M.D.
I feel your pain. My son was EXACTLY the same way, but things do get better. If your son is gaining weight well, I would tend to believe that he is using you as a human pacifier vs. really wanting food. (If he is not gaining weight well, he might be trying to stimulate additional milk production with multiple nursings). Is he in his own room or sleeping with you? If he can smell you right next to him, good luck weaning him from his nightly awakenings. I would start napping him (and then having him sleep overnight) in his own room. THen I'd work on having my HUSBAND go into his room to comfort him at night (if he doesn't smell you, he will learn to sleep for dad - dad is boring). If you prefer to keep him in your bedroom, then you can likely look forward to some good sleep after he starts walking on his own. My son didn't walk on his own until 14 months, and that is when I experienced the sheer pleasure of sleeping through the night. You can thank the brain development...there is so much wiring going on in their brains at that time that they typically will not wake up for you. You also need to get him on a solid nap schedule during the day - an AM and PM nap at least at this age. The sleep during the day will assist in the sleep at night. I would highly recommend "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth. Before I had my son I always assumed that we were born knowing how to sleep - that our bodies would shut off when we got too tired. How wrong I was! Those babies need training, and kids like yours and mine need a special kind of sleep bootcamp. Hang in there...this too shall pass. My son (at three) now sleeps better than he ever did when he was an infant....