DD1 was an easy child with regards to sleeping, we always just put her in when she showed tired signs, she would have her dummy and sook for no more than 5min if she was sick etc it didn't work and she needed to be cuddled to sleep.

DD2 has been a PITA, during the day she shows tired signs so we put her into bed, she has a crochet blanket that she cuddles and she will cry for say 5min and then she's asleep (was only lasting 15-30min originally), since starting solids she is sleeping up to or oven an hr now.
Before bed for the night is a completely different story, she screams the house down, at night she is fed to sleep, then i give her a cuddle for about 10min and then she goes into the cot and gets a bit of a pat on the bum until i know she is OUT.
During the day if she's not settling i have found that i cuddle her to sleep while patting her on the bum, then i put her in the cot on her side, hold my arm on her ear while patting her bum with my other hand, i SLOW the patting down until she doesn't move when i stop and make a run for the door. not sure if that helps at all, all kids are dif but it's all about finding what works for you.