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I have no comment specifically about AP but agree 100% with @maysprout - don't get caught up in "the book says this...", you have to adapt every strategy to what you need/want in your family.

We practice parts of AP and totally don't feel that it's all or nothing. We breastfed somewhat on demand until 4 months but after that, we used a schedule (continued BFing until 12 months on schedule). We co-slept and still plan on co-sleeping until he's ready to move on to his own bed, but we don't do a family bed. We sleep in HIS room on his own mattress., I carried/wore my LO a lot when he was younger but not ALL the time, I made all of his food from scratch. And we don't do cying it out. But we also didn't cloth diaper and we don't avoid using punishment (no way). As with all things, I think the best thing is to read and learn and educate yourself but to take pieces of whatever information you receive and decide how/if you want to apply that to your own parenting style. I guess I lean more towards AP because that's the style that I was raised. But I don't use ALL of the AP methods because I don't necessarily agree with all of them. I just go with what I think and feel is right. I'm a full time working mom in corporate america so hard-core AP methods aren't exactly the most catering to moms like me. I just did the best that I could do and feel perfectly ok with that.

I don't think any type of parenting can be all or nothing. Different things are good for different babies, and you just have to feel it out and figure out what's right for your LO.

@daniellemybelle: I agree that it's a philosophy you agree to/not agree to. But the methods in which you choose to carry out that philosophy can vary by the person. I totally agree with the philosophy of AP in that a strong emotional bond between child/parent forms secure attachment throughout the rest of the child's life. And we try out best to use a parenting style that supports that notion. But I don't think that you have to cloth diaper or avoid using discipline to achieve that bond (just my opinion). So that's where it's up to each individual parent to decide the methods in which they chose to implement AP.

I don't think you're taking it too seriously at all! Child-rearing is super critical and important so it's good that you're exploring all of your options and learning. I read tons of books and used them as background for supporting my own parenting style. Two books that I really enjoyed reading are "Unconditional Parenting" and "Our Babies, Ourselves". They're not books on "how to" parent using AP styles (like Dr Sears). But more about the philosophy behind AP-type of parenting. AP is a term that Dr Sears "marketed" but there are societies all over the world that practice "attachment parenting". I found these to be really interesting reads.

@daniellemybelle: There's a wide variety in families and babies so I don't think any generic advice would be applicable to everyone. That's why I was turned off to AP before baby, because friends looked like they were forcing the issue with poor results, doing what they thought was 'best' even though it didn't work well for their family.

From what I've found baby research is ehhhhhh. Babies and families are hard to study. It's good to read and get info but no one person has all the answers for all the families and babies.