Naps outside the house - v alert 11 month old

[user1474565301]

My 11 month old is very alert to the world. She doesn't miss anything and therefore, finds it difficult to switch off and sleep.
She will have lovely naps, if we are home and she is in her cot,with curtains drawn and white noise going. She is just held until asleep, no rocking.
If it is roughly nap time, she will fall asleep in the car, but wakes the second we stop moving. She then either has naps which are too short in the car or I have to drive around to let her sleep long enough.
If I take her for a walk in the pushchair, she takes ages to drop off and wakes as soon as we stop moving or the noise level changes.
She is breastfed, still wakes in the night for one feed. Settles herself at bedtime, but will not resettle during the night without a feed at present.
If she does not have sufficient naps during the day, she wakes more at night and for long periods of time, which is tough, as my partner works away, so I'm doing it all on my own.
My questions are... Does anyone else have a similar baby? How do you go about leaving the house when baby does not nap easily unless at home? How do you go to baby groups, which are generally at 10am, when this is bang on usual nap time? I want her and I to be able to socialise, but doing so just results in a bad night and grumpy baby (and mummy).

Sounds like my DD2.

In my case I worked around her nap times (sorry not the answer you wanted). I tried to do a short nap in the morning (awake by 10.30 latest) and then a second nap in the afternoon (say 2pm), since most baby stuff was in the mornings. Could you try that? I do remember a phase when only a long morning nap worked though - as I recall we didn't do much during that phase!

It will only be a few more months till she drops to one nap, at that time life becomes a lot easier.

DD1 was even worse - she'd only nap in the buggy, but the buggy had to be in our dark hallway at home...

Does anyone else have a similar baby?

Exactly as above, I work around nap time, manipulate when nap time is to fit with our family routines and recognise that it's just a phase.

We didn't bother with baby groups until baby dropped to 1 nap - what would the point be if baby slept through it anyway? Or I'd just pop in for the last half hour of baby groups, when baby woke up.

Shopping and anything else necessary I did over lunchtime, between the 9-11 nap and 1-3 nap. Or I'd accept a shorter nap while out and about in the mornings and recognise that would make the afternoon nap harder work. But just accept that and deal with it.

Nap timings in our house were manipulated to fit with the school run. So I would keep baby awake in the morning while I took other children to school, so that she could cot-nap when we got home. Likewise at the other end of the school day.

Thanks so much for the replies, both of you and for the advice. This is what I was thinking, but wanted to make sure.
It's difficult to take this course sometimes, as a few people think I'm being over-protective by basing my days around naps and that I should just carry on with whatever I need to do and make her get used to it. Clearly, these people have never spent a year without having more than 5 hours sleep in a row :-)

My dd is younger than yours (8 months) but she's the same. Needs long daytime naps in her cot. We're not getting out much at the moment!

Er she sounds an amazing baby!! And totally normal.
Most people schedule their days around their babies naps and stay home or keep walking/driving to keep their child asleep. I would just accept you've got a normal one and go with it. Choose baby groups and meet friends at the right times for your dd.

I made sure we were home for naps. Was the only way to manage.

Bear in mind a lot of babies drop to one nap around their first birthday so it'll all change soon.

Mine is exactly the same, don't worry. She stopped sleeping in her pushchair at about 5 months; when I've tried since then she has found it hysterically funny which doesn't lead to sleep, just an overtired baby. Same as yours with sleeping in the car.

We go out when she's awake and she has both naps at home. It works a treat as she also sleeps brilliantly at night (they do say that sleep begets sleep etc). It is frustrating to have relatively little flexibility but I figure things will get easier when she drops down to 1 nap and eventually we'll be cursing the day they give up napping completely so I plan to enjoy it while it lasts!

Another one with an 11 month old with the same timings and need for certain sleep conditions. I don't do baby groups because there are none near me (not in uk), I did with DS but I remember it being a stress at this age. Just stay home an enjoy mumsnetting while they sleep, and di some shopping or ake them swimming some time 11-2. It is very tying in this phase though!

My first was just like that....my day was based around naps. Short morning one 9-9.30/10 then an afternoon 1-3....then dropped the morning one and just did after lunch in cot.....so basically had to have lunch at home or a short walk away so she didn't fall asleep on the way home!

second/third.(twins) were v different.

Same as everyone else, my day revolves around DDs naps (which she has to have at home in bed otherwise they are too short and she turns into a gremlin).

Like fate I didn't really do baby groups until she dropped to one nap, once they are on one nap it's much easier to get out and about but I remember how all consuming the 2/3 nap days were. And also how frustrating it is when people who have on-the-go-nappers get a bit judgey.

Thank you all so much. I needed a bit of reassurance that what I'm doing is OK and you have all made me feel lots better. Xx