I am somewhat confused at the moment about what I am doing and whether I am doing it right (I do know there really is no right answer but I am just after some ideas / advice /reassurance)

Currently I demand feed my 5 1/2 month old. He is a small build, but quite long and slow to gain weight (now 6kg) and initially we had attachment issues and low supply. The supply is now good (we get overflow when feeding) and the attachment is fine. Other than the weight gain (which is similar to his father as a baby) he is an active (very active), alert little man who is meeting all of his milestones.

At the moment we feed every 2 hours (occasionally every 3) including overnight. He is yet to learn to self settle but overnight wakes to feed and goes straight back to sleep. We currently co sleep and I am trying a hammock to see if that can help him to learn to settle himself so he is between the hammock and our bed. He is easily settled to sleep at the moment - he just wakes up a lot

He has started solids in the past 2 weeks after taking a lettuce leaf from his daddy's plate and putting it in his mouth so we figured he was ready. He has a maximum of 2 teaspoons of food every few days when he indicates he wants it and turns his head when he has had enough so I haven't been able to increase the solids at this stage and I am happy to follow his lead.

Today I read a post that said they don't need nutritional intake overnight from 6 months. This places me in a dilemma. I am not sure if I continue with the demand feeding (including overnight) and just wait for him to decide when to lengthen the time between feeds and his sleeping. Or do I increase the time between feeds to try to increase the amount of time he sleeps. He does snack occasionally (hotter weather, comfort etc) and cluster feeds in the evening most days.

I am not comfortable with CC as he is the type of baby that gets extremely distressed when left to cry and he doesn't settle by patting in the cot / bed. However, I am happy to cuddle / rock etc and extend the time between feeds if this is something I should be considering.

I guess I am just not sure if what I am doing is making it worse or if the demand feeding will get better when he gets bigger. I am stuck between parenting styles and not sure what to do. Any suggestions for a fragile, unsure mum would be greatly appreciated.