Hi Lisajane
I have to agree with Michelle, there are a lot of developmental things going on around 6 months which cause an increase in the night wakings. These LO's brains are just so busy processing all this new information.
Or is it possible that your LO is hitting a growth spurt? There is often a growth spurt at around 6 months, which could be the reason that a previously good sleeper now wakes during the night. Have you tried feeding to see if that eliminates any of the wakings? Then your goal is to increase daytime calories so the LO doesn't need to wake up in the night for that extra food.
I would have to say though - I really think that it sounds like the paci is a big part of the problem. Until your baby is able to replace the paci by themself, if he needs you to plug him back in until he falls asleep, it has become a sleeping prop. So I guess then you have a decision to make - are you happy to keep getting up and giving him the paci back or are you going to try and wean him off it. I would add that, depending on how ingrained a habit is, it might well take more than 3 days to break a habit. If you are going to try and wean the paci, you can seek advise from the mums on our props board who will be able to share their experiences. When you were trying to eliminate the paci, were you using PU/PD or some other strategy to try and help your DS fall asleep?? While you are teaching your DS to fall asleep in a different way (ie without the paci) he will need additional support from you in getting to sleep and staying asleep.
HTH
Good luck