Sleep, Will You Catch Some Zs or Be Doomed to Zombiehood Forever?

Adding to the list of things I thought would be easy, no-brainers when having a child is getting your baby to sleep in their crib. My daughter for the past 6 months had been sleeping in her bassinet that easily fit next to bed. It was great for breastfeeding: pick up crying baby, feed, place her back in bed next to you, back on to sleeping. It sounds easy at least. As time passed, Amelia grew too big for her bassinet. She had to sleep in her crib for safety purposes (aka so she didn't climb out of her rocker and fall). The first time I lay her on her back in the crib, which did not rhythmically sway, she lay crying and looked at me as if to say, "What the hell?" I immediately picked her back up and thought I'd have to trick her into sleeping in the crib by making sure she was knocked out cold before setting her down.
In hindsight, this breaks one of the most important rules of trying to aid your child into going to bed by themselves.

Getting your child to sleep through the night means they must be able to soothe themselves back to sleep when they wake up. All babies wake up.

A good time to start helping yourself and you child sleep through the night is around 4-6 months. I started when my daughter was 8 months. The later you start, the harder it gets.

1. You must lay them down when they are awake but sleepy! (rubbing their eyes, yawning, but their eyes are not closed) This you can start from day one. Most newborns can fall asleep anytime anywhere. Many breast fed babies fall asleep at the breast or with a bottle (my daughter did).

2. You need to give your child a chance to go to sleep by themselves. 
 Different methods: Stay consistent!

1. Cry-it-out Method: The extinction method. You literally place the baby down when it's bedtime (7-8 pm) and leave them to cry until they fall asleep. 
2. The modified cry-it-out/Ferber method: The gradual extinction method. You place the baby down after doing their nightly routine (bath, book, and bottle/breast), place them in their crib, leave for a few minutes, and come back, eventually leaving for longer stretches, until they fall asleep on their own.
3. The no-cry method: PUPD (pick up put down) means you pick up your child whenever they cry, soothe them back to sleep by rocking them/feeding them, and then put them down. Believers of this method believe it will give the baby a more positive sleep association.
4. The method I used: I ended up moving up my daughters bedtime from 8 pm to 7:30 pm. I started giving her a bath around 6:45/7pm, then I would read to her, and then I would breastfeed her and put her to bed. I would stay in the room with her, while she attempted to fall asleep, and sing to her or talk to her. She fell asleep after 30 minutes. The next day I did the same thing and she fell asleep in 15 minutes. For the next few days, I moved closer to the door. Eventually, I would listen for her in the next room. There were a few days that I couldn't take hearing my daughter cry and picked her up. The inconsistency led to a longer sleep training. My daughter would still wake up a few times in the middle of the night. When I was working nights, daddy did some sleep training of his own. When our daughter would wake up, he would let her soothe herself and then soothe her if she couldn't without picking her up or giving her a bottle. 
1. Today, at almost 9 months, my daughter sleeps from 7:30 pm to 4-5 am, 8-10 hours straight at night. Wakes up for a feed, and goes back to sleep for a few hours, getting a total of around 12 hours of sleep at night. She also naps 2-3 times per day.

3. It may be hard for a short time, but it is so worth it in the end. When your child gets sufficient sleep and has routine, they are happier. When they get to sleep easier, you are happier. It's a win-win.