How often should my 5 month old eat?

Question

My little one is 5 months old and still nurses to sleep and contact sleeps and contact naps (nurses on and off throughout the night). 
When she was two months the pediatrician said that babies only need to eat every 3 hours. My little one still eats more frequently than that (like every 1.5 maaaybe 2 hours). She is a snacker. 
How did you go about getting your baby to eat only every 3 hours? Did you just let your baby cry until the three hour mark? I don’t think I nor my husband can handle that. Do you distract them? Also I think a problem of mine could be that she naps almost every 3 hours (sometimes sooner) and she nurses to sleep to she’s eating to sleep and then eats about 1 hour after she wakes from a nap. Sometimes her naps are only 45 minutes. 
I think if I can get her to eat only every three hours then she might not feel the need to nurse all night? Idk. I know people are going to say “wake, eat, play, sleep” but I can’t get her to take a “full feeding” and then I have a difficult time putting her to sleep without nursing (it’s happened once with me and once with my husband). Also she’s teething now so she wants comfort boob. And she doesn’t take pacifiers. Help!

Answer

Just keep doing what you are doing!
There’s not need to change anything. Just feed on demand. Nurse to sleep. Do what works for you and babe!

Answer

Just keep feeding on demand. My 5 month old can go 3 hours. Sometimes it’s only 1.5 hours. Sometimes it’s 5 (at night). She doesn’t always nurse to sleep, but she does a lot. She also is pretty restless during the night unless my boob is in her face. Not in her mouth. Just in her face. I think she eats so much at night now because she started daycare. I think she’d rather not have the bottle, so she sleeps a lot at daycare and eats all night. She used to sleep most of the night and only wake once or twice to eat.

Answer

On demand. It is completely normal for a 5 month old who is still EBF to be a snacker like you mentioned yours is. My son was the same way. Some days he was fine going 3-4 hours in between feeds, and many days he wanted to breastfeed every 1.5-2hr. 
Follow your baby’s cues! You know your baby and your baby’s needs better than your doctor. 
Of course a doctor can be helpful in other situations of medical need, but sometimes when it comes to feeding their info is a little outdated

Answer

Honestly my daughter was the same, nursing every 2 hours. I’d say keep doing what you’re doing! Can’t overfeed a breastfed baby

Answer

"Needs to eat wvwey three hours" doesn't mean he "has to" eat every three hours. If baby wants to nurse more often, that is absolutely normal. Especially on breastfed babies.