Hi
I am breastfeeding my 9 month old DS and we are both still happy and it's going well

However, many of my friends seem to feed their babies (of the same age) fewer feeds during the day and I am wondering whether I should be cutting back the milk feeds? I give 4 feeds a day and 1 at night. Because I am breastfeeding, I just offer the feeds - some days he takes more than on other days and I'm happy to be guided by him.
Day feeds are:
6:15/6:30 - he's always hungry for this feed but only wants 1 breast now
11am - will have a bit, but it not always bothered!
3am - usually wants this but just 1 breast
5:30/6ish - will feed from both breasts
He is on 3 meals a day and eats loads!! So I don't think milk is putting him off eating food. I give him his milk at least an hour before I do solids.
The night feed is another issue as I'm pretty sure it's a) habitual and b) comfort sucking. DH tried once with a bottle but DS wouldn't drink - and then lay awake (no noise!) for ONE HOUR before I felt so sorry for him that I crept in and fed him. Then of course he went back to sleep! I give him the feed about 3 hours after he goes down. He will ALWAYS wake for this feed around this time, which makes me think it's habitual. If he wakes earlier than 3 hours then I resettle him, but then he'll wake again for the feed.
It's annoying, as we do a 6-6 day so his feed is at 9 pm - which makes going out pretty restrictive! I basically don't do it. But after 9 months I really would like to go out sometimes! However, having got this far I am prepared to stick it out until I am sure that it's not necessary to feed him at night. What I don't want is him waking up at 4 am wanting a feed!
DH is getting fed up with it as we've not had a night out since DS was born and wants to cut out the feed. I've read that one feed may be necessary until 1 year old - is that correct? My instinct tells me that he's not hungry but I still worry. And if we go about cutting it out, is it best to just go cold turkey and resettle...resettle...resettle...how long might it take? We've been giving this 1 feed at this time for about 3 months so DS is pretty used to it!
Thanks for your help.