Attachment Parenting

Dear Dr. Markel,
Just wondering if there's a recommended time limit to carrying a sleeping baby?  Is it ok for their back/spine, development, and breathing etc.,  for them to be in a carrier for hours asleep (or awake)?

Thanks for the help!
Li Ling

Dear Dr. Markel,
We are getting ready to welcome our first baby and looking into gear. We are wondering which is better for an infant when we are out for a long time: being a car seat attached to a stroller base or having a bassinet on a stroller. We live in the city and could easily spend 5-6 hours out running errands or just walking around and we want to make sure our baby is not going to be uncomfortable or her development compromised.

Thanks!
Silvia

Dear Dr. Markel,

We adopted a wonderful 9 month baby girl from China in June and our adjustment period was very stressful. After a couple of months she was able to sleep through the night in her crib. For some reason there was a setback that started a few weeks ago. She now refuses to go to bed (both for a nap and at night)and she wakes up several times in the middle of the night crying. She did have an ear infection which was immediately treated but this behavior has not changed. As a result, she is cranky and whiny during the day. I would appreciate any feedback.

Thank you,
Sue
San Diego

Dear Dr. Markel,
I love being a mother, even when I was sick during my pregnancy.  We were in and out of the hospital at least once per month for the whole nine months. I love that she sleeps close to me in her bassinet,  but she will be six month old on September 10th. She wakes from her sleep a couple times in the middle of the night and I feed her. Then I put her back in the bed until at least 5 am. The problem is that we would like to have her start sleeping in  her crib in her room.  I don't want to go backwards were she is sleeping in our bed every night.  How do you suggest we move forward with this transition, so it is smooth for me and her.Thank you and look forward to her from you.

Dear Dr. Markel,
My daughter, age 9 months sleeps in her swing in our bedroom. My son, age 3 sleeps in the king bed with me. We chose to set it up that way after my second child came so my son would not feel left out. It has worked out very well for us. I will allow it to remain this way until he feels he is ready to move back in his room(within reason...No teenagers in me bed, thanks:)). I love having that closeness to my kids, and clearly they enjoy being near me. A fact that warms my heart. The problem is that my daughter won't sleep anywhere but in my Ergo, which I'm smitten with, and her swing. The swing doesn't even need to be rocking. She just loves being enclosed(we have a car seat cover over the swing). However, she is getting to large for her swing. I'm afraid she may fall out or otherwise hurt herself. I thought about more blankets in her crib, but I'm afraid that this may pose a suffication risk. My doctor said just let her scream in the crib. I'm not okay with that. My daughter has a right to feel safe and loved and while I can help her feel that way I will. I was hoping you had some advice to help keep her happy and feeling safe and allow to be removed from a swing she is clearly outgrowing.

Thank you for your kind attention and being an advocate for attachment parenting.

Dear Dr. Markel,
I have a 3 and a half year old little boy and a 6month old little boy. The 3.5 year old was breastfed until he was 2.5 and slept in our bed until he was 2. Since then, he sleeps in his own bed until somewhere between 2 am and 6am and then stumbles into our bed. Until we had the new baby, this was fine. now however, I would like him to stay in his own bed and not wake up in the night. For the past month he has been waking up several times a night and coming into our room. We either walk him back into his room and wait for him to go back to sleep or my husband or i get in bed with him and go to sleep, or he sleeps in our bed. For me, as i am already awake many times in the night to feed the baby, this is too much. We have tried rewards, threats and all sorts of thing to try and let us all get more sleep. What would you suggest to help the situation? Why do you think he's getting up so often? Thanks for your help!