Trial and Error....but mostly error

Sleeping has become quite the game in our house.  Squirmy is now 7 months old and sleeping worse than he did as a newborn.  *le sigh*  I read The No Cry Sleep Solution and it had some decent ideas, but I don't really get it.  I know part of our problem is because we keep Squirmy up late at night, but he does have the opportunity to sleep as late as he pleases in the morning.  I really REALLY hesitate to put him to be earlier because DH doesn't get home until 8pm most nights.  If Squirmy had an earlier bed time, he'd literally never see his dad during the week.  I'm starting to notice he seems to roll over onto his belly in his sleep.  The only problem is that if he's on his belly BEFORE he's asleep, he'll just crawl around and not settle.  He screams at nap time regardless of if I try to put him down at the first sign of sleepy, when he's overtired, or somewhere in between.  The only place he'll nap is his vibrating chair, but he screams if I put him near it (he's fine if he crawls up to it and proceeds to climb it).  If he goes down screaming, he'll only nap 30 min, tops.  I've taken to picking him up and just dealing with the grumpy tiredness than the screaming.  I tried the book's suggestion of trying to comfort Squirmy gently at the first sign of stirring so he'll settle back in and sleep...but that's a joke.  From the first sign of stirring to fully awake is about a nano second.  True story.

Here's his typical (and I use that word loosely) sleep pattern:

• 9:30-10:30 wake for the day
• 11:30--nap for 1hr
• 2:00--nap for 30min
• 5:00--nap for 30min
• 8:00--nap for 30min
• 10:30-11:00 bedtime...clean diaper, pj's, swaddled, nurse, Dr. Seuss book, crib

Some days he'll get two 2hr naps in.  A lot of days he'll never sleep a full hour.

I literally have NO idea how often he's waking at night now.  I pull him into bed with me and nurse him.  At some point I wake back up and slide him back into his crib (it's pushed up against our bed with no front on it).  I'd guess I'm waking at least 4 times a night, not for very long, but still.

I'm not ready to try any sleep training that involves him crying.  I just can't handle it.  He gets this panicked look on his face, flairs, and tears fall when he screams and it breaks my heart.  I don't know what else to do or try.  DH has no patience for his screams and as of right now, Squirmy won't take a bottle (though I think he might soon...more on that later).

I feel so stuck.  I want to do the right thing.  I want to make the short term sacrifice for the long term gain, but I don't know what that is.  I really wish I had some parenting expert of some sort to talk this over with.  I already lie to our ped about our sleeping arrangements and he's been pushing me to get Squirmy into his own room for months now anyway.  I'd hate to be one of those parents who complains about their situation and then does nothing about it, but I just don't know what TO do.

Not sure if I'm looking for advice or empathy or just a space to complain....but this....this SUCKS.