Sleep training DS 2.5 starts tonight! - Advice pleeeaasssee!

[lizbet316]

DS has never ever slept through the night and due to impending camping holiday (and my sanity) we have to sort this out.
He wakes 3 or 4 times a night and needs a bottle of milk to go back to sleep. we have tried watering the milk down but no luck. He now even shouts "I want it hot - put it in microwave mummy!" grrrr
He eats loads during the day and probably has a pint of milk in the night and is still skinny as anything - although full of beans. After his whole life having milk in the night will he genuinely be hungry at that time?
The questions are
Do I still give him 7pm bottle, give it in a beaker or no milk at all at this time?
Do I make him go cold turkey with no milk all night or maybe one bottle at 5 am (by which time I will be exhausted anyway)
Do I ignore the inevitable throwing, hitting, screaming etc when he doesn't get the milk he wants?
Has any one done sleep training this late and how long does it take to work??

Despite the fact that i'm struggling to a degree with sleep, in answer to your questions and to bump your thread up, i would suggest:
Yes give him his 7pm bottle or beaker
I would make him go cold turkey, if you're gonna do it, you may as well go the whole way however, if you decide to give him the 5am one, well thats up to you, I'd certainly understand. That could be phased out once the remainder is sorted.
Yes ignore the tantrums
It takes as long as it does, some children adapt quicker, some not so quick. It may take a little longer because he's been used to it for so long.
I've found the best thing is to make a definite decision and when you feel confident about it it becomes much easier. I'm guessing I need to do this with mine too (although I don't nearly have as bad a problem as you).

remind yourself that your ds will not remember this in a couple of weeks and that you are doing this for his own good. you are the responsible party/teacher/nurturer in this relationship. good luck , hope it's not too awful.....

how did it go?

thanks for asking - we didn't actually go for it last night - we are in the middle of IVF (just had embryo put back in today) and DH pointed out that I am supposed to be taking it easy (ha ha) so we are going to leave it until we know whether the IVF has worked in a couple of (very long) weeks
I did leave more light on for him which I think helped - he drank the 3 bottles of milk lined up by his bed and didn't wake me once
I have come to realise that I don't actually care if he sleeps through it's whether I do that matters
Thanks for support though - made me realise I have got to be 100% ready to tackle it....

fingers crossed for you re IVF.x i worried that 2 year old DD would be hungry if I didn't give extra milk but she soon got used to it.we have finally got her sleeping 12 hours! and you are right - you need your sleep too, especially at the mo so start this when it is right for you.

hope the ivf is fruitful. sending hugs and best wishes to you and your dh