Let’s talk lullabies!! Do you sing them to your children? Did your family sing them to you? It’s something I never even though about before adopting Arlo but it has since become such a huge part of our bedtime routine.
When we were in the hospital, the day after Arlo was born, Jeff spontaneously made up a quick lullaby about our little baby Arlo. I don’t know where it came from and I don’t think he thought anything of it, but boy did it stick. We sing it to him before every nap, and every night before bed. A few times Jeff has said how cool it is that something he so spontaneously blurted out has become a huge part of our family. Now I’m hoping he’ll think of one for each of our babies! It’s so special.
Ok but now you have to stay with me… because the other “lullaby” that I sing to Arlo is SO strange. It’s…. the goodbye song from Out Of The Box. YOU GUYS! How did this happen!? I think one day I was just desperately trying to get Arlo to sleep and music usually worked, so I must have sang this song and it worked. And I’m the kind of superstitious person that will hold onto a “one time” success and repeat it forever as a result. So every single night since, I’ve sang this ridiculous 90s TV show tune to my child as I put him down to sleep. I do swap “goodnight” in for “goodbye” though. I always think about the day when he’s like “hey mom, we didn’t play and sing together in a box today, what are you talking about?” But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. I kinda like how random and quirky it is, for now. =)
If you’re a lullaby fam, whether to your kids or from your family to you, what lullaby do/did you sing?? Any story behind it? And what I’m really curious about… do you sing the same one to each child, or do they each have their own? Would love to hear below!
Also, let me know if you’d like to see a post on our full bedtime routine!? We have it down to a science and I try to never miss it. It’s my favorite part of the day.
Tanja says
Hey, I am from Germany and after graduating from highschool I worked as an Au Pair for a family in Chicago for a year. On one of my first night bringing the kids to bed they asked me for a lullaby in German. Since I had to come up with it within seconds I started the theme song from Pippi Longstocking in German. And it got stuck. So for a year every time I put the kids to bed I sang that song or a kindergarden song about coughing earthworms cause that was the other song which came to my mind 😀
Kelly says
Oh my gosh I love that!!!!
Heather O says
Oh my goodness I LOVE that you sing Out of the Box! Loved that show as a kid. It’s so funny how things just stick! I don’t have children but I was recently dog sitting for a friend and she mentioned how she finds herself singing songs to the dog but putting her name (Stella) in. Sure enough by the second day I found myself singing Sherry by the Four Seasons but swapping in Stella! hahaha
Kelly says
Ha it was a good one!! I know, I have no idea how the heck that popped in my head but it’s here to stay. I also am very guilty of swapping in Arlo’s name to every song I can too! Or other random lyrics I think of. HA!
Sam says
Every night, going on 13 years, I sing “Golden Slumbers” by the Beatles to my son. The only time he doesn’t want me to sing is when he has friends over. I relish it more now than I did even just a few years ago, it feels like any day now he could decide he is done with the tuck in process.
Lindsey says
LOVE that song! So sweet! <3
Kelly says
Awwww it makes me cry just thinking about Arlo not wanting to be tucked in some day! I love that your son still does!!
Lindsey says
When my sweet Ollie girl was a baby, I would sing either “Edelweiss” from The Sound of Music or, my very favorite, “I’ll Take You Dreaming” – a sweet song that Danny Kaye sang in a movie called The Court Jester.
Megan says
My dad always sang Edelweiss to me when I was a kid! Still reminds me of him every time I hear it. Love that song <3
DriverB says
We have two songs – Morningtown Ride by Raffi, and It’s You I Like from Mr. Rogers. Would love to see a bedtime routine post!
Kelly says
Aww! Love!! Mr. Rogers spoke at my brother’s college graduation and it was definitely a highlight of my life. We all sang the theme together with him! And I’ll def get working on a bedtime routine post!!
Megan says
So, my baby’s name is Clark (as in Superman)… and I definitely find myself singing him the theme song to Smallville on a regular basis. LOL. It works!!
