Sleep Success! (well for now at least)

Success! Jackson has now slept 7 1/2 hours straight for almost a week now!! (picture me jumping for joy) I don't know what changed but I have a feeling it had something to do with him getting older as well as my ability to establish a consistent routine now that I'm home full-time. Here's the routine we currently have established:

• He eats a small dinner of cereal and a veggie around 5pm.
• Next comes a warm bath using Burt's Bees and Johnson&Johnson's nighttime products. We let him splash around to his heart's content- he absolutely loves his baths!
• Then we give him a nice massage with Johnson&Johnson nighttime lotion and dress him in pj's.
• We play, snuggle, and read books until his first signs of sleepiness (fussing, rubbing eyes), usually around 6-6:30pm.
• Finally, he gets swaddled up in his Woombie (LOVE this swaddle) and I rock him to sleep while singing "Hush Little Baby."
• He usually sleeps soundly until I wake him up for his "dream feed" at 11pm. If he does by chance wake up and can't fall back asleep I turn on his Sleep Sheep to ocean sounds and he's out like a light.
• He now sleeps from 11pm to 6:30am without an extra feeding! Yeah!!

Like I said, this is our current routine. I'm always making minor adjustments based on his mood and needs that day. Things I've found that have really helped are:

• putting him to bed early. Many people think keeping a baby up late will make them sleep longer. Actually they get more wired and have a lot more difficulty getting down to sleep. Putting Jacksonto bed as soon as he starts showing signs of tiredness has made all the difference! He now goes to bed without a fight and sleeps much, much longer.
• establish a bedtime routine early on and stick to it! Jackson uses this routine as a cue that bedtime has come and it's time to go to sleep.
• Use white noise all night to help your  baby fall back to sleep on their own. White noise reminds babies of  being in the womb and it comforts them. We have a Conair one that plays multiple sounds and connects to our Ipod.
• I feed Jackson again right before I go to bed to help keep him asleep longer. He basically nurses in his sleep and I slip him right back into bed. This didn't work for a long time for us so keep at it for a little while before giving up!
• Finally, the number one thing I had to do was move Jackson into his crib. He co-slept with me for 4 1/2 months ad during that time he was up every 1-2 hours to eat, simply because it was there and available. It was much easier to nurse him in bed, but not easier to be up all night! Moving him into his crib was the best thing I did and finally got him to sleep longer at night. To get my cuddling/co-sleeping fix I now take an afternoon nap with him. :)

What worked for you when you were trying to help your baby sleep through the night? What advice would you give to a mama who is having difficulty with this? I love hearing other people's tips and tricks so feel free to comment!