Just one thing to add: I'm a HUGE fan of not leaving an infant to cry (my preschoolers even get all but fake tears soothed). But night waking is ***totally normal*** from a physiological standpoint. Everyone wakes. You wake, I wake (even when uninterrupted by my children!), babies and children wake. The difference between poor scooby's little one and, say, one of my kids, is that my guys know how to get back to sleep, and scooby's doesn't.

This is a complex issue that needs to be worked out on an individual basis. I'm going to recommend, if you're interested in a no-cry solution, the aptly-named No Cry Sleep Solution. (There's also one for preschoolers and toddlers, which I've also read.) Her references are sleep researchers (which I recognized when I got to neuro and they were the same footnotes!), and she advocates for a solution that will work best for each family, rather than a one-size-fits-all deal.

By the way, children who sleep by parents will eventually sleep on their own, and be able to soothe themselves. While one of my sons does still find his way over to our bed some nights (not a problem, it doesn't wake me up, I'm just very confused when I wake in the morning and find a little friend), the other only calls out when he's managed to get himself into a sitting up position and can't get down again (go figure; we just help him lie back down and leave).

Whatever you do, make sure you are consistent. In my "old age" I'm tending to believe that different families work in different ways, and that the most critical thing to a child's feeling secure and satisfied is loving consistency. Make a plan without bleary eyes, and stick with it.

Good luck!

As for a) - she slept wonderfully this afternoon (3 hrs straight) which she never does - on the floor, alone. Yet to test this at night. But I have a strong feeling the results will be the same.

b) The crib has always been in our room, albeit a little away from our bed (our master bedroom is quite big).