IMO there is no way to really 'teach' this, what one baby does is not necessarily the norm. My CMHN said that its not 'normal' to sleep more than 8 hours until the age of 2... so there could be a lot more wakeful nights.
i agree with Sammiejane and wanted to add, if ds does wake in the night its usually because he needs something and its his way of communicating, so i will feed in the night if thats what he wants. i couldn't do controlled crying or anything, but if he's just having a whinge and i know that hes fine i will leave him and he usually drops off to sleep. you just have to do what feels right to you and whatever gets you through so your not up all night and whatever gets you back into bed quickly!!