Baby's Sleep Training, Part 1

After gathering lots and lots of opinions on childrearing and sleeping and waiting until Baby turned 12 weeks old, Husband and I decided to start sleep training. Unable to bear the thought of letting Baby cry it out just yet, I bought and read The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. Her thesis is that babies can learn to sleep on their own without turning it into a battle of wills, as long as parents have the discipline to be patient and the follow-through to be disciplined. I'm not sure I have either.
So we started Baby on a routine last week. We take him upstairs, put him in his pajamas, Husband reads to him while I rock/nurse/give him his pacifier and rub his head. Once he's sleepy, I get up, turn on the cd player, and walk him around the room. Once he's even sleepier, I put him in his crib. He startles, fusses, and I pick him up, walk him around, and put him back in his crib. Over and over and over again, until we finally give up and let him sleep on us. Last week, we had a night where we'd each try to soothe Baby for about 40 minutes before thrusting him at the other and saying, "Here. You deal with him. Please."
Tonight the routine went smoothly. He had a bath before everything else. He hates baths; I think they scare the shit out of him, so he was crying before he ate. He calmed down quickly, and for the first time ever, at least since all these problems started two months ago, I was able to put him in his crib while he was sleepy, and I actually watched him go to sleep without me helping him. I'm trying not to hold on to this too tightly. Just like the night last week when Baby slept for 3 hours and 45 minutes in his crib, one night does not make a pattern. The little drooler was probably exhausted from not napping all day. He's been in his crib for 2 hours and 59 minutes now, and I'm really interested in seeing how much longer he'll last.