Sleep is such an individual thing - my kids all have very different sleep needs. My oldest never slept much *ever* - gave up his naps very early, routinely stayed wide awake until after 10:30 pm, and yet was popping out of bed wide-eyed alert and ready to tackle the day at 5:30 am sharp (long before his sleepy parents were ready to get up!)... and that went on for years. He's mellowed a bit with age - now goes to be somewhere between 9:30 and 10:30 most nights, and wakes up like clockwork (but without need of an alarm) every day somewhere between 6:15 and 6:30 - wide awake, not tired at all.
My dd11, otoh, took an afternoon nap up through 4 years old, and always fell asleep at 8 pm at night no matter whether or not she was in bed, and that was it - she was asleep until morning, and even then it was tough to wake her up before 8 am. She stays up to 8:30 now and is still difficult to wake up in the morning. My youngest dd is somewhere in between the other two, but is the toughest to get out of bed in the morning - whether or not she slept 5 hours or 15 hours - she's just not a morning person.
One thing to consider if you feel your child is just on the verge of needing more sleep and you don't want to move up a bedtime (which I totally understand - the hours at the end of our days seem so limited and rushed!) - is there any possibility you could let them sleep in a 1/2 hour longer in the morning? We try to get everything ready at our house the night before, and that way our dds don't have to get up extra-early. I like having the extra time (awake) with them at night much more than in the morning - morning's always seem to be rushed whether or not the kids are up 30 minutes before we leave or 2 hours before we leave... possibly because *I'm* not a morning person lol
Best wishes,
polarbear
