To feed or not to feed

A & I are butting heads about whether or not to continue feeding J when he wakes up in the middle of the night (he slept through the night on Sat & Sun, but hasn't done so since). I've read online that at the 6-month mark (which Jacob is 2 days away from), babies can fast for 12 hours, so when he wakes in the middle of the night, he's not really hungry (WhatToExpect.com).

It may sound harsh, but I am a proponent of the Ferber (aka "cry-it-out) method (see also WhatToExpect.com), though I may not adhere strictly to it. During the day, I wait until Jacob seems tired (rubbing eyes, irritable, yawning, droopy eyes…). Before I put him in his crib, I change his diaper if necessary. Then I tuck him in and kiss him before leaving (even while he's still awake). I usually let him cry for 10 min before I go back in to re-tuck him and kiss him again. I would then wait another 10 min before repeating the process. Usually, I don't have to go back in a second time.

Our usual evening routine is solids at 5:30pm, bath at 7:00pm, and bottle/sleep at 7:30pm. The last two nights, he hasn't fallen asleep right away. Two nights ago, he must have cried for at least an hour before falling asleep (with Alan & I checking in on him every 10-15 min).

The first time he woke in the middle of the night, I was going to let him cry it out, but then A got to him, changed him, and fed him. The second time J woke in the middle of the night, I got to him within 5 min and changed his diaper. After 10 min of crying, J fell back asleep but then re-awoke when A went to make sure he was tucked in. After 5 min of crying, A decided to feed him.

I believe that the Ferber method will help J to learn to self-soothe and help J (and us) avoid sleep problems in the future. Do we really want to have our sleep disrupted for much longer? I don't think it's good for J either. I think the disruption at night also affects him during the day.

Maybe I'm over-reacting about the development of sleep problems. So what if J wants to eat in the middle of the night right now? He goes through these short spurts of sleeping through the time. We've had two of them so far. Maybe J will naturally start to sleep through the night when he is ready and who am I to force him into it? Or maybe I need to push him because sometimes I know what's better for him than he does.