Becoming Deliberate

I've never been big on making babies fit a schedule.  Routine, yes (ie following similar patterns), but schedule, no.  My reason for this is twofold:
1)  I am not a time-conscious person.  For me to try to feed / bath / put baby to bed at a particular time each day would be a mammoth undertaking, near impossible.  I generally do not have any idea on how much time has passed since I last looked at the clock.  Strict schedules are extremely difficult for me, causing lots of stress, which I think would make me a less loving and enjoyable mother to Cooper.
2)  I don't know that Cooper needs it.  I know for myself, my sleeping and eating routines change depending on my body's needs at the time.  I never had a problem with weight before I got married, as I ate when I was hungry - be it two meals a day or five.  And depending on my life stresses, my sleep needs vary too.  So it makes sense to me that Cooper may want different schedules at different times, as he undergoes growth spurts and mental leaps.

I love the saying: "Don't worry about societal expectations - if it's not a problem for you or baby, then it's not a problem."

So the fact that, at 4 months, Cooper suddenly started waking repeatedly during the night was only a problem if it was a problem for me.  I could stress and fuss over the fact that he "should" be sleeping through and in his own bed, or I could go with it, feed as neccessary, resettle as required, and bring him back into our bed when it was easier.  I chose to just go with it, figuring he would grow out of it when he was ready, just as he grew out of needing to be in our bed all the time.

Being 2 days off 7 months, Cooper is still waking at least twice per night.  (A night being 8.5 to 9 hrs - ie on the unfortunate days when sleeps are interrupted and don't happen when I'd like, and he goes to bed at 8:30pm, his night ends by 5:30am, at which time he requires a play of at least an hour.)  According to society, this is a problem.

According to me, it is starting to become a problem too.  After 3 months of grossly interrupted sleep, I'm over it, to say the least.  I'm tired.  So tired.  I'm starting to think that it is time to try to be more deliberate in "training" him, rather than following his cues with just minor interventions.

But boy, oh boy, it is confusing.  There are so many different schools of thought - an expert to both back up and slam any action you may consider.

The thing I'm gonna start with is food.  I'm going with the theory that because he is a bigger boy, he is needing more, hence the increased wakefulness since 4 months, when perhaps the milk supply was not quite doing the trick (read different theories about breast capacity, baby stomach capacity, rah rah).

Plan:  increase solid meals to at least 2 per day, with water.  Try to space out day time breast feeds with water in between - he is chubby enough to indicate that he is getting plenty of nutrition, and solids will help with that... maybe the insane frequency of feeding is more about thirst.  After a while, try to offer water and cuddles at night wakings if he wakes less than 3 hrs after the last feed... increasing this time gradually to hopefully achieve 4 hrs between feeds.

If it doesn't work, I may try something else, or I may just learn to take daytime naps myself and hope that he grows out of it sooner rather than later!