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the mommyhood memos: do you have a special "sleepy time" song for your baby?

Thursday, August 19, 2010

do you have a special "sleepy time" song for your baby?

sweet swaddled sleeping boy at five days old
{something about this shot always cracks me up}
Since becoming a mom I have discovered a previously untapped talent: song-writing.

In our house, as I would imagine in yours, songs come in very handy... to comfort, to distract, to solicit a giggle, to play, to entertain. Usually they are made up on the spot, but others are a little more intentional.

One of the times we made-up a special song for is sleepy time - both naps times and bedtime. It's part of our "wind-down" routine and helps to communicate to Levi that it's time to transition from play to sleep. We've been singing it to him before every nap and bedtime since he was a newborn.

It is set to the tune of "twinkle, twinkle little star" and the words go like this:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
Pray the Lord my soul to keep.
Bless my momma, daddy, and me...
All my friends and fam-i-ly.
When I sleep I'll dream of you,
(And) all that's good and pure and true.

So as you can see it's a bedtime song and prayer combined. Short, sweet, and easy.

Dear mommy-friends... just a little something from our home to yours today. Do you have a special song that is used for bedtime, cleaning up the toys, bath time, etc? 




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adriel booker | the mommyhood memos | 2010 
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17 Comments:

At August 19, 2010 at 4:32 PM , Blogger HRH Mommy said...

First of all, precious photo!!

Secondly, love the song!

David sings a lot to Ryder, especially to calm him down and distract him from whatever is bothering him: "Somewhere over the Rainbow" and "Nature Boy". With Kai we used to (and with Ryder we currently) sing "Get up, stand up" when he stands up holding our hands. Very funny.

Finally, with Kai we sing the ABC song to get him through brushing his teeth.

 
At August 19, 2010 at 4:33 PM , Blogger HRH Mommy said...

...oh and for Kai we don't have a going-to-sleep song...we have pillow fights. So much for calming down before going to sleep... :-0

 
At August 19, 2010 at 8:49 PM , Blogger cooperl788 said...

We sing (of all things) the Kookaburra song for Georgia, followed by the following:
Goodnight Georgia
Goodnight Georgia
Goodnight Georgia
Mom and Dad love you so much
Goodnight Georgia (x3)
We'll see you in the morning

Lame, I know, but it only takes a few minutes and it's the only time she really snuggles with us now!

 
At August 19, 2010 at 9:48 PM , Blogger Crystal said...

We used to sing Jesus Loves Me with our daughter before bed when she was 18 months- 2 1/2 yrs old. Sorta got out of the habit when we moved here, though she has her own little prayer that she recites each night before bed.

 
At August 19, 2010 at 10:32 PM , Blogger Melissa B. said...

I've got an old guitar, and I used to sing folk songs as a bedtime treat. SITS sent me by, and I'm glad they did...

We've Come a Long Way, Baby...

 
At August 19, 2010 at 11:16 PM , Blogger Alana, Author of Domestically Challenged said...

OMG - we totally did! Do you know Sandra Boynton? Well, we love her books and the one we would sing to our kids was "Snuggle Puppy" - it makes me sad to think about it because they are so big now!

Great topic!

 
At August 19, 2010 at 11:20 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

I used to hum a lullabye to KLV up until about a year. Now we just sing whatever song pops in our head. I'll admit the best part is dancing with her. She loves to move her feet as fast as she can; it's just too cute. Thanks for stopping by and your nice note re: the nestwork.

 
At August 19, 2010 at 11:36 PM , Blogger Adriel Booker said...

I also sing "you are my sunshine" a lot, espcially when he's upset or just a bit fussy/cranky.

AND... I used to work at a preschool and I would put on "spoon full of sugar" from mary poppins for clean-up time. The kids would scramble to finish and beat the song. Worked like a charm. ;) We'll see if Levi will eventually buy that one too. ;)

 
At August 19, 2010 at 11:56 PM , Blogger kt moxie said...

Well, it's been a while, but we used to modify some songs to fit the kid's names. I did "Ryan (Lion) sleeps to night" for my son, and "Cecilia" to "Amelia" (we changed some of the words to make them appropriate!). Still sing them sometimes. Thanks for the memory!

