We read the same books as everyone else and battled the same kinds of things.  We finally decided to try a technique one night and if it didn’t work the way they said then we were going to dump it with NO GUILT!  We put the baby ( she was 8 months I think - SWCAH)  in her crib and set a timer for 5 minutes.  She cried (not vigorously, but loudly) for the 5 minutes and I went back in to comfort her then said the timer for another 5 minutes but she had fallen asleep before the timer went off, we’ve never had a problem since then!  Well, except for now when she’s been moved to her big girl bed (she’s 2), she’ll crawl out of her bed, get her books, turn her play aquarium on and "read" by the light! 

If it weren’t for the timer then we would’ve lost our minds that first night - a minute having to hear your baby cry seems like an hour!!