Some of your earliest fond memories of childhood are probably listening to a bedtime story or hearing your parents sing you a lullaby before you fell asleep. These short, but sweet songs tend to stay with us forever. When you have a baby, you find yourself churning out all your old favourites and you are surprised you still remember every word.
Singing your child a lullaby as part of their bedtime routine is not only a lovely way to soothe them to sleep but it helps with bonding which is an important process after labour. Lullabies have even been found to reduce pain and calm babies breathing patterns, especially in pre-term and premature infants.
As they get older and begin to sing, singing along to nursery rhymes with your little one brings them an enormous amount of enjoyment, teaches them something new, as well as being the perfect activity for some bonding time. Even at a young age, just by listening and interacting with new words, sounds, and actions will contribute to helping their memory and speech development.
If you've found yourself in a lullaby rut and are struggling to find new songs to sing, then we have rounded up the best traditional and more modern lullabies to send your little one to sleep. Your baby won't care if you have the voice of an angel or not, but if you don't want to sing, we've included YouTube links, and lyrics so you'll never forget the words!
Nursery rhyme list:
Hush, Little Baby
Hush, little baby, don't say a word
Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird
And if that mockingbird won't sing
Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring
Rock-a-bye Baby
{#h-}
Rock-a-bye, baby, on the tree top
When the wind blows the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall
Down will come baby, cradle and all
You Are My Sunshine
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away
Ring-a-ring o’roses
Ring-a-ring o’roses
A pocketful of posies
Atishoo, atishoo
We all fall down.
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Itsy Bitsy spider climbing up the spout.
Down came the rain, and washed poor Itsy out.
Up came the sun, and dried up all the rain,
And Itsy Bitsy spider went climbing up again.
Round and Round The Garden
Round and round the garden, like a Teddy Bear,
One step, two step,
Tickle you under there!
This Little Piggy
This little piggy went to market,
This little piggy stayed at home,
This little piggy had roast beef,
This little piggy had none,
And this little piggy went...Wee wee wee all the way home.
Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
Up Jack got, and home did trot,
As fast as he could caper,
He went to bed to mend his head,
With vinegar and brown paper.
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men,
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
I'm a Little Tea Pot
I’m a little teapot, short and stout,
Here’s my handle,
Here’s my spout,
When I get all steamed up, hear me shout,
Just tip me over and pour me out.
London Bridge is Falling Down
London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.
Build it up with wood and clay,
Wood and clay, wood and clay,
Build it up with wood and clay,
My fair lady.
Wood and clay will wash away,
Wash away, wash away,
Wood and clay will wash away,
My fair lady.
Build it up with bricks and mortar,
Bricks and mortar, bricks and mortar,
Build it up with bricks and mortar,
My fair lady.
Bricks and mortar will not stay,
Will not stay, will not stay,
Bricks and mortar will not stay,
My fair lady.
Build it up with iron and steel,
Iron and steel, iron and steel,
Build it up with iron and steel,
My fair lady.
Iron and steel will bend and bow,
Bend and bow, bend and bow,
Iron and steel will bend and bow,
My fair lady.
Build it up with silver and gold,
Silver and gold, silver and gold,
Build it up with silver and gold,
My fair lady.
Silver and gold will be stolen away,
Stolen away, stolen away,
Silver and gold will be stolen away,
My fair lady.
Set a man to watch all night,
Watch all night, watch all night,
Set a man to watch all night,
My fair lady.
Suppose the man should fall asleep,
Fall asleep, fall asleep,
Suppose the man should fall asleep?
My fair lady.
Give him a pipe to smoke all night,
Smoke all night, smoke all night,
Give him a pipe to smoke all night,
My fair lady.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.
Then the traveller in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.
In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often through my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
‘Till the sun is in the sky.
As your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the traveller in the dark.
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
How I wonder what you are.
How I wonder what you are.
One, Two, Three, Four
One, two, three, four, five,
Once I caught a fish alive.
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Then I let it go again.
Why did you let it go?
Because it bit my finger so.
Which finger did it bite?
This little finger on my right.
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Mary had a little lamb,
whose fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went,
the lamb was sure to go.
It followed her to school one day
which was against the rules.
It made the children laugh and play,
to see a lamb at school.
And so the teacher turned it out,
but still it lingered near,
And waited patiently about,
till Mary did appear.
“Why does the lamb love Mary so?”
the eager children cry.
“Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know.”
the teacher did reply.
The Wheels on the Bus
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
Round and round, round and round,
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
All through the town.
The wipers on the bus go “Swish, swish, swish,
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish”
The wipers on the bus go “Swish, swish, swish”
All through the town.
The people on the bus go, “chat, chat, chat,
cha,,chat chat,chat chat ,chat,
The people on the bus go, “, chat,chat,chat
All through the town.
The horn on the bus go “Beep, beep, beep,
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep”
The horn on the bus go “Beep, beep, beep”,
All through the town.
The baby on the bus go, “wah, wah, wah!
wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah!”
The baby on the bus go, “wah, wah, wah!”
All through the town.
The mummy on the bus go, “ssss sh,ssss sh,ssss sh,
“ssss sh,ssss sh,ssss sh
The mummy on the bus go, “”ssss sh,ssss sh,ssss sh”
All through the town.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
Round and round, round and round,
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
All through the town.
Frère Jacques
French:
Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong
English translation:
Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping?
Brother John, Brother John,
Morning bells are ringing! Morning bells are ringing!
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong
Eeny Meeny Miny Moe
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
Catch a tiger by the toe
If he hollers let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
My mother told me
To pick the very best one
And you are not it.
Hickory dickory dock
Hickory, dickory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down,
Hickory, dickory, dock
Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck two
The mouse went "boo!"
Hickory dickory dock.
Three… the mouse went weeee
Four…The mouse went "no more!"
Baa Baa Black Sheep
Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full.
One for the master,
One for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.
Over The Rainbow
Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dreamed of
Once in a lullaby