Let me preface this by saying that I am not a non-toxic organic mom. I wish I was, sort of. But I only have so much energy to expend on a daily basis, and making sure my baby is fed, clothed and comfortable takes up about 90%. The other 10% goes to making enough money to keep the baby fed, clothed and comfortable, being an at least tolerable wife and catching up on past seasons of Game of Thrones – so that doesn’t really leave a lot of energy to devote to searching out carseats made of beeswax, or biodegradable bottles (are those a thing?). Organic baby food pouches (Happy Baby Organics are my fav) and non-toxic teething rings (Love these Chewy Qs, which are made in Maine and modeled by Mia) are about as far as I’ve ventured into the world of all natural child-rearing.

However, this past week I discovered a product that is both organic AND non-toxic and it works so freakin’ well that I had to blog about it because seriously, every mom needs to have this in their diaper bag. Plus, it made Mia way more comfortable which means it falls into the 90% energy category.

So…without further ado: Calendula Diaper Rash Cream by Weleda. It costs $14 which, I know, is like 3 times the cost of Butt Paste, but guys, this is worth it. I mean your baby’s butt cheeks are in the balance here! And believe me, Weleda is not paying me to write this (I wish they were!) – I was actually so impressed with their diaper cream that I wanted to blog about it so other moms could find it and give their babies the smoothest butts ever 🙂

Mia got her first “real” diaper rash last week and of course my first reaction was to completely ignore it and hope it went away (mom of the year award!). When that didn’t work I slathered her up with one of the 12 tubes of Butt Paste I received at my baby shower – and her rash promptly got WAY WORSE. I guess chemicals are bad for babies after all…

So I was about to call the doctor, when deep in Mia’s changing table drawer I discovered a tube of Calendula Diaper Rash Cream. It was given to me by one of my mom’s friends (a massage therapist and expert on all things natural) along with a tube of Calendula Body Cream (which I have been using on Mia since she was born and absolutely LOVE – mostly because it smells so delish). Since I loved the body lotion so much I figured I would give the diaper rash cream a try. It’s made with zinc oxide, Calendula flower extract, chamomile and beeswax, which made me skeptical it would work (where are the hard to pronounce chemicals that actually cure things?!) but literally overnight her rash was gone and her bum was smooth and yummy as ever.

Which brings me to the daycare part of this story. I was so impressed with how well the diaper cream worked that I wanted to make sure they were using it at daycare, so her rash wouldn’t come back. I brought the tube with me this morning and asked Melissa, her home daycare provider to use the special cream. I told her I would buy a tube to keep at daycare in the future. I had barely even made it to work before I received a text from Melissa, letting me know I didn’t need to buy an extra tube, she had already ordered it online and it would arrive at the end of the week. I offered to reimburse her and she refused. She wants the best for Mia, too.

I know that might sound like a minor thing but how many daycares do you know that will special order a non-toxic, organic diaper cream for your child? How many do you know that buy your kid clothes to keep at daycare so you don’t need to bring back-up outfits? What about a daycare that feeds them 3 meals a day at no extra cost? Takes them on weekends or at night as needed? Offers to drop them off at your house when you get stuck at work? I mean seriously, how did we get so lucky?

Leaving your child at daycare is one of the scariest things ever. How could a stranger ever care for your child as well as you can? I can say with complete confidence that Melissa cares for Mia with as much love and tenderness as Dan and I do – and for that I will be forever grateful, and forever spoiled. Thanks Melissa!