Hi Droile,
www.babywhisperer.com is a good place to start. The site has a message area with a section on sleep. In the general sleep issues are a number of interesting articles, one is a 20 page q&a with Tracy Hogg, the woman behind the BW, another is called pu/pd - 3 month old - info from consult with Tracy and a 3rd shows you how to do the 'Aussie swaddle'. The philosophy, as I understand it, is to remove a child's reliance on props to get to sleep, and help them learn how to settle themselves to sleep and to follow what she calls the EASY routine (Eat, Activity, Sleep, You time). If you read the articles there are some differences in how pu/pd might work, but I can tell you how I used it. I fed DS when he woke up, we played for about 1/2 hour until he started to look tired. I then 'Aussie swaddled him' took him into his room, drew the curtains and explained that it was time for him to have his nap. We sat on the chair for a few minutes, not rocking or anything, just being still. I then carried him over to his cot and said 'sleep well, I'll see you when you wake up' and put him down.
The first time I did this he cried straight away so I picked him up and sat in the chair (ie, no rocking to sleep etc) and patted his back and ssshhh until he was calm.. Apparantly waves of crying come in 3s, it took about 10 minutes for DS to be calm. I then repeated what he did before. If he really cried I then picked him up and patted/ssshhhed until he was calm again and then put him down. I did this for about 40 minutes I suppose. After a while when you put him down he fusses but doesn't cry as hard. What I did then was lie DS on his side so that he could suck his hand more easily and so that I could continue to rub his back more easily. I continued to rub and pat until he was really calm, and his breathing became slower and more regular and he was calm enough to sleep (for maybe another 20 mins) I then left him. If he had really cried hard again (ie you know, screaming) I would have picked him up and started over. If DS wakes long before his next feed is due I repeat the process to try and settle him back to sleep until either he goes back to sleep or it is time for his next feed (3 hours after his last one). She recommends keeping a note of when he has fed/slept so that you can use this to help you interpret whether or not crying relates to tiredness or hunger.
She has a programme on Discovery Health. She usually goes in and insists on the EASY schedule so that you can be confident that your child isn't hungry before going to bed. With some of the children on the programme the initial pu/pd has gone on for hours, literally, but has still worked within 4 days.
On the BW site, you're advised to do this for every nap/sleep for 2 days. Each time it gets easier. Two days after starting it DS slept through the night (from 10.30pm feed to 5.30am) and now I can either just draw curtains etc and put him straight down or maybe pat/sshhh for 3/4 mins. From the site I learned that if you're consistent then the new pattern is usually learnt within 4 days, although there can be hiccups on day 5 or 6.
It's horrible sitting there listening to them cry and cry knowing that if you fed them/rocked them etc they'd be quiet straight away, but the results have been extraordinary.
hope this helps