Daytime naps at 5 months

[Imicola]

So my baby is pretty good at sleeping overnight, but it is a bit of a struggle to get her to nap, and when she does she never sleeps longer than 30 minutes unless she is in the car, or sometimes in the pram. Any tips on lengthening naps? I keep reading things about 1.5 or 2 hour naps at this age, but are they a fiction?!
She does nap in her cot, but it usually takes about 20 minutes of crying, shooshing, crying, stroking etc. Then she's awake after 30 minutes, upset and clearly still tired.
I have tried :
-a regular naptime routine
-blackout curtain linings
-white noise
-sooky blanket
-putting her down earlier
-putting her down later
-watching for sleepy cues
-soothing when she starts to stir
-leaving her for a short while when she wakes

Any suggestions welcome! Thanks.

All babies are different. If she's getting a good solid amount at night then I wouldn't worry too much, in fact I'd probably count your blessings. She may have started teething, which makes them even harder to put down during the day sometimes. If she needs to sleep she will. My DS had two 90 min naps at that age but he was a bugger at night time.

Yeah I think you are right, thanks! I know I am lucky with her night sleeping, so I should probably stop stressing about naps! At the moment she doesn't really want to be put down, I think perhaps partly due to teething and partly because she's learnt to roll to her front then gets stuck which tires and frustrates her. I've got the sling out, so will see if that helps her feel more calm!

Around 5 months was the absolute worse time for catnaps! No matter what I did, my baby seemed to wake after 30 minutes like clockwork.

I really think it's a developmental thing, that some babies at this age are just like this. Good news: at around 6.5 months, we started getting the occasional longer nap, or else could sometimes be resettled back to sleep. Now by 9 months naps are usually around 1-1.5 hours. I think just keep trying to resettle when they wake (maybe pop straight into the pram?) and be consistent, but for us it really was just time that made a difference!

Ignore the books! As the PP said, it’s a developmental thing, for many babies 30 minute cat naps are normal. All 3 of mine were/are catnappers. With my first I drove myself crazy trying to extend her naps and it rarely worked. With my second and third I just went with it. I think it’s important to make sure you’re getting lots of short naps in - mine were having 5 or 6 a day, with 90 min awake time.

Apparently babies start lengthening their naps of their own accord from 6 mo. With DD1, she suddenly started napping longer at 8 months without me changing anything. DD2 also started around the same time, though I would have to help her into a second sleep cycle. DC3 is 4mo so we’ll see what the future holds!

With my second and third I just took the quick and easy route to get them to sleep so most naps at home have been in the sling.

Hope that helps!