How to Transition from Co-sleeping to Independent Sleeping???

That is the question we have been mulling over for weeks.

We refuse to let our sensitive, lovable Mister be a victim of the heartless Cry-It-Out method.  So, since that's what most people, professionals and books advise...we've been having to really stand firm to our beliefs that it's the wrong method for our family and search for something we can feel positive about.

I have done lots of my own thinking on the matter.  I have discussed the matter with a couple of friends and family members.  I've spoken with our lactation consultant.  I've read what Dr. William Sears (one of our trusted sources of information since before Mister was born) has to say about the matter.  Although he says to make the transition slowly and offers options of a mattress on the floor at the foot of my bed, he really doesn't provide step-by-step instructions.  My brain needs to see how the process will breakdown into steps my family can see as positive and possible for all of us.

At this point, I was beginning to accept that there was NO way we would get Mister sleeping in his crib without some crying.  Dr. Sears says that a baby crying in the arms of a loving parent is NOT the same as being left alone to CIO.  So, I was preparing myself for long nights of cuddling, cradling and standing by his crib-side for as long as it took for him to fall asleep, to comfort him with voice, touch and presence while he inevitably cried, looking up at me from inside his 'cage' (that's how he'd be feeling about it). 

Today I went to Chapters see see what I could find in their baby book section.  I came across a handful of 'help baby sleep' books.  Some where immediately identifiable as CIO preachers, so I returned those to the shelf.  I found The Sleepeasy Solution and another one I can't remember the title of.  Suddenly my eyes happened upon The No-Cry Sleep Solution, and on the back cover I thrillingly noticed it was endorsed by Dr. William Sears.  I grabbed these three books and found a spot to sit and skim through them.  The Sleepeasy Solution had my attention for a while, (I believe a friend of ours had success with this method) seemingly laying out a pattern of going in to comfort baby at longer and longer intervals until he falls asleep...since I felt I was facing some crying anyway, maybe this could work?  But the more I read, the 'strictness' and rigidity of it became apparent and the more I felt in my gut/heart that this was the CIO method in sheep's clothing and definitely not for us.  I put the book back.

Could there really be a No-Cry Sleep Solution out there, as the book proclaimed?  I skimmed through it, noting that the author herself (Elizabeth Pantley) co-slept with all four of her own kids.  Cool, maybe I was onto something.  She talks about her own love of breastfeeding and co-sleeping in a manner that totally warmed my heart, as she described exactly how I felt about the experience.  At last I felt like I had found an author who understood me, my family and the connection we have with our son and that we didn't want to risk losing that connection as we transition him from co-sleeping to independent sleeping.  Naturally, I bought the book.