This might sound awful to you but believe me it works: when Jed falls asleep, let him sleep only 15 minutes. Then wake him up by standing him up, putting water on his hands, taking him outside in the fresh air - anything. Never let him sleep longer than 15 minutes. Those few minutes may help him cope for another few hours but chances are good that he'll be very tired at 7:30. This won't work in one day. You may not see results till a week or two. But the main thing is keep waking him up after 15 minutes and you WILL see results! I have 4 kids and when they were toddlers I did this with all of them. My youngest is 4 and he's still going to bed nicely at 7:30.

I have the same problem with my daughter. We're exhausted and she wants to play late at night! If I don't let her nap in the afternoon, she is an absolute terror from 5 o'clock onward. I don't know which is worse - having her sweet but wide awake all night or having her miserable but in bed by 8.

I personally prefer to tough it out for a few hours knowing my daughter will be fast asleep early in the evening. I never let her nap anymore. I know she's going to be kind of weird after 4:30, so I plan lots of distractions until her bedtime. I make some really good snacks to give her a second wind and I give her a little more attention at that time of day (I make supper earlier in the day so I can pay attention to her - otherwise she destroys the house while I'm trying to cook). Then we have a drawn out bedtime routine with a slow bubble bath, lots of stories and more snacks. If I'm on top of it, it's not too bad. Then when I put her to bed she is out like a light!

That's great but what do you do if you have other kids? I have a newborn, my 2 year old with the napping issue, a 5 year old who needs some attention and a 7 year old who needs help with homework in the evening. If I let the 2 year old nap in the afternoon, he's not ready for bed before 10p.m. If I don't let him nap, he is wild until 8:00  or 8:30 when he konks out. But my 7 year old is also ready for bed then and the 5 year old needs to be in bed at 7. I can't give the 2 year old all that attention.

Unfortunately my son stopped taking naps long ago but when he was at that in-between stage where he seemed to need a nap but then stayed up way too late a friend offered a useful suggestion.  She said that she would let her kids take their clothes off and run around.  Kids love to be without their clothes and she found that the cooler temperatures helped keep them awake.  I also tried to do things with my son at that time of day - give him a bath, take him to the park, feed him dinner etc.  Even if your son falls asleep at 6:00 or 6:30 he may stay asleep for the night.  Try keeping him up just a little longer - that may work.