 
At August 20, 2010 at 12:22 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

Right now, we're taking requests :) Isaac sometimes wants to be sung to, other times he'd rather just be tucked in with his favorite animals and hit the snooze button. We sing "Jesus Loves Me" (the normal version, and then one in Russian/Aleut) or "The SunBeam Song".

He's always been a Johnny Cash fan (he would only calm down to "Hurt" when fussy and zonk out), so now we're throwing in "Ring of Fire" and we sing it together :)

 
At August 20, 2010 at 1:14 AM , Blogger JIll said...

Our bed time routine now has a part where I put both boys in O's bed and then I sing a song about two boys in a bed. I know O loves it and Little B seems to enjoy it also.

 
At August 20, 2010 at 1:18 AM , Blogger Mandy@ a sorta fairytale said...

I always make up my own songs/melody's. Love yours :-) Oh and that picture is so adorable. We used to swaddle and wrap Bennett like that. Snug as a bug. I love Levi's little profile. So perfect.

 
At August 20, 2010 at 1:23 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

Q's bedtime song will portray just how ridiculous we are. It's sung to the tune of "Reunited" by Peaches & Herb.

Going nigh-nigh and it feels so good
Going nigh-nigh and it's understood
There's one perfect fit
And baby, nigh-nigh is it
We both are so excited 'cause you're going nigh-nigh
Yea yeaaa

 
At August 20, 2010 at 9:13 AM , Blogger Emily @ Finding My Aloha said...

Ok so I have to admit I am a little sheepish about posting this...

Yes, I have a song I made up for my son and I have been singing it to him since he was 2 months old. Its not just a bedtime song, but also works for tantrums, boo boos, fussiness, etc.

Ahhh, I cant believe I am doing this... here goes...

A punkin man,
A punkin man
Noah's a punkin man,
He curls his toes like a monkey
And he drinks milk like a junkie,
Noah's a punkin man.

There! I said it! Don't judge, I promise I don't encourage him to be a junkie. I sang it once and he giggled and smiled and best of all stopped screaming. How could I not repeat it? ;)

 
At August 20, 2010 at 12:52 PM , Blogger The Planet Pink said...

We've sung the same 3 songs to all of our girls every night since the birth of our first. It's actually an abbreviated version of the songs my own parents used to sing to me at bedtime when I was growing up: Jesus Loves Me, May The Lord, and I Love You Lord.

 
At August 22, 2010 at 12:50 PM , Blogger Cameron said...

You are so cute with your song!! I love it!!!! I'm going to have to sing that one. We sing You Are My Sunshine at night before putting Isis to bed and we sing Twinkle Twinkle at naps. I also sing stuff to her all the time throughout the day. Interestingly enough, Jesus Loves Me is her "calm down" song. If she's fussing or being crazy or something, if I sing that, she always gets quiet. Interesting how He works like that...

 
At August 25, 2010 at 11:48 PM , Blogger Rosilind Jukic said...

Our bedtime song is one I made up:

Its time to go to sleep
Its time to close your eyes
Lay your head down and sleep my child
Its time to go to sleep
Its time to close your eyes
Lay your head down and sleep

For bath we sing: This is the way we wash our ___, wash our ___, wash our ____.....when we take a bath.

Actually Robi thinks song of any kind (even bedtime songs) are a fun game. He love music - but that's normal since Z and I are both musicians.

He does have one favorite that calms him when he's worked up. Have patience from Music Machine (anyone remember that???)

Have patience, have patience
Don't be in such a hurry
When you get impatient
You only start to worry
Remember, remember
That God is patient, too
And think of all the times when others
Had to wait on you.

That's a real crowd pleaser. It will turn tears into smiles every time. I have no idea why - other than I loved Music Machine as a kid...but I found out that he loves this song purely by accident one day when I started singing it - he suddenly looked at me and started smiling really big. It's been a staple song in our home ever since. Even daddy sings it - making up "English" words (or words he pretends are English)...

 

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