My DS made the transition from co-sleeping to cot at about 7 months old. I initiated it because, like you, I was finding it hard to get any sleep with him hogging up my bed. (Well done for making it this far!) I didn't really do much different. I decided one night he was going in his cot, and that was that. When he cried, I would go in and pat, rock, feed, whatever he needed to go back to sleep. Then I'd pop him straight back in the cot.

I think the main indicator of how sucessful the transition will be is how ready DD is. The most important thing IMO when making a change is that bub is ready. It makes for the easiest transition. I had tried earlier (when DS was 3 months old) and he just wouldn't be separated from me, so I abandoned the idea altogether and continued co-sleeping.

HTH