Hellobee Boards

How old is your baby? My baby put herself on a reliable eating schedule around 2 mo, so I at least knew when she would want to eat. But she was a terrible catnapper during her 4 mo sleep regression (3.5 mo-5.5 mo for us). Right around the time her sleep improved at 5.5 mo she consolidated her catnaps and now takes 2 reliable naps a day at 6mo+.
Sooo...I didn't really put her on one I guess. I just waited for her to put herself on one and I learned her patterns. It also helps that I know she should take a nap 2-2.5 hours after she's been awake (except in the evening- where I hold out for bedtime).
If I leave the house, I will bring my carrier with me. If baby doesn't fall asleep in her stroller I can put her in the carrier (I use an ergo) and she usually takes some sort of nap in there.
Otherwise, I don't worry about messing her schedule up. As long as you don't do it every day, an occasional missed nap or shorter nap won't hurt anything.

My dd is 6 mo and we are juuuuuuust now starting to have a schedule. As for going out, we never leave the house for more than 1-2 hrs at a time. Like, ever.