4.5 month old sleep issues

[Lindalove]

Hi my EBF son was only waking 1-2 times a night until about 6 weeks ago. Since then he has been waking 3-4 times and I'm wondering whether it's developmental or whether I should try sleep training.

He naps 3-4 times during the day.
He struggles to eat as much as he used to during the day as is so into everything he loses interest in boob. Saying that he's not starving.
He always goes down easily at 7ish. He does use a dummy but will normally only sqwark for it a couple of times and can sleep without it during deep sleep.

I'm not sure whether his regular wakings which are at 10.00, 1am, 3.30, 5.30 & 6.30 ish are due to:
Hunger
4 month sleep regression
Comfort/bad habits.

As a result not sure what to try? Am thinking of coping until almost 6 months & seeing if weaning helps. Anyone have any advice?

It is inevitable that feeding less during the daytime will lead to feeding more frequently during the night.

Baby's calorific need only increases. This is especially true around 4 months when some huge developmental jumps happen, changes which need more calories. My DD's milk intake went up permanently by 25% almost overnight at weeks old. A quarter extra is a massive amount proportionally, so breastfeeding needs to keep up.

I would try feeding lots more frequently during the daytime and minimise distraction during feeds as much as possible. Feeding more frequently can be better for distracted babies than longer/bigger single feeds. I'd aim for one full feed at least every 90/120 minutes through the daytime

Once you are certain you are getting as many calories as possible into baby during the daytime, utilise the dummy as much as possible during the night. I would always try dummy first at all wake ups. Only if 'dummy won't do' would I consider a night feed. I'd give the dummy 10-20 minutes of effort before feeding. That may also help to ensure baby is awake enough to take a big feed if a night feed is needed. But gradually the baby may start going back to sleep in the night without a feed.

This can only work if baby is getting enough milk during the daytime though.

...almost overnight at 14 weeks old...

Thanks - that does make sense to try & feed him up.
I have been tempted to try mixed feed with formula but will do boob first in the hope my supply will ramp up.