This wasn't something I ever considered with my kids, since it doesn't fit at all with my philosophy of childrearing. Besides, as someone else mentioned, if they wake up at night, it's usually for a reason (they're hungry, they're wet, they're cold), and they need to trust that you will take care of these things for them.

But I never generalize about kids--there's no one thing that works with all of them. I don't know if it would have worked with mine but it wasn't something I would have been willing to do.