HELP!!! 5 month old can't stay asleep.

[maddie]

I am having a hard time getting my 5 mo. old to stay asleep during the day. Most times he will wake up after half an hour. Even if I keep him up longer, it will still be the same. Then as the day goes on, he becomes crankier and wakes up miserable. Even if I'm lucky to get him to sleep longer by holding him, he wakes up fussy. Evenings are a nightmare as I try to keep him happy until bedtime around 9-9:30. If he goes down any earlier than that, he thinks it is just a nap and won't stay down. I have tried everything, does anyone have any ideas???

[Littleape]

I have found that playing soft music in the nursery really helped my daughters sleep. They are 18 months now and they still like to fall asleep to it. I think it helps them relax and they don't hear those little sounds we try so hard not to make. I noticed that if it was too quiet, they tend to wake up more often. I personally found it worked better to find one quiet song on a CD and put it on repeat. They had a tendency to wake up when the music would change to different song otherwise.