Yep, that's it. We did the controlled crying method. It took us about a week. On night one, we put ds to bed, read him a story and then left. The crying started, and we went in to settle him every 5/10 minutes - no picking up, a quick hug, then straight back out again. The first night it took an hour and a half for him to drop off. Night 2, same performance, but shorter crying time. Night 3, same performance, but only about 10 minutes crying time. Night 4, no hassle at all, ds didn't make a fuss. Night 5, complete rebellion, 2 hours crying, screeching etc. Night 6, settled down with no fuss and slept all night through, the first time in 9 months. After that, bedtime was beautiful. After a few nights of peaceful sleep, he started waking in the middle of the night. We adopted the same techniques to 'train' him to go back to sleep himself in the middle of the night. This was more successful quickly, no real crying, just fussing which only lasted a few minutes. After a couple of nights, he started sleeping all the night through again.
That was two years ago and was the best thing we ever did. For ds to make a fuss going to bed or in the middle of the night is very very rare. When we got rid of his dummy just before he was 2 years old we again adopted the same techniques.
It is hard to listen to them crying and I remember the first night just sitting on the stairs with my hands over my eyes and tears in my eyes. But I knew I had to do it. I had become so tired and depressed with the continual lack of sleep. I spoke to my health visitor (and cried)about being so exhausted and she came to see me. I knew in advance that she would suggest controlled crying, so I thought I'd better get started myself.
Its not for everyone and there are probably people out there that think its cruel. But I can honestly say its been good for us all. I noticed immediately too what a different child our son was after having a good nights sleep.
If you do it then be strong, don't give in, however distressing you find it. My HV told me that babies usually 'rebel' around the 5th night, but if you can make it past that night then after that you've cracked it. Your child will be OK too - its not going to hurt them to be left to cry and they don't hold it against you!
Hope that helps.