Sleep :S

I hate to tell you this, but your son sounds just like mine at that age. My son didn't sleep through the night until he was almost three years old. The more I tried to teach him to sleep, the more books I read on sleep training, the more routines I tried to impose on him during the day the worse things got. When I just decided that he was going to sleep with us (in a bed bumped right up to ours) we all started sleeping SO much better!
My daughter was sleeping 8 hours a night by 6 weeks old in a bassinet. She also would just fall asleep playing on the floor and take a nap on the carpet under her playmat, then wake up and resume playing. Around 6 months old she started waking up more frequently during the night (sleeping in a crib in her room), this is when we moved her into our bed to co-sleep and nurse throughout the night. She is three yrs now and wakes once during the night, calls for me and goes right back to sleep when I lay down next to her.
I honestly believe sleep habits vary between children based on so many factors, that by changing one, or even a few of those factors, doesn't guaruntee a good nights sleep in a crib in their own room. Personality plays a big part, developmental milestones (from seperation anxiety to learning to walk - emotional, cognitive, and physical changes), teething, family stresses or situations (moving, dad in the military, new baby in the house...), weather changes (ever wake up with a headache in the middle of the night cause a storm is blowing in? I have). Because of all these variables and knowing that there are just off nights for myself and I've had a whole lifetime to learn to sleep, I just figured that the best thing I can do for my kids is to be there for them in the night whenever they need me to be.
9-11 months old were the hardest months of sleep with both my kids, they were up literally every hour wanting to nurse, or crying out in their sleep, or tossing and turning. So frustrating sometimes! But hang in there and know that someday he WILL sleep, by himself, in his own room - I promise! :)
Someone pointed out once that there is a reason that "teach your baby to sleep" books are such a big business, it's because no one's baby is born knowing how to sleep! And in western cultures, we have the biggest sleep issues in the world, trying to force something so unnatural on our children when they are fighting so hard against it just doesn't help.
There are kids out there who learn to sleep after a few nights of crying, but many do not. Go with your gut!

Honestly, I may be thinking differently than others but I do not think how much or what food they are getting and sleeping through the night have much in common. Unless it is something like the stomach is upset or the baby is just super hungry or something.

I breastfed all of my four. I had an issue with breastfeeding with the fourth child, so I switched her to formula sooner than the others. They ALL slept through the night (about 7 hrs, then each month that time got longer by an hour or so) BEFORE they turned 4 weeks old. They weren't big babies as they grew- all of them were either on the smaller side or average, and they never ate a whole lot.

They were not big eaters, and they were all initially exclusively breastfed. We kept them busy during they day, gave them naps if they needed, but we were active with them so I assume they were all just tired- that and they slept in the same room with us. our schedules meshed beautifully. They just knew that darkness means sleep-time. If they ever woke up to be fed in the middle of the night, I'd feed them then cuddle them and they went right back to sleep.

They are 7, 6 4 and 3 now.

Tips? Don't ever put them to bed at a time when it is just convenient. Put them to bed when they are sleepy. Keep dim lights and the routine the same. As they get older you will need to get to a point where bed time is more firm. They need their sleep and you need yours.

He's normal.

I nursed both my kids.
Breastmilk metabolizes quickly.
AND each kid has their own appetite and it does fluctuate daily. Just like an adult.
My kids had GINORMOUS appetites. I nursed on-demand, 24/7 day and night.
They grew like weeds and are very, healthy.

Many things, wakes a baby.
Even a parent snoring or making noises at night. Even a toilet flushing.
Teething.
Developmental changes and changing motor-skills and hitting milestones. It ALL, affects sleep.
But they also need to nap.
Lack of sleep and being over-tired, makes them wake more and get worse sleep.

All I know is, I nursed my kids on-demand. For the 1st year. Then they, on their own and gradually, went longer, before being hungry again.
It is all developmental based. And what a baby needs, biologically.

My kids, got HUNGRY.
They drank me dry, both breasts, each session, day or night.
I didn't superimpose on them that "they don't need to nurse/feed....by now.." kind of thing. I just knew if my kids as babies were hungry or not.
If hungry, I nursed.

In time and naturally as a baby gets older, they will sleep longer.
Except during growth-spurts, they get hungrier.

Or, try and see if he will fall asleep again, on his own.
My son did. He made noises or rustled in his sleep... but if I let him be, he went back to sleep. BUT, I KNEW his noises and what it meant. Other times I'd know if he was hungry, then I fed him.

12 Months is a growth-spurt. Babies get hungrier then and more frequently. They need the intake, despite solids.

for good at 6 months. Started a month or so before that sporatically (spelling)? Had twins and one would sleep one night and the other would sleep the next. Finally did cry it out and within 2 days they were sleeping 11-12 hours a night and napping wonderfully. I couldn't do it with my first born, by the way. But I was about to lose my mind with the twins and nothing else would work. good luck. I know it's hard. If you don't want to do cry it out, try the Baby Whisperer book. That's what I used with my singleton and it worked with her, but was too hard to do with two babies at once.

Why shouldn't he need milk? If he's growing, he's going to wake hungry. Hard to sleep if you're hungry.

Fast growers often need to eat at least once a night well into toddler years.

I nursed both my boys. My oldest consistently slept through the night around 6 months, my youngest closer to 7 months. My guys started waking out of habit around that time (waking at same time, barely nursing) so I did let them "cry it out" at that point. Since they weren't actually hungry, and I don't think even really awake, they only fussed (not full-blown crying) for about 10 minutes before falling back asleep, and after about 2 or 3 nights they were sleeping throughout the night without waking at all.

I know you don't want to cry it out, but that method worked great for us. I also made sure to have a calm evening before putting them to bed, had a good bedtime routine, and put them down drowsy, not asleep (at some point I changed our bedtime routine to nurse before bath, but I think they were a little closer to weaning).

How long are you waiting to go in and settle him? My sister-in-law always went in at the first muffled little sound, so her almost 2-year old STILL isn't sleeping through the night. Even before they started sleeping through the night we always waited a few minutes to see if they would settle themselves; we all stir in our sleep. You may actually be disturbing his sleep by going in so quickly.

Best of luck! I know this is one of the hardest, most frustrating issues for parents and everyone gets through it eventually. You just have to do what feels right for your family.