I am a firm believer that some babies are wired to sleep through and some are not. I think that a great book to help on this issue is "The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help your Baby Sleep Through the Night" by Elizabeth Pantley. You can get some great tips from this book. It was helpful to me. Both my kids were not champion sleepers but they outgrew it. I'm not about the crying it out method at this age. I think it doesn't help anything.

Also, I think the idea that solids help babies sleep through the night is a myth.

my son just started sleeping through the night at almost 8 months old.  it totally was like a switch that flipped.  we'd debated about sleep training for awhile because every time we'd think to start he'd pull a good night (5hr) out of nowhere.  then, sure enough, he'd do the wake every 2-3 hr thing again.  luckily, in the end he just did it himself.  i know there isn't supposed to be a correlation between solids and sleeping, but his sleep definitely got better with solids -- he was definitely the kind of baby to wake hungry. 

some people have told me that if the baby is only eating a little bit at a time when they wake at night they're just using the sucking motion to fall asleep again.  don't know how you feel about pacifiers, but they might help.

one thing i did get out of all the sleep books i read was that the optimal bedtime for kids is around 7pm.  you can try moving his bedtime up 20 min each night.  it's totally counter-intuitive, but the earlier they go to bed the better and later they tend to sleep.  an earlier bedtime prevents them from getting overtired and wired...it could be the 2nd wind chemicals in his body that's keeping him from sleeping well.  napping well during the day helps, too.

a good bedtime routine saved us from having to rock our baby to sleep every night.  nothing special, but we always do the same -- dinner, play if he's not too tired, bath, last bottle, say "night night", give him his blanket and usually he'll just roll over and pass out.  he knows bedtime's coming and is ready for it by the time we put him down.

I noticed that if I fed my son more often during the day, he slept longer at night.

It is actually uncommon for a breastfeeding baby (I'll assume you are still breastfeeding) to sleep through the night before 12 months (and even after....). My youngest didn't start staying asleep for the whole night until he was 19 months when he weaned. 

But I second the recommendation for the No Cry Sleep Solution. That was a fabulous book. While it may not get you a full night's sleep it will definitely help. 

I also 2nd the No Cry Sleep Solution.  Also, I think it's expecting alot for a baby that age to sleep through the night.  He may just be high needs at night.  It's all about attitude...you have to accept the fact that you have to be a night time parent as well as a day time parent.  I don't sleep through the night but I know how to put myself to sleep.  Your baby still needs help going to sleep.  Try to nap with him....I know it's hard to be so tired, but I've totally been there.

@TornadoChaser - that's so not true!! a breastfeeding baby can very easily sleep thru the night! if yours was still waking up at 19 months it was because you let him be that way...excuse my bluntness.

my son is 4 months old (he is breastfed) and has been sleeping thru the night since 9 weeks old. i think something that is very key to it is always having your baby on a schedule, from the first week. at first he ate every 2-1/2 hrs, during the day he would eat and then i would keep him awake for awhile and then he slept. during the night i'd feed him every few hours and then lay him right back down. by 9 weeks he'd eat at 8 pm, go to bed, eat again at 10 and then sleep till morning. his schedule now is he eats every 3 hrs during the day (again, eat, playtime, naptime)and then at 8:30 pm, goes to bed and sleeps till 5:30, when he wakes up to eat and sleep again till 8:30. he sometimes fusses during the night but all he needs is me to put his pacifier in his mouth or snuggle him in his blanket a little better. VERY RARELY does he need to eat. would he eat if i'd let him? sure! but i know that he's fine (most of the time) and just needs to be resettled. i know it may seem strange but i honestly think having a baby on a good routine helps the nighttime sleep!

good luck mama!!

if i may recomend a book that was very helpful to me. it's called "on becoming babywise". it teaches you how to schedule your baby and help them sleep thru the night.

@TheNumberScott@xanga - That's sounds like us.We did bed sharing for her first two months (I was scared of SIDS) and we were sleeping 7-8 hours every night. People were amazed.

We also implemented a bit of sleep training. It broke my heart, and my husband used to have to hold me down to keep me from running in there to her, but it worked. On occasion, she still sleeps in bed with us, but because of the sleep training, she doesn't get too upset when she's "returned" to her crib and can soothe herself. We also keep soft toys and teething toys that make sounds in her crib, and sometimes in the middle of the night, I would hear her playing with them if she woke up, then she would go back to sleep. I know that's kind of controversial, but SIDS is not a concern for us at this stage anymore.

OP: I hope you find a solution that works for you, though. There are varying opinions about what works, but I've personally found that crying it out isn't cruel if used properly. A sleepy baby will fuss a bit, but fall asleep. A baby that keeps crying needs something else. Those growth spurts were hard on all of us, and lots of sleep was lost. I did lift my CIO rule for those cases, though. And teething.

I am for the No Cry Solution, also. Another great book is "The Happiest Baby on the Block".  Babies cry for a certain reason. Since they can't communicate with us any other way, we have to try to find out why. It could be they are wet, hungry, have gas and need a back rub or burp, need to feel warm and cozy. Having a schedule helps. Be patient. When they are ready, it will happen. Meanwhile, sleep when they sleep, take naps when they nap.  

My son didn't sleep through the night until he was 11 months old. I breastfed him and he would get up every 2-4 hours just like a newborn! I eventually just gave up the idea that he would sleep. Then we moved into a new place where he had his own room (he'd been in a crib in our room because we didn't have another room) and he started sleeping through the night that very first night. I tell my husband he finally got away from his snoring and could sleep!

So, sorry. I don't have any great tips. Just wanted you to know that you're not alone and that it can't possibly last forever.

@stevenk74@xanga - LOL! I know someone who did that with her 3 year old. It workesd, but I think she developed an "immunity" to it. I used to get into the medicine cabinets and drink Dimetapp for fun. Grape flavored. To this day, any cold medicine is useless to my immune system.

@LiberalArmyWife@xanga - i dont mean all the time, just on the dyas when the sleep deprivity is high.Of course, I dont have kids yet so take it with a grain of salt

@LiberalArmyWife@xanga - They are only babies for such a short time. I don't feel that there is any such thing as a spoiled baby.  They want warmth and to feel that you are still there and feel loved just like before they were born. Sometimes if you put your hand on the baby's back and pat their bottom, they will go back to sleep.  But hey, everyone has bad days and good days.  You never know when they are having a bad dream or overworked that day. It's really trial and error.  What works for one may not work for another, just like with us. Do you really think that she thinks the world revolves around her? Does it matter?