Right, I hadn't read any books. I still have only the barest understanding of what controlled crying, co-sleeping etc mean, but I do have a 11mth baby that sleeps through with no waking at all between 7 - 7 every night. In fact if I'm feeling lazy I can give her milk at 7am and put her down again until 8:30 or 9. This is what I did.
Demand bf from birth for 6mths - exclusively, baby showed no interest in other food and wouldn't take a bottle so I always had to do the feed. Never slept with baby, just had moses basket (and later cot) by side of bed and would feed her when she woke. Within about a fortnight she fed at around 10pm, 1am, 4am, 7am. Quick feeder, done in 10mins, I put her immediately back into basket with no talking or singing and ignored her if she cried (as long as I was sure it wasn't a dirty nappy). Would put her in her basket upstairs at 7pm after routine of wash, feed, story etc and would walk swiftly out of room ignoring cries. It never even occurred to me that I would wait until she stopped crying. In fact I can't remember that she ever cried - though I know she did - she learned quickly that nothing happened if she did. She never cries when put in her cot now.
By 6mths she had stopped one of the early morning feeds. At 6mths we moved her into her own room, moved to formula feeding and weaning - she started sleeping through within a fortnight and hasn't stopped. Personally I think the biggest change was due to moving rooms - we used to wake her by being in the same room. In the mornings now more often than not she doesn't cry but puts her mobile on to let us know she's awake - she sings to it - and we walk in to find her cuddling a toy and smiling. It's not all perfect though - she's a lousy eater and worries me to death with her petiteness.