With DD, I just used to put her in her cot at the same time every night (give or take half an hour) and she'd be wide awake, and I'd just leave the room and not hear a peep from her till her midnight feed.
I don't know how she did this, but she's generally a happy, easygoing baby. I guess it's just her nature to do this, coz we didn't consciously 'train' her to do this, or anything.
(That said, now she never does this and just wants to play all the time and I have no idea how to get her to sleep.)