6 month old schedule issues

[Anonymous]

We need help. 6 month old used to sleep 6-7 hour stretches and now we are lucky if we get a 3-5 hour stretch where I don't need to replace paci or pick up for a few minutes.

Day schedule is a hot mess thanks to siblings and running around. Most days she nurses every 2-2.5 hours. Rarely 3 and that's if I'm not home. The other day it was literally every 2 hours. Solids 2-3x a day.

Bedtime routine is solid although half the time he goes down awake, the other half falls asleep nursing.

7-8 bedtime, 9-10pm dreamfeed, 1am replace paci,2-4am crapshoot sometimes sleeping, sometimes fussing and we will pay or shush or have to pick upand she's immediately asleep in our arms, we wait then put her down again. Around 4-5am nurse it sometimes DH gives her 2-3oz of milk, then up at 6-6:30 to nurse again

This wasn't sustainable as a newborn. It's definitely not sustainable now.

Is any of this normal? We're just wishful thinking that it can be something different

[Anonymous]

I have had similar phases with my now 1yo (whose a younger sibling). I hadn’t realized how hard it would be to manage sleep when other children’s schedules had to be considered as well. I am very interested in any advice for OP. My only helpful thought is that in a similar situation, I haven’t found anything that makes a difference but even so my kid eventually gravitates back to sleeping better in a bit (but the bad sleep comes back 😭).

[Anonymous]

I think it's normal and the reason a lot of people sleep train at this age. But it's hard to say if there's something else that you could do differently either. Is it possible that your supply is waning with the introduction of solids? Maybe she's waking up because she's hungry? She's nursing a lot for a 6 month old on solids.

[Anonymous]

Bedtime needs to be earlier, and day naps need to be consistent. I’d wean off pacifier.

[Anonymous]

It’s up to you if you want to keep doing the paci and picking up, or let her cry it out. All babies wake up around those times. It’s just a question of if they need help or not getting back to sleep.