I survived crying it out...

Last night was rough!
Judah went to bed without a fight at about 8:30, but them woke up at 11 pm crying. I couldn't believe he was hungry, but he was so upset and wouldn't stop crying so I fed him and put him back to bed. Then he woke again at 3 am crying....
Andrew went in to get him and tried to rock him back to sleep but Judah was not having it. I knew I couldn't go in there because I would lose it. This feels like it's been going on for an eternity and I am so done with waking up throughout the night. I felt like we should let him cry, and apparently Andrew did too because he came back in the bedroom, told me to stay in bed and said that we were going to let him cry.
And we did....he cried and cried and cried for about 45 minutes. It was really tough not to go in there, but I honestly feel like there is no other way to get him to fall back asleep on his own at this point. He's not hungry, it's a comfort thing. We've got to stop catering to his night wakings. He calmed down around 4:15 am and was quiet for about 15 minutes at which point Andrew and I decided it was safe to go ahead and fall asleep.
Then he started up again and cried for another half an hour until he finally was so tired that he conked out.
It was so hard not to go in there and comfort him and tell him it was going to be okay and pick him up and rock him. I just knew that it wouldn't do any good, that I would end up giving in and feeding him which he didn't need and I am trying so desperately to teach him that it's okay to sleep by himself for the night.
I thought for sure he would hate us both in the morning, but when he woke up at about 7:30 am (his usual wake up time) he was his happy little self. He was smiling and excited to see me. I was very relieved to see that I hadn't permanently damaged my child.
I don't know how many more times we are going to have to do this, but I'm hoping and praying not many. Obviously this is our last resort, as this has been going on almost every night since he was born. He is definitely old enough to be sleeping through the night without eating, but for some reason he hasn't caught on to that notion yet.
I just want to do the right thing for him and teach him that he can fall back to sleep on his own.
It's weird because he falls asleep on his own initially all the time for naps and at bedtime, but when it comes to the middle of the night, he gets so incredibly upset and can't for the life of him figure out how to go back to sleep without eating first.
FRUSTRATING!!!
I just hope we are doing the right thing and I wish I had all the answers.