learn risk. They are then in danger when they then encounter an uncovered socket in another environment.

You should never use socket covers.

My bil is an electrician, they are very dangerous because if the potential for them to be taken out then put back in partially which then exposes/ connects the circuit leading to danger of electrocution or something similar.

Well for starters plug socket covers are so blooming dangerous if used in UK sockets you should bin them immediately.

Secondly. Unless it was a very serious danger like leaving a sharp knife on the coffee table I'm actually struggling to see why you would need to repeatedly have safety discussions with him when your daughter is 5. She's not a toddler any more so she shouldn't need constant safety measures put into place. Plus it will be months before you need to tackle any safety precautions for the baby.

I think you're perhaps being a little too cautious, your daughter will never learn how to act sensibly around potential hazards if you've always prevented her from dealing with them.