When Rose was very small, I would lie on the futon across the room from her crib while she fell asleep. Usually, though, she fell asleep while nursing, or later, after being rocked for just a few minutes, so that didn't happen much.
When she transitioned to a toddler bed, I would sit on the floor and let her play with my hair. I had a CD with a thunderstorm playing. Didn't take her long to fall asleep.
Then into a "big girl bed" which was a full-size that was mine and Bill's before we got the king. I would set a watch timer (vibrations, no noise) for 15 minutes and snuggle her, while the CD played. Somewhere in there, I made a lullaby mix with the thunderstorm. If she settled, I'd snuggle her and she'd fall right asleep. If she didn't settle, I would leave before the timer was up. Sometimes, if she was settled but couldn't sleep, I'd stay a bit longer.
Now, I've started dropping the timer down - we're at 10 minutes now. We snuggle and talk with a CD of lullaby-type music playing (including some pop hits like Silent Lucidity and Rainbow Connection). When the timer goes off, I get up and do hugs and kisses, and promise I'll be back "in a little bit" to check on her. Usually that's about 5 minutes and she's out cold. Bedtime is 7:30, but sometimes she stretches out brushing teeth, etc. a bit longer!
We sometimes do bedtime stories, but rarely as we push reading all the time... And sometimes if she really can't sleep she'll grab a book. It's funny to go in and see her asleep with a book on her chest, just like Mommy used to do!
Baths are 3x a week - Sunday evening (after swimming lessons, with special swim shampoo), Tuesday evening, Thursday evening. Then I braid or twist her hair to sleep on, for less tangles in the morning. THEN snuggles.
Daddy snuggles, too. Not as often as Mommy though.
With the older two... It was hard. Belle barely slept, so we TRIED to institute a bedtime. Pat, we'd hug and kiss and let him fall asleep on his own. Too many false allegations against Bill by bio mom...