They do become much more efficient at eating as they grow. As long as he is growing and happy, you can be sure that you are giving him enough milk. I think over time, the composition of your milk changes too, so he may not need as much. My little guy is doing the same.

The thing to watch out for is that when they start getting more interested in seeing the world around them, they can become more distracted during feeding time and ready to move on before (perhaps) they are truly finished. What can then happen (based on my experience) is they nurse more during the night to make up for less milk intake during the day. There is not much you can do about it (at least in my case I couldn't figure anything out). However, I read (and experienced) that if you night-wean, and they realize they won't be getting anything through the night, they make more of a point of eating more during the day. (I wasn't ready to night-wean as early as 4 months, although my pedi did push me to do so.) In any case, I don't think Mr. Boy will let himself go hungry. :-)

My pedi was seriously pushing me to night wean when Gideon was 2 months old (because at that point, he was only waking once in the night). I was like "No *%$*ing way in h*ll!" will I be doing that...until he was about 8 months old and waking up 3-4 times a night. Lol. Then, I was like, "Fine." I wonder if he would have slept through the night faster if I had night-weaned earlier, but when he was that tiny I just couldn't imagine it. Looking back, I'm pretty sure I would have still ignored my pedi's advice.

Okay now I have breastfeeding envy. For the past 3 weeks my 8 month old has been waking up at LEAST every hour, im so exhausted! We have gotten into some bad habits because since she was a few weeks old I nursed her to sleep, always, unless we were out and about and she'd fall asleep in her pushchair or carrier. But that worked for us, she were waking up about 2/3 times a night and I was really happy with that. But now it's hell, last night she woke up 18 times and every time I'd latch her on and she'd fall back to sleep within minutes so I lay her down and within 45 minutes she's up again. Feel like I'm going mad from sleep deprivation:frown: Anyway yes that's what I heard too, that as they get older ther become much more efficient in emptying the breast much quicker, this same thing happened to my daughter too.

@touchof faith: Read Good Night, Sleep Tight. I was experiencing the exact same thing as you (maybe not every hour, but every couple of hours). This book really was a game-changer. It helped me night-wean, and now my son basically sleeps through the night. The author of the book does not advocate crying-it-out, and you are in the room comforting your baby. The first couple nights really sucked though. (Oh, and I should say, I think this book will only work if you and your baby are in separate rooms, and you have a husband/partner willing to go in and comfort your baby at night. I think it is too hard for baby to understand why you won't nurse him, but he will probably not be expecting daddy to do it.)

It is widely different with every child. My son was the slowest eater on the planet. When he was a newborn BFing took at least 45 minutes an sometimes even an hr, once i measured 75 minutes. I EBF until 6 months and kept BF until he was 2 yrs old , maybe only twice a day after 1 yrs old. He never ever finished less than 20 minutes. Now he is almost 5 yrs old and eat at the same slow motion way. Dinner is an hr every single time...

My new baby girl is the opposite. She never ever took 20 minutes even when she was a newborn. She has a very good latch and extreme strong sucking motion. I am talking ouch painful here. By the time she was a 2-3 months old, she finished less than 10 minutes. I also EBF her until 6 month and now she is 9 months still BF super fast. She eats finger foods now and she finishes her dinner faster than the 5 yrs old brother.

Both were/ are super chubby babies and growing along the 75 th percentile. I think fast BFing is a blessing for sure.