Hi Jennifer,
well with my DS, we used the pat-shush up until 3MO probably, he was at his worst from 4 or 5 WO till ( WO, it used to take me from 45min to an hr just to get hiim to settle, after 8WO he started to need it less and less, and suddenly at 12WO he stopped needing it completely, to the point where now i just place him on the crib, draw the curtains and leave the room, so for us it took a while but he alone started to decrease the amount of time of the pat-shushing, so i guess he weaned himself from it. I guess it depends on each baby. We also use a white noise machine at bedtime and it does work wonders.
As for the winddown, i still do it, it is quite important 'cause they know they are going to sleep when it starts, KWIM?
HTH