earlier to bed doesn't necessarily mean earlier up. but for us putting to bed OT always meant many NWs.
the way to not become a prop is to not comfort past the need. if you pick him up, as soon as he stops crying you put him back down again. you don't have to do the pick up put down, you can just give him the paci and take it when he stops sucking or before he falls asleep, as per the gentle removal plan. and then give it less and less until eventually you don't give it at all.
but if you decide to go without and want to do pu/pd when you pick up you don't rock or anything, just hold horizontally and talk to him and then you must put him down as soon as he stops crying. otherwise you will become a prop. also, you always try to comfort in the crib first, and only pick up if he's really crying hard. if when you pick up he arches against you, put him back down, as that's his way of trying to settle...and never pick up when he's mantra crying, as that's also settling behavior.
have you read the sleep interview with tracy over on the FAQ on the pu/pd board? it's very helpful to explain the techniques.
it will work, it did for us. but for us it had a lot of crying, but only for 2 nights and then we were good. and it's so much nicer for them to be able to go to sleep and stay asleep by themselves!
HTH
