Starfruit,
erm, I didn't really want to comment on CIO, cos I don't really advocate that. Just to share with you how I so-called "trained" EJ to sleep.. and maybe you might find it worth a try..
ok, last time, EJ also needs me to put him to sleep. Put him to sleep means, every night, before sleeping, I will carry him close to me (he in upright position).. then I will sit in front of the fan and just sayng/sing/talk to him for a while before putting him to bed.
Put him to bed (last time) means, I will have to stand next to the cot and sing somemore and sayang. Then gradually it got to no more singing, but he will flay his arms and legs about.. so I will stand next to the cot, holding down his arms and legs so that he will not disturb himself. Then gradually this limbs flaying stopped.. he will scratch his head, so I will stand there and scratch his head for him.. I can stand there for like 15mins!
At this stage, I start to stand next to the cot a lesser time each day or whenever i can. I will stand there a while, then quickly walk away as I see that he seems to be falling asleep.. sometimes it works, sometimes he will scream some more.. so I will have to go right back in and stand next to the cot to scratch/comfort him.. but one thing is, I never pick him up from the cot.. perhaps once or twice.. but almost never. Cos I didn't want to create the habit of I must pick him up every time he cry. So I rather have my tired arms and legs standing next to the cot, than to pick him up..
now, gradually I try to leave him to sleep by himself as much as I can. ie. now sometimes, I just put him in his cot.. and he will roll and roll around in the cot, and then fall asleep. so now, about 70% of the time, he can sleep on his own, 20% of the time, I must stand there (5-10mins), 10% of the time screaming (more pacifying needed).
One thing to note is that I use the pacifier all this while.. which I know you don't. So you have to think of something else. Hmm, you might want to try this gradual approach instead of full CIO? I dunno if it can be done or if I am making sense! sorry for my super long post..