Graduated Extinction

A long time ago (probably 9+ months, or more than half Wyatt's life) I told my mom that Wyatt was not sleeping through the night despite our most valiant efforts. She commented that sooner or later, all parents have a battle of the wills with their babies about this and basically just need to have a standdown. I assured her that this was not and never would be the case with us. 
Of course, it is now the case with us. I should have listened to Mom. (There, I said it.) 
After months and months of trying the über-gentle "pat pat rub" method of getting Wy (back) to sleep -- with not much success -- I finally cracked into a million pieces and instituted the Graduated Extinction method of sleep training. This basically involves letting the baby cry at bedtime and during night wakings but going back into his room at lengthening intervals to assure him that he's OK, and to tell him to get back to sleep (and then leaving the room). In the meantime, as he cries, you feel like the Worst Parent Ever.
In our defense, we did try (many) other methods. We have always been good about keeping a regular bedtime routine of bath/bottle/bed, and a consistent bedtime. Wy's room is dark and cozy and has a white-noise generator. No matter; he still woke up 2-3-4+ times/night, so I read literature about sleep training. We didn't want to do straight-on Cry It Out, so we tried just about anything else; I read the No-Cry Sleep Solution,  and tried to keep all their byzantine sleep logs in my sleep deprived state. That didn't work for us, either. I read the creepy Babywise and decided that their SS-endorsed methods were not for us. Then I read the Toddler Care Book, which had a good section about sleeping, and seemed like an all-around sane book. (Why wouldn't it? Its written by a Canadian!) It advocated Graduated Extinction, so we tried that out.
Do the ends justify the means? To everyone's relief, Graduated Extinction worked for us, and now Wy goes to asleep at 8:00 p.m. and stays asleep until ~6:30 a.m. Everyone is sleeping, everyone feels better.Now, about weaning ...