Cry it out..

Okay, so my son is almost 16 months and from day one we've pretty much always struggled with sleep and naps. Some days were better and went smooth while others were a nightmare. Our pediatrician is aware of our on going battles of course and throughout his first year we were given a bunch of tips and advice but nothing worked well. One thing I've never been able to do is cry it out. It breaks my heart.

So my son still has to have help to get to sleep...and yes I know he should be putting himself to sleep by now which is one of the reasons I'm making this post. He recently had his wellness appointment and we mentioned again to the doctor and her suggestion was to put him in the crib and walk away. Let him cry. But don't go back in. She said it could take all night of crying before he falls asleep. He could cry himself to puking , but to clean up and do it again . What??????

I feel extremely uncomfortable with this. We otherwise love his pediatrician and everything has been great with her until she told us to do that. I've never heard of leaving your child to scream and cry all night without taking the normal cry it out steps...is this normal?

Either way I can't.. I've had two days of hell because I've been trying to get him to get a normal nap and he's been fighting me more so than ever. I was at the point of crying with him today because I tried to walk away from his crib and he was just screaming, crying, sobbing, and coughing from crying so hard I couldn't do it anymore.

Is there ANY other methods I can try to get him to self sooth and put himself down for naps and bedtime...