Layne says
I sang a song I made up for my first son and it stuck as well. I also sang “You are my Sunshine” and a bunch of Christian songs. We don’t sing at bedtime anymore (aged 6 & 4) but we sing all throughout the day. They just want to read books at bedtime now.
Stacy says
Ha! That resonates with me because my son’s name is Parker, and we started calling him Parkerman almost immediately. I would sing him the Spiderman theme song (you know, Peter Parker and all), substituting “Parkerman” for “Spiderman.”
“Parkerman, Parkerman, does whatever a Parker can…”
Stacy says
And somehow my comment ended up under the wrong original comment. See Superman comment above! 🙂
Megan says
Haha! That’s great too. Love those homemade jingles. I need to come up with one for Clark. It’s odd because I’m usually so good at making up songs on the spot… but for him it’s just super hard to do! Probably because I don’t want to screw it up!
Eleanor says
When I was a kid my mom sang a lot of lullabies but the ones I remember most are “Soon as We All Cook Sweet Potatoes” by Pete Seeger, and Swing Low Sweet Chariot. I imagine I’ll sing them to my kids someday!
Quinn A Duvall says
I was a nanny and preschool teacher for years, and around nap times I always sang “Go To Sleep Little Babe”, the song the Sirens sing in “O Brother Where Art Thou”. I look forward to rocking my own sweet babe to this tune in the future <3
Katie says
My son’s name is Fox, so one night out of slee deprivation when he was a newborn, I started singing him that “Little Boxes on the hillside…little boxes made of ticky tacky” song but subbed in foxes for boxes. It sounds crazy and it’s a weird song to sing your baby, but it’s easy for me to remember when we need a song!
I also love “Cause I Love You” by Johnny Cash
Amy says
We are BIG on making up songs (with terrible lyrics that don’t make any sense), but we also especially sing twinkle twinkle, somewhere over the rainbow, and give said the little stream.
Amy Cluck-McAlister says
My Grams used to sing Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built For Two), except she substituted “Amy” for “Daisy.” My daughter was named after my grandparents (Jamie Marie after James + Marie). I sing her this lullaby using her name. My Grams also sang me Doris Day’s A Bushel And A Peck and I sing that to my daughter as well:
I love you a bushel and a peck
A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck
A hug around the neck and a barrel and a heap
A barrel and a heap and I’m talkin’ in my sleep
About you, about you
Both songs are very special to me – it’s my way of keeping my Grams memory alive.
Amy Cluck-McAlister says
Forgot to say that I’d love to know Arlo’s bed time routine! We haven’t been too good sticking with a structured routine but I think it would help our LO get to sleep sooner.
Hester says
My 6 month old Kiki seems to like sunshine songs as the three lullabies I sing are
You are my sunshine,
Tomorrow from Annie
and Here comes the sun from the Beatles.
☀️
Celina says
OMG I completely forgot about that song, but what a great idea for a lullaby! When I worked with kids, the strangest songs would pop into my head. One of my favorites always got “Your Song” before naps.
Tori says
My husband and I had a similar experience with a totally made up song. We have a giant mirror in our hall and when our son was a few days old, I took him in front of it and sang “Who’s that baby in the mirror? Who’s that baby standing here? It’s Will. It’s Will.” We did it every night and he used to laugh hysterically when he started to recognize himself. We still sing it every night and he is almost 10 months old.
Elly says
I had a boyfriend a long time ago that wrote music and one song of his stuck in my head always. It’s called Hello Pillow and I thought it was a sweet different song for a lullaby. My daughter is 6 now and I still sing it to her when she asks for it, although some of the lyrics have been forgotten <3
Annie says
I sing my munchkin Somewhere Over the Rainbow every night before bed. She’s 5 now and sings along with me. I love hearing her little voice singing with me.
Kelli says
We sing our girls (5 and 2) a few songs from Laurie Berkner’s Lullabies CD. I’m a librarian and she is a storytime favorite for our patrons, and it just stuck one night. We started with Moon, Moon, Moon, and now we’ve added Fireflies, which is my favorite. I also have a 9 month old, and when I rock him to bed I sing him Darius Rucker’s Beautiful Baby. I discovered it (again, through the library!) when my oldest was born and it’s always had a special place for rocking my little ones to sleep.
