Dear Dr. Merkel,

Our son has slept with us since birth. He is almost 10 months now. Although this has worked well for us, and we have so enjoyed his time with us, it has become more of a challenge lately. We feel it is time for him to spend at least part of the night in his crib. How can we make this happen when crying it out is not an option, and we only have a few weeks to makes this happen.

Dr Merkel,

I have a 14 month old who is still breastfeed and we co sleep. For a few months, about 4-6months of age, she was sleeping almost though the night usually waking up usually only once after being asleep 6-8 hours and then sleeping about 4 more. Since she was 6 months she started waking up throughout the night every 2-5 hours and is still doing this.

The only think that I can think of that has changed aside from teething is we moved and when she was about 7 months I and purchased a new mattress. I don't know if that has something to do with it. The one we has before was like a board and the new one is much softer.

I am not comfortable with the pediatricians suggestion to let her cry it out and I don't see how it would work anyway with us co sleeping. Do you have any suggestions on how to help her sleep through the night? Or is this just a phase she is going through, if so when do children usually sleep through the night on their own? Also the only way she will go to sleep is if I lay down with her and breast feed her. Is it bad that the only way she goes to sleep for me (throughout the night and naps included) is to breastfeed her, should she be able to self sooth herself to sleep by now. If so what are some things I can do to help her with that. Also is there a recommended age for co sleeping, if so about what age should she have her own bed? Oh also is it ok that her only source of milk is my milk and she isn't offered any soy or cow's milk, she breastfeeds about 4 times a during the day and 3 or 5 times during the night depending on how often she wakes up.

Thank you,

Sleepless

Dear Dr.Markel,

We really happy to hear your opinion regarding vaccination which it's the same as ours. Both me and my husband work in health care.

Recently we were blessed with a baby boy who is almost two months old now. He is suppose to get vaccinated soon. We have decided not to do the Hib and the PCV7 vaccine and do only th DTaP and Polio (IPV).
What is your opinion regarding these four vaccines?

Hello Dr. Markel,

My question to you is with regards to bed-sharing and my 2 and a half year old daughter.

Our daughter up until the age of 9months was sleeping with us in bed. However, around that time, once I weaned her form night time feedings, she began to sleep in her own bed/room after we implemented the techniques of "good night sleep tight". Personally, I was very exhausted, our daughter was not getting much sleep with us and we felt it was best for all of us.

She was sleeping much better up until the last several months. Our travel schedule has picked up quite a bit (every month or two). Therefore, she is usually sharing a bed with us while we are on our trips. upon our return home, she starts off the night in her own bed, but makes her way over either after a couple hours of sleep in her room, or sometimes after almost 3/4 a nights sleep.

However, now I am 5 months pregnant. Our daughter is a very very active sleeper (she takes the bed 360 several times a night:)) and both father and I are taller people (our queen size bed is starting to feel like a very small double). I'll often wake up with scratches on my face, elbow in my eye, foot in my stomach and that's after I have personally waken up 4 to 5 times throughout the night due to the activity of our daughter.

I am torn, I really am. I am sleep deprived, but at the same time, I just dont have the energy to sleep trian my daughter again according to the sleep tight rules. I dont know if this is normal, if I should just deal with it and eventually she'll grow out of it, or if we should be trying to implement some type of rule? We have tried bringing in a mattress in the bedroom and having her sleep on it, as opposed to sleeping with us in the bed, that has failed on many accounts!

I would appreciate any advice/recommendations you can give and would love to hear some words of encouragment:)

Thank you for your time,

Sincerely,
Exhausted Mommy

Dr. Merkel,

I have been reading attachment parenting books and my husband seems to disagree with the issue of co- sleeping with my son who is 8 weeks. He says that if we get him used to our bed, we will never be able to go out in the evening again because we will be attached to the bed with our son. Do you have any suggestions to his question?

Dr. Merkel,

Our family is now using a family bed and my son seems to really enjoy nursing to sleep. I love it but I am a bit concerned that I will be the only one who can parent him to sleep. Is this a major concern???

Thank You.

Dear Dr Merkel,

We have a 18 month old, 28 pound baby boy who is in the 99 percentile (he was nearly 11 pounds when he was born). We use our Ergo carrier with him alot, but recently, a friend who is a physical therapist expressed concerned about how the Ergo caused his legs to be splayed out and said that can cause hip problems. What is your experience/recommendation for Ergo carriers and hips?

Thanks so much!

Dear Dr. Merkel,

I have a two and a half month old who weighs more than 13 pounds and has excellent neck strength and control. Is it OK to put him on my back? His head is fine, do I need to worry about his hips at all?

Dear Dr. Markel,

Our baby is nearing five months and doing great. At night she sleeps with me and has been sleeping thru the night for the past two months.

My question is re: napping. At this time,
our only way to get her to nap is by nursing, holding or baby wearing her while walking around.
Am wondering when and how we can help her nap on her own. Please advise. Thanks!

Dear Dr. Markel,

I'm from Vancouver, Canada but living in St. Petersburg, Russia. My wife and I had a baby girl on May 22nd and we have begun using an Ergo Baby Carrier with the Infant Insert. Our baby likes the carrier and sleeps most of the time when we are out for a walk. Unfortunately some doctors here have told us it's bad for our baby daughter's neck and spine. Is this true? Is our daughter too young to be carried in an Ergo Baby Carrier with Infant Insert?

Our daughter was born with a small neck problem because she was tall and there wasn't enough room in my wife's womb. She has been wearing a neck brace since May 22nd and the doctor recommended that she wear it for two months. We've have also had a massage therapist come to our home for the past two weeks to give our baby ten sessions of massage.

We have a Maya Wrap sling too but it's difficult to use and we've had no success with it.

Please let us know as soon as possible because we're worried about our daughter's health.

Thank you.