Original by ITV News - https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2019-03-27/dad-hands-in-petition-calling-for-baby-changing-facilities-in-all-mens-toilets/
Photo - ITV News
A father is calling for businesses, hospitals and council run sites in Wales to provide baby changing facilities for both men and women.
Tony Esposti, from Cardiff, took his campaign a step further today by handing in a petition, calling for the changes, to the National Assembly for Wales. He says safe baby changing facilities should be available to all parents.
Tony says he struggles with baby changing access when out in public with his two-year-old son, and has on occasion had to change his nappy "on bins or benches".
"There are times when I don't take him out because I don't want to deal with the faff of having to change him", he told ITV Wales in February.
"If my wife and I are going out I don't want to rely on her because that's not fair on her either. It's not as if she's the only parent in the family."
Tony's friend Matthew McCarthy, one of the supporters of the petition, says he also struggles to find baby changing facilities in men's toilets.
"There are very few places where I can take my daughters in to change their nappies", he told ITV Wales.
"You go into any male toilets and there are no baby changing facilities in the toilet so more often than not on a lap or take them back to a car to change them".
The petition, which has gained 125 signatures, is asking the Assembly to ensure that all future renovations and new builds "have an area that provides a safe and clean space to change babies/allow toddlers to go to the toilet safely".
Within Wales there are many businesses, hospitals and council run parks/sites that don't have baby changing available for use by both men and women. Normally the facilities are only available in female toilets.
This means that men are often forced to hunt out facilities that they can use, or on many occasions, use makeshift measures like changing their child on the floor, on top of wheelie bin lids in toilets, balancing on their laps and on benches outside.
We would ask the Assembly to ensure that all future renovations and new builds within areas open to the public have an area that provides a safe and clean space to change babies/allow toddlers to go to the toilet safely and as a short term measure make a standalone or drop down changing unit available.
Tony and Matthew aren't alone in their frustrations.
In 2018, the hashtag #Squatforchange gained momentum across the world, with fathers taking to social media to share their experiences around changing their children in men's toilets.
