I normally sing my 18 month old daughter to sleep. Around Christmas I discovered how effective The 12 Days of Christmas is as a bedtime song, and I've been singing it ever since. I'd like to move away from singing a Christmas carol every night, and I was wondering if anybody has some suggestions on any songs that serve the same purpose. Specifically they must be long and repetitive like 12 Days of Christmas.
I have already ruled out B-I-N-G-O and 99 Bottles of Beer for obvious reasons.
Our favorite is Sarah McLachlan's "Ice Cream" It's so sweet and you can add as many verses as you like. the song goes "Your love is better than chocolate. . . ." then "ice cream" we add all DS's favorite foods. And replace the verse "everyone here knows how to cry" with "everyone here knows how to smile"
Kumbaya
Hush Little Baby
Daddy Song (which is a made-up song to the tune of Great Green Globs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts -- "Daddy rides in a big red airplane, a big red airplane, a big red airplane. Daddy rides in a big red airplane, allll day long." repeat with every vehicle imaginable)
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
Dem Dry Bones
We sing a song to my son & daughter that goes like this:
"_______(insert child's name) is the boy/girl that mommy loves._________ is the boy/girl that Daddy loves. _________ is the boy/girl that we all love. Dear, sweet boy/girl in our world."
next stanza is the same w/different people ex. "______ is the boy/girl that grandpa loves. _________ is the boy/girl that sister loves. ________ is the boy/girl that we all love. dear, sweet boy/girl in our world" I continue to sing that, naming all the people in our family/extended family - until baby is asleep.
We do same thing. Just made up a song with our daughters name. She seemed to respond better with things she could relate to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrskatiekuj
We sing a song to my son & daughter that goes like this:
"_______(insert child's name) is the boy/girl that mommy loves._________ is the boy/girl that Daddy loves. _________ is the boy/girl that we all love. Dear, sweet boy/girl in our world."
next stanza is the same w/different people ex. "______ is the boy/girl that grandpa loves. _________ is the boy/girl that sister loves. ________ is the boy/girl that we all love. dear, sweet boy/girl in our world" I continue to sing that, naming all the people in our family/extended family - until baby is asleep.
We sing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer year round.
But yeah, it gets old. Like some of the PP's, I make up a lot of songs that are basically a list of people who love DS, or things/animals/people we're saying goodnight to.
Golden Slumbers is very soothing, as is a song called Down to the River. I love the latter because it's a very soft, pretty melody, and repetitive...but a warning that it is religious in case you're not. You could probably make up some words, though.
Hush little Baby (this is a good one for the genre you are doing because it's several verses of simlar tone then finally "you'll still be the sweetest little baby in town" it winds down nicely.)
Stay Awake (from Mary Poppins)
Tender Shepard
Hush-a-bye
My sunshine
I also sing other soft songs now and then like Lily of the Valley, and Blackbird
i sing you are my sunshine, dream a little dream of me, find my way back home , and bye lo baby which you can hear here... its number 11. http://www.rhapsody.com/playlistcentral/playlistdetail?playlistId=13015207 . the last 2 are baby's favorites. bye lo baby is nice because you can add whoever you want to to it. we sing
bye lo baby
bye lo baby
bye lo baby
bye lo baby bye
momma will love you
momma will love you
momma will love you
all of her life
and then gaga, and nani, and anna, and max, and choka, and kaka, and grandpa, and ayla, and bella, and jaji, until she falls asleep. just alternate between "bye lo baby" and "whoever will love you"!
We have a special song that my mom used to sing to my brother and me when we were little. It goes: "I love you so much, I love you so much, I can't even tell you how much I love you. You're special to me, you're special to me, I'm lucky to have you as part of my life. I love you I love you I love you. I love you I love you I love you. I love you so much, I love you so much, I can't even tell you how much I love you." I wish I could find the music online, it's a cute little tune!
I sing Puff the Magic dragon and Morningtown Ride because those are what my dad sang to me when I was little. Also, You are my sunshine, Only Exception by Paramore (my son LOVES it).
I sing a song by the Beatles that is on the White Album. The first time I ever heard it I knew I wanted to sing it to my children when I had them...and I have. All five of them.
"Now's the time to say good night
good night, sleep tight
Now the sun turns out his light
good night, sleep tight
dream sweet dreams for me
dream sweet dreams for you
Close your eyes and I'll close mine
good night, sleep tight
Now the moon begins to shine
good night, sleep tight
dream sweet dreams for me
dream sweet dreams for you"
Ringo Starr is the one singing it...bless his heart. He was a better drummer than a singer but it is such a sweet little song. We also sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the ABC's, Baa Baa Black Sheep and Beep Beep Robot...which my husband made up to the tune of Baa Baa.
I sing Puff the Magic dragon and Morningtown Ride because those are what my dad sang to me when I was little. Also, You are my sunshine, Only Exception by Paramore (my son LOVES it).
We sing a lot of Hush Little Baby here too, as well as Goodnight, Irene (the version Raffi has on his album, which is mostly about animals and where they sleep).
I also know and sing a lot of old ballads. I sing When I Was On Horseback, Cruel Sister, Jack Orion and more. Anything long, repetitive, slow and droning. There's a fair amount of blood and whatnot in them, though, and as she gets older I find DD is starting to use words like "slain" and "sixpence", but it's an education, of sorts. :/
That's funny, I started humming Silent Night to my son at Christmas and I stopped at some point, can't quite remember but I haven't found anything that felt as nice as that. I love the song House at Pooh Corner but I need to learn the words! lol
That's funny, I started humming Silent Night to my son at Christmas and I stopped at some point, can't quite remember but I haven't found anything that felt as nice as that. I love the song House at Pooh Corner but I need to learn the words! lol
We have a couple of Elizabeth Mitchell CD's (her music also comes up on Pandora) and DS loves, loves, loves her lullabies. She has one album, I think it's called "You Are My Little Bird" with lots of lullabies about birds. We sing those. His favorite starts, "Oh, little red bird, come to my windowsill. Been so lonesome, shakin' that morning chill." It's soft and sweet and he just loves it. I also sometimes sing him "Annie's Song," a John Denver song.
There's a singer by the name of Priscilla Herdman who has a CD out of lullabies and night songs, the title is Stardreamer. My girls love it. I went looking for it before my older daughter was born due to a song I remember hearing when I was in second grade called Waltzing with Bears. There are a number of good songs on there, some traditional and others not as well known.
we sing the verses up to 10, repeat (if we need to) with new rhyming words/people that have been knick knacked upon, sing the verses back from 10, repeat ...
I sing swing low, sweet chariot and often repeat it a few times... Also "Down in the river" which is kind of long if you don't know it but very repetitive and usually is sung as low as you go. Here is the link to the lyrics http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/alisonkrauss/downtotherivertopray.html
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Mothering Forum
16.5M posts
285.1K members
Since 1996
A forum community dedicated to all mothers and inclusive family living enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about nurturing, health, behavior, housing, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!