how do i persuade DS to drop the night feed?

[mrsflux]

DS is a large 8mo who usually wakes up once, between 3 and 5, for a feed and drains 6oz in about 5 mins. how do we persuade him he doesn't really need to wake up, i'm pretty sure he's ready as he has occasionally made it from 7.30 till 6.30 but TBH that is pretty rare.
HV said cry it out but i'm not sure i can bear it!

Hi give him a bottle of water if he wakes up , he will soon work out that is all he is going to get , as hard as it is he will cry but you just need to stick to it , hope it works for you

our DS would have screamed bloody murder if we suddenly switched to water, we had to gradually reduce the amount of milk in the night feed (by about 1/2oz every couple of days) and then offering water after that if he was still thirsty.

Make sure you offer more in the day to make up for it though.

Watering down the formula worked for my friend - add one less scoop eveey couple of days to your usual amount of water.

Her DD stopped waking within a week or so, no crying, no dramas.

longagegap - i don't think i can bear the crying

IMTSFNO and jojay - i think you might be right about tricking him into it by gradually dropping the milk. he's just about getting the hang of a beaker of water too so this may be a good time to try. think i'll stick it out till i'm off work for the hols and then go for it! [fingers crossed]

I gradually dropped the milk by an ounce or so every few day (or week) and ds gave up his night feed by 8 months (started dropping the milk from about 6 months)