Totally agree that they just tend to sleep when they're ready. You have my sympathies both mine were every hour for a while.
My DS was every 20 minutes at his worst.
With DD I resorted to putting a mattress on the floor in her room so on the bad nights (which was pretty much every night), I slept with her and she snuggled on my boob. This went on until she was about 10 months old, she was walking and climbing by then so had to shift her into a cot.
She took to it surprisingly well, but still has frequent night waking at 15 months old. She'll get there.
I've had no night help EVER, so the exhaustion I carry alone, and with 2 children 2 years apart the energy levels are 0. My saving grace has been the pandemic because I haven't had to force myself out of the house when exhausted.
It does feels like you are in this no sleep cycle forever and sleep deprivation is a killer. I wish there was a magic solution but because every baby is different, no one ever really knows what will work and as previous person said, sometimes you are lucky and the bub was ready to do it anyway.
The methods to try if you don't want to ferber (and be warned you may create a rod for your own back further down the line) :
Co sleeping
Dummy
Lovey
White noise
Darkness (but nightlight for security)
Bottle/Boob
Out of those, Co sleeping is probably the quickest option. Remember that it was the Victorians that decided babies should be in a cot in a separate room and most countries and cultures accept Co sleeping as the norm. Most infant animals sleep with mama too, so it isn't an alien thing, just do it safely without lots of duvets etc.
Also I think it was to do with status, you were considered poor if you all had to share a bed. So if you were rich enough to give the baby it's own room, you were rich enough for a live in nanny to do the nights. Don't beat yourself up. It's a strange era where mamas are left and expected to do everything on their own. It's tough.