The basic idea of the floor bed is allowing freedom of movement. I think you're supposed to have the room totally childproofed. The way I was taught was that it should be so childproofed that if you somehow got locked out of your child's area for a few hours they might be hungry or need a diaper change but would be fundamentally safe (this would never happen! it was just an example give to me as to how childproofed the area should be!!!). Also, it'd probably be a lot easier for you guys to sleep at night not having to worry about the "what ifs".
We actually bought some round wooden disks/plates from Hobby Lobby and screwed them over some of the outlets. We used this stuff called Sugru (putty like stuff) to make any sharp corners bonk proof (his room doesn't have any but the rest of the house has lots) and used plastic cord covers to "funnel" the electric cords that we had to have (monitor, small temp regulator) up the wall onto a hanging shelf .
Assuming the room is safe and you just want to work on him staying in his bed and learning to fall sleep without you, which was the original question now that I already went a little off topic...
EVERY child is different but this would be my advice to start with assuming you don't want a true CIO method (there is a CIO method for floor beds too). My first piece of overall advice is that you always want to be doing as little as possible to help them learn to teach themselves. So you want to start out at the furthest step possible. Here is a general example of how to do it with an "average" child... It is basically a slow progression out of the room where you would start laying in bed with your child, then laying next to the floor bed perhaps with a hand on him, then sitting next to the bed, then moving closer to the door. Each step is done one night at a time so you might spend one or three nights laying next to him. In other words, you aren't making the movement out of the room in one night. Each night you are allowing him the chance to fall asleep with less and less help from you (or dad - dad often works better due to the lack of boobs!) Eventually you lay them in bed and are just standing by the door and then outside the door and then you're good to go. It might take three nights or three weeks depending on your child and it might just infuriate certain personality types in which case a different method is needed. When your kiddo does crawl all the way out of his bed tell him a 3-5 word phrase (bed is for sleeping, time to lay down, whatever you choose) for the first 2-3 times and then just put him back in it without speaking. While you're using this method it is important not to interact with your baby as far as laughing, talking, lots of eye contact (of corse you comfort them if needed, you just need to avoid unnecessary interaction - again you want to be doing as little as possible to help them learn to teach themselves). You are showing with your body, mind, and even breath that it is sleep time.
Well those are my thoughts! I would say it has been effective for %60-%70 of the kids I've worked with. As for the others, well, they're all over the place! Hope this helps or at least gives you a few ideas to work with. Only you know your baby - do research, ask questions, and trust your instincts!