Alysa says
I have twin girls so I sing a wide variety of songs for them. Sometimes I feel like I’m in a Broadway musical with all the signing I do haha!
My one daughter loves a medley of songs to fall asleep to — Moon River, Pure Imagination, Rainbow Connection, Dream a Little Dream of Me, Thank Heaven for Little Girls. My other daughter, Amelia, seems to like America by Simon and Garfunkel on repeat lately. Like you, for some reason I started humming when I was putting her to sleep once and now I do it every time haha. Before she was born, my husband used to sing Cecilia to her, changing the name to hers. Now I sing that to her when she gets upset to help calm her down.
Love all your Arlo updates. My girls are only a couple months behind so it’s been really helpful to follow you on your journey. Would love to hear about your bedtime routine!
Jen says
I sing Stay Awake from Mary Poppins, and Count Your Blessings from White Christmas ❤️
There was a point where it took about 5-10 songs to get my daughter to sleep so I ended up singing fireside songs from summer camp when I was little (thank goodness I had those buried somewhere in my brain 😂)
Jenni says
We sing Baby Mine, a made up song to the tune of Oh My Darlin’ (Oh My Rachel), a made up song to the tune of Oh Christmastree (Elizabeth, Elizabeth), Blackbird, Amazing Grace, and When You Wish Upon a Star. Love bedtime singing!
Ursula says
I sing ‘morningtown ride’ by the seekers, my mum sang it to me when I was little and now I sing it to my bub. And Her name is Elenore, so i sing ‘elenore’ by The turtles as well.
Lisa says
Well I’m just an Aunty but my go to song of choice when I’m babysitting my nephew is Sweet Child of Mine by Guns and Roses. Just popped into my head the first time I was trying to calm him and he stopped crying and went to sleep in my arms so now I always sing it.
Lily says
Growing up, my mom used to sing me this old lullaby called “High in the Top of the Old Pine Tree.” My grandmother sang it to my mom, and her mother sang it to her and so on. It’s been passed down generations, but when you google it the ONLY thing that pops up is a little blurb from a 19th century schoolbook. I think someone in my family must have sang it in school like a hundred years ago and it stuck!
Kelly Pierce says
I am raising 2 grandaughters. Ages 6 and 3. We recently moved into a new home. In order to comfort them in new surroundings i Googled lullabies. Jewel’s “Brahm’s Lullaby” came up. I play it, and a bunch of other of Jewels music for them. My fav is Twinkle, twinkle, little star by Jewel.
Kelly p.
Katie says
I sing Tom Petty’s “Alright For Now” – it’s so sweet and simple! The opening line is “Good night baby, sleep tight my love” which is obviously perfect 🙂
Lauren says
I sing one regular-ish lullaby, but I also sing a version of “Dear Theodosia” from Hamilton but change the words to “Dear Alice Ada” 🙂
Megan says
I’m a little late to the party on this one, but I’m so glad I read this post. I’m 19 weeks pregnant and was JUST thinking about lullabies that I want to sing this baby when s/he is born! My husband has already vetoed “Rockabye Baby” because “it ends badly”. Lol – he’s not wrong! 😉
Lindsay says
Our lullabies or so weird and specific lol I do a medley of 5 songs every night 🤣
the first two are songs my mom sang to us as kids, and then I did my “musicals medley” — Eidelweiss from The Sound of Music, Goodnight My Someone from The Music Man, and Stay Awake from Mary Poppins.
I’ve sung those every night for more than a year at this point. I can’t wait for my son (19 months) to sing along, and I think he might soon. The other night he kinda sang the first word of the last song and he always seems to settled in for extra cuddles when he knows it’s the last song.
When my husband handles bedtime he just sings every verse of Amazing Grace because he’s not very musical and it’s the one song he knows all the words to lol
I wonder with subsequent kids if I’ll keep the same medley or vary it so each child has their own special lullabies! We’ll have to see. For a while I was also including Once Upon a December from Anastasia, but that one got dropped due to time lol maybe I’ll bring it back for the next kid!