Suggestions on Getting 5 Month Old to Nap Longer?

May not be a helpful answer if you're not comfortable with it but I started putting my kids down for naps on their stomachs and they seemed to sleep longer at this age...

Both of my kids did this as well at about the same age and it is frustrating! It is just what you said - the end of their sleep cycle and she hasn't learned to put herself back to sleep. What I did was leave them alone to learn to self soothe. My kids didn't wake up crying, so I just left them alone and eventually they would go back to sleep. It may take a little while in the beginning, but it will take less and less time and eventually they won't even wake up during this time anymore. You may have to/want to go in and just give them their pacifier if they take one, but if you do, don't talk to them or even make eye contact. I also agree with the other ladies comments, I always made sure the room was dark (I used a room darkening shade) and cool and with my second child, I used a fan for white noise. This worked really well. You can just set the fan against the wall so that it blows the air against the wall. This also helps to increase air movement in the room which is good for reducing SIDS. Hang in there! Its a phase and she will grow out of it. Good Luck!

She'll get better as she gets older. My 14 mo old has been taking 3 hour naps for about 5-6 months now.

"Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," by Weissbluth is the BEST sleep book. Buy it or check it out from the library. It is so incredibly helpful because your daughter is right at the age where she can transition into a routine. He would say that she needs to sleep for at least an hour. If she wakes up before that hour, you don't go to her for another hour. If she's on a routine, then you're comfortable with letting her cry back to sleep because you know that she needs the sleep and is tired. How long is she awake between naps? That would also affect how long she sleeps--if she's awake for less than 2 hours, then she won't sleep for too long. If she's awake for too long (more than 3 hours), then she's overly tired & that will affect it too.
Good luck.

I would try to duplicate nighttime sleeping conditions more. Dark room, minimal sound (or whatever sound usually accompanies her to bed), etc. :)

My DD did the same thing. The ONLY way I could get her back to sleep was to put her in her bouncy seat, and bounce her in that. No holding, rocking, singing, etc worked. After she went back to sleep she would be out for another 45-90 minutes. The trick with her was to catch her right when she was waking up, and getting her into that bouncy chair right away. If she woke up too much even the chair wouldn't help.

Both of my kids did this!!!! My daughter went through a phase where she would only nap for about 20-30 min. It drove me crazy!! Luckily, it passed and they started to sleep for longer periods as they got older. I just remained consistent with the naptime routine and when they woke, I let them stay in their crib for a L. bit, maybe anywhere from 5 min to 20 min, just to see if they would fall back to sleep (they usually didn't). They are both great nappers now, I put them down around the same time every day and they both sleep for at least 2 hours sometimes 3. My daughter is now 3 and my son is 17 months. Just stay consistent and things will smooth out. I just think that there is so much going on with their L. bodies and minds that they are too excited or wired to sleep for long periods of time and as they get older, they are able to settle themselves to sleep longer. Good luck to you!

Is there something about the room very different from night? Is it much brighter? Noisier? If so, maybe a blackout shade? A white noise machine?