I may not be of much help as I don't think an early bedtime is that essential when they are so young. When DS was that young, he would not go to bed that early either. I put him to bed when he started showing signs he was getting tired, and if it was 9:00 or 10:00, or even 11:00 then that was fine with me (any earlier and it was a battle I just did not want to have). As long as he was getting enough sleep through naps and such I didn't worry.

Now that he's is older though (and we have programs to go to in the morning) we have made bedtime earlier since we have to get up earlier. We just gradually moved the bedtime up earlier and earlier in 15 minute increments. 8:30pm is still the earliest though that he will go to bed, but he sleeps until 8:30am and still has 2-4 hours in the afternoon. Works great for us.

I have a friend whose 3 children are in bed at 6:30pm every night. This works great for her but to me that is way too early as it means they wake up at 5:30am. I am not able to wake up that early.

I think you're doing great and I think that whatever works for you is best. Try not to worry too much about what the clock says and what time you think he should be in bed by. He'll eventually start getting sleepy earlier.