5 month old 30 to 40 min naps...cheating hasn't even lengthened naps

[mj mom]

My son is 5 months old and sleeps through the night... 11 hrs. His schedule is as follows:

6 am         wakes on his own (wakes very happy and plays in crib until we get him at 6;45)
7 am         breastfeeds (8 ozs)
8;30-9 am  he is looking for his nap with wind down of 15mins., usually goes down easy on his own
10am         cereal (2 tablespoons)
11am         breastfeeds (8 ozs)
12;30-1pm he is looking for his 2nd nap with wind down of 15 mins.
2pm          fruit (2 tablespoons)
3pm          breastfeeds (8 ozs.)
try to catnap him in here somewhere... 2 1/2 hrs from his wake time from the 2nd nap.. I only let him do 30 mins so it doesn't interfere with nighttime routine and getting him down.
5pm          cereal (2 tablespoons)
6pm          bedtime rountine with bath, massage, bottle (10 ozs)
he is completely exhausted at this point if he didn't do a catnap (3rd nap).

I have tried even cheating to get longer naps... swing, car rides, sleeping with him.... nothing consistently gets longer naps so I don't wait to create a bad habit especially even if it doesn't get me longer naps for him.

He was doing 20 mins naps and I did the wake to sleep and got him back to 40 mins but couldn't get him past that.
I also used the shhh/pat which sometimes works to get him longer.. most he would do with this was an hour maybe an 1 1/2hr.

I feel so bad because he only cries when he is tired and by 2 he is completely exhausted....

Any help or advice anyone could give would be great!

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Mom to M&M]

AT 5 months old, his A times seem quite long to me. OFten if you wait for him to look tired it could be too late - he may be overtired by then and hence the short naps.

If she's waking at 6am I'd try first nap at 8 or 8:15 latest. If he takes a good nap (at least one hour), I'd keep his A times at 2.25 hours including wind-down and see if that helps.

[mj mom]

Thanks for your advice.... I have shortened his A time which has helped some... he appears to need to go down for his nap between 1 1/2 hrs to 2 hrs... however I am still having trouble getting him to stay down.... what would you recommend?

I have tried in the past wake to sleep... shhh/pat (without the shh). I didn't find that either one worked consistently....

Does this get better with time and if I use one of the above methods... for a 5 month old... how long does it take for it to work?

[Mom to M&M]

You may have shortened A times too much - so if he's not tired enough for a long nap, he will have trouble staying down. I'd consistenly try 2.25 hours A time, combined with PU/PD and see if that works!