How do I get my 5 month old to nap over 30 mins?

[SugarOrange]

My just turned five month old refuses to nap over 30 minutes. He naps around 3/4 times a day but is wide awake after so I’m not sure how to make these longer.. any advise greatly appreciated!

Here is his typical sleep schedule:

Wakes 7am
First nap 9am-9.30
Second nap 12-12.30
Third nap 2.30-3
Occasional fourth nap around 4.30
Getting ready for bed at 6 and down by 6.45

Wakes 2 times a night still usually around midnight and 4am.

He is formula fed and just started purées (not replacing any milk - just a taster really). Very active and loves to be in his jumperoo or bouncing around so you would think that would tire him out.

I found with my DD that if after 25 minutes I was there to resettle and shush her through the sleep cycle they hit at 30 minutes then she’d fall back to sleep. She used to take her naps in her pram so I’d rock it for a few minutes when she was 25 minutes in and she’d then sleep after half hour.

I used to the same as PP and sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Honestly what I really wish I'd done is not get so obsessed with trying to extend naps as my desperation to get my son to nap longer than 30 mins just caused so much stress and anxiety and took up so much time doing endless shushing and rocking and tramping the streets with the pram I think I would have been much more relaxed if I'd just let him do what he was going to do. I was so desperate to have more time to get stuff done or rest myself, but I didn't get any, I just got stress! Later on when I did controlled crying at nighttime then he immediately started going down for daytime naps easily and sleeping much longer periods. Good luck

My 5 mo did this and honestly, its a phase most babies go through around this age.

It stopped when he was about 6 mo and he fell into a solid 3 nap per day routine.

It was exhausting though.

My son has just turned 6 months and almost overnight without any help from me has gone from being a 30 minute napper to having hour long, or sometimes longer naps. He also dropped from 3 naps to 2 naps.

It's exhausting when they won't nap longer than 30 minutes. I'd get so annoyed when other mums would talk about their babies napping for hours. But for us at least he outgrew it on his own.

We’re a little over 5 months and have been in the same situation. She’s just now starting to do longer naps but it’s still hit and miss. Some days it’s all 30 mins and other days I have to wake her! I found she does longer in the pram so I tried to get at least one longer nap in if I could but otherwise I try not to stress. I found I’d get so worked up over her amount of sleep and trying to extend but it rarely worked! I’ve read it’s developmental so they just grow out of it eventually!

Thanks all, praying he grows out of it soon so I can have a moments down time 🙏

I don't think you need to push it, when they go to two naps, at least one will be longer (about an hour and a half) and when they go to one nap, it'll be a couple of hours. At least that was how it was for me and everyone else in my nct group.

I’m in this situation too. 4.5 month old will not sleep longer than 30-40 mins. Then he’s grumpy when he’s awake cos he’s still tired but will not go back down. I feel like he’s had a million short naps today. He didn’t used to be like this which gives me hope that he won’t always be like this.

Like a PP, I was able to get my DS to start a new sleep cycle by going into his room and stirring him gently (I used to pull at his dummy). Of course, it was a risky strategy because waking a baby 5 mins before he has completed his sleep cycle does not make for a pleasant awakening! But when it worked, it was heaven! Worth a try?

Hey OP, did this improve for you? Currently in nap hell with my nearly 5 month old!