Please help

So I’m a first time mom, and every since birth when my little one would sleep and stir in his sleep or wake I would nurse him to sleep. That was our bedtime routine... change diaper nurse to sleep then if he awake and made noises nurse him. Well now till this day he will occasionally wake eat and go back to sleep... so I never had an issue I would just go back to sleep after he was finished and call it a night. He is a solid healthy 21lb baby and was 9lbs at birth, but now he is almost 7 months and will occasionally wake to eat and go back to sleep. I don’t mind him waking but I do want him to be able to self soothe. I tried letting him cry but I feel soo bad. Is there another method... how many nights will he have to do that. 😩😩😩😩😭😭😭