How often would you expect a seven week old to be feeding?

[Athrawes]

I am feeding on demand my seven week old boy. I just wanted to know, to be able to look forward to, what the "routine" might be in a couple of weeks. People say that he will get more efficient at feeding, that the evening feeds will drop off...can anyone give me an idealised day?
At the moment i feed him every time he wakes up - independent of how long he has been asleep - an hour or twenty minutes. I reckon he is waking to feed?
Feeds take ages - during the day he gets fed when he wakes, drops off on the boob, has a cuddle, a play, fed again, asleep hopefully properly. I'd really like just to do one big efficient feed when he wakes up - it feels like he is toying with me! Sometimes I feed him and then go straight out for a walk with him in the sling just to get a break from the constant cow feeling. He then sleeps in the sling and wakes as soon as we get back, in twenty minutes, for a feed...
The evening is 6 till 10 constan drip drip feeding, snooze, nuzzle, wake up and play for five, feed again. I just swap from one breast to the other each time. My breasts are like prunes by 10pm when, for the last week, he has managed to fall asleep properly. But every evening i dread will it work this time?
Will there be a time when he does an efficient one hit feed, has a decent play time, looks tired and goes to bed?

Thanks everyone. Same old same old eh! Don't read the books...I reckon every day without formula is a bonus and I am trying to congratulate myself as every week goes by. And it was good to consider the faff of formula - I hadn't really thought that through. And to know that i am half way to the three months and realising the benefits in terms of convenience. As ever, thanks MNers - this has been such a momentous journey so far and I couldn't have gotten this far without you.

Ali - 7 weeks on Monday. I am hoping he settles down a bit soon. The constant evening feeding is very exhausting.

glad to hear you sound more positive athrawes. As you say each day without formula is a bonus. Take it one feed at a time and one day, in the not too distant future, you'll realise it isn't so bad any more.

Athrawes it's good to hear you sounding more positive :) There is a thread running atm about the hassle of making up bottles to the current guidelines. It should spur you on!

fifitot - it will settle soon. In the meantime, just go with it. Trying to restrict time at the breast at this stage just keeps the cluster feeding going on for a longer period of time.
Have easy evening meals that you can eat with one hand if needed - DH used to feed me sometimes if we had something that needed two hands like steak or lamb chops!
Rent some films or some box sets of series you haven't got round to watching before and just settle in for the evening and have a glass of wine :)

Thanks Ali.

DC3 is 8 weeks old and things are finally getting a bit more sensible. She can be awake with not being hungry and goes 3 or 4 hour between feeds with the odd day when she tanks up all day.can you imagine making up 8 or 9 bottles a day and then getting them lined up for the night shift. No way,DC3 is sticking with bf,sooo much less faff.

Weird kid has been awake three hours now, ate when he woke up then stayed totally awake and alert right through his normal cluster feeding frenzy time; wiithout eating, and looks now like falling asleep for the night without a feed. I have tried to cram the boob in but he screams himself purple so it looks like he will fall asleep exhausted now and wake in half an hour demanding the feed he should have had. No rhyme reason or logic. Sigh...

on one of the two occasions ds has slept through he didn't feed to sleep or for a while before hand no rhyme or reason is right!

At least you'll be ready when he decides he is.

just remembered sometimes ds gets too tired to feed and needs a little power nap and will then tuck in.

athrawes dc3 does the same, too tired to eat too hungry to sleep. If it happens I get DH to sit and hold her while she sllepps for a while (he rocks her ) and then when she wakes up after 45 mins or so i feed her and put her to bed as normal.