Life As a New Mom: Baby Got [Irritated] Back

My six-month-old daughter, Dolores, has never had a touch of diaper rash-- until now. Commence psychotic new mom meltdown sequence in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

I was beyond proud of myself for making sure Dolly was diaper-rash free. I remember bringing her home from the hospital and changing her literally every thirty minutes, dirty diaper or not. I was terrified that she'd end up with diaper rash. I used the tube of maximum strength Desitin the crew at St. Vincent's placed in my new mom care package religiously.

Religiously-- for like, a week. I couldn't stand the smell of it. It got underneath my fingernails and seemed to permeate into my skin, and it was so disgusting. I was all Lady MacBeth at the sink, scrubbing my hands to get that awful stench out. Once, in a sleep-deprived midnight diaper change, I rubbed my nose. I got Desitin ALL UP IN my face. I still get kind of PTSD thinking about it.

I discontinued my Desitin usage, and Dolly never had an issue with diaper rash. I was vigilant about diaper rash prevention. I used Target brand zinc oxide cream when she appeared to be a bit irritated, and we use the super-jumbo-ultimate-mega-soak-up-an-entire-swimming-pool absorbent overnight diapers. I use baby powder on occasion; however, I've been told that I shouldn't use it because the talc can get into a baby's lungs. I mean, I get how that could be dangerous, but I'm not making it rain baby powder in the nursery. I thought baby powder was, you know, FOR BABIES... like I need another thing to worry about these days...

Now I am finally getting to my point (Sorry for the rambling; I'm three cups of coffee deep this morning, so I am in GOGOGOGO mode right now): I noticed Dolly had her first touch of diaper rash last night. I couldn't believe it. I bathed her and got her ready for bed. I applied a borderline excessive amount of our fancy Tarjay diaper cream (it's 40% zinc oxide, which is supposed to be equivalent to extra strength Desitin, sans the godawful smell) before dusting her with a bit of baby powder and slapping on an overnight diaper.

Once she was in bed, I spent a solid thirty minutes obsessively Goggling "diaper rash" and its treatments. I ended up getting myself stuck in one of those paranoid mom Google traps where I start searching for something innocent, follow a series of links, and end up reading  a thousand horror stories. The internet can really betray you sometimes. Whatever.

Of the remedies I found, most were topical creams: A&D, Balmex, Desitin, Triple Paste, etc... I know it's most important to keep the area clean, dry, and free of irritants. I've got that part down, but I have NO CLUE when it comes to these diaper creams. I imagine I'll be calling up Dr. Phillip's office when they open in a few minutes to see what our awesome pediatrician and his staff recommend, but to save myself from another panicked "new mom" call to the pedi, I am soliciting your advice. What do you suggest? Cast your vote for the diaper cream you think works best, and please, please, PLEASE feel free to leave any other suggestions or comments. I need all the help I can get!