10 Month Old Not Wanting to Sleep at Bedtime

If you want to pad his bed time routine with a little extra attention, but when you tell him it is time to go to bed- remain firm or you will be teaching him to disobey you and try to get out of what he should be doing. Holding firm to the idea that bed time is bed time, no playing around will pay big dividend down the road.
FYI soon he will be trying to ask for drinks, etc after you tuck him in. Don't give in. I would remind my son to get a drink before getting in bed. Any other requests after "good night" got a response of "The human body can survive for several days without water, you can make it till morning." I also used "mommy is off duty"
and when he started potty training, I would give him 2 minutes to use the bathroom then he has to wait an hour before going again. (by then he is asleep)

I think that you need to be flexible to a point with him. Maybe shoot for a little later and sometimes he'll be tired enough (fun in the playground) and fall asleep earlier. Change your expectations to reflect his needs, not a rigid schedule, and everyone's happier.

I would let him stay up a little later. He's probably no longer as tired at tha time. That's what happened to my baby and when he was more active he started going to bed early again.

Do what ever you feel is right. No one is going to come in and yell at you for enjoying spending time with your little boy before bed. Read an extra story, rock him a little bit longer, sing him a song, play tickle, what ever it is that you and he want to do before he goes of to sleep. Just think of how happy he must feel right before he goes to sleep. He's growing and his needs are changing. Routines are great but they don't have to be set in stone. He'll only be this little for such a short time. Enjoy it mama.

My 10-month-old's bedtime varies at this point. Most days he has a final bottle around 8 p.m. and is in bed by 8:30. However, sometimes if something changes his schedule earlier in the day (a later nap than normal) or he just seems more awake than usual, I don't have a problem with him staying up a little later and playing til he is more tired. Less stress for me when I lay him down. I usually wait til he is showing little signs of being tired before I take him upstairs to lay him down (before he is overly tired). Some days he will talk to himself and eventually fall asleep, some days he passes out immediately, and some days he just isn't ready so he gets a little more time with mommy and daddy downstairs. Do what is right for you. :-)

You can push bedtime back a little, but beware of tickling and playing too much. This will stimulate him, and make it harder for him to setle down. Maybe read a few extra books or something quieter. Also, rocking him to sleep can become a habit you'll wish you didn't start, so let him put himself to sleep.

I would just leave him when you finish the routine, and let him get to sleep on his own when he's ready. If you vary his routine based on his 'awakeness', he'll start to think that he can control when it's time, and you'll create a habit you have to break later.

DS did this for a long time. He'd stay up some nights in his crib, talking to himself, playing with this soother, kicking his crib, etc... for up to 45 minutes. Eventually he'd go to sleep when he was ready.

I'm downright militant when it comes to bedtime, so we stick to my schedule for that, and then he does what he needs to when he's ready to sleep. Now that he's 2, most nights he goes right to sleep. We've had a lot of battles with naps, but never with bedtime, and I credit my consistency there for the reason why.