Tiddley, re controlled crying, I tried a number of methods: the actual tough man type - leaving them for a minute, going in, settling, leaving for two minutes, going in, settling, three minutes, four minutes etc. it was heart breaking, but he was always asleep by the 7 minute session, so I could (kind of) bear it because I did see improvement very quickly. However, that said, the next time we needed to address his sleeping, I wasn't keen on either of us going through that again, so I tried the 'pick up, put down' method, where you pick them up every time they cry, settle them, put them back, leave the room (if you have time!) and then Go back and pick up again. The idea is that they gradually go longer each time before crying again. Sounds okay in theory, but in practise, with my rugby player build DS and no drop side cot, it played absolute havoc on my back and had to be abandoned fairly quickly. Finally, I tried merging the two together and settled, left the room, returning when the crying restarted, settling in cot (often kneeling down and hugging through bars as DS was easily standing by this point, much easier on the back!) and leaving the room again. Sometimes the crying would restart before I'd even left the room. But I always left, shut the door and then came back. I felt a bit stupid doing that, but I think it is something to do with settling their separation anxiety, that just because you go and can't be seen, doesn't meant you're not there. As I continued, I learned that sometimes him just lying there and grizzling should be ignored because it was like his last little attempt to fight the sleep. Each period of controlled crying, in whatever form, took no longer than three nights before he was sleeping through again.
If you think he is teething, I discovered the homeopathic remedy chamomilla. Nelsons sell it in the baby aisle in the form of very expensive sachets and lots of people buy it, try it a couple of times and then give up. In my experience, I found a cheaper way of buying it, as granules from Weleda (we have a health food shop in our tesco extra that stocks it) and now I just buy the boots own tube of the pillules. Because it is homeopathic, you can't overdose, so I will give it every 15 minutes until he calms down (which is what it says on the side of the packet anyway). I have had plenty of cynics raise their eyebrows at me for it, but now if he is even the tiniest bit unsettled, or perhaps is struggling to sleep in a strange place, say at a friends, I only have to ask him if he wants some chamomilla, and he knows exactly what it is, sits down to let me put it in his mouth and then lays there crunching it and more often than not, is straight off to sleep! It is my secret weapon in the battle against sleep and I am not ashamed to admit it! Plus, in my humble opinion, it is far better than giving him calpol when I'm not 100% sure he needs it.
I hope I don't sound preachy, or like I think I know everything, but these are just my experiences with my own son and I am aware that not all children are the same - something that I am convincd this LO is going to remind me of time and time again once he/she arrives!