With everything in life there are multiple ways of doing something but for some reason we find it harder to filter and pick and choose between different methods and advice when it comes to parenting - probably because we want to do it absolutely right, but like you say there is no one right way. For example - If you look up how to grow tomatoes you will find many different ways and conflicting advice, different things will work for different people because the location, the soil, the climate, the type of tomatoes etc are different.

Just remember no one else is an authority on your child, they are all different, just like adults are all different, you know your child best and for anything to work it has to work for you two as a pair (and probably with your DH too) - something that works for your DD but not for you won't be the best solution, and vice versa. If you think of it scientifically and say there are 5 variables in the child and 5 variables in the parent (massive underestimation) then that means there are 3125 different ways these could combine which in my mind means 3125 different ways of parenting to suit that.

My personal rule which came up with after spending first couple of weeks feeling lost is "Would I like that done to me?" E.g. do I like being woken up - no, do I like being made to wait for food - no, do I like being kept awake if I am sleepy - no, do I some days want more cuddles than others? - yes, am I a routine person? - no. I figure there is a good chance DD is similar to me so if I work out how I would feel and then treat her the same, is a good start. Other parents may answer those questions differently but that is fine their children are more likely to be like them.