# Parents: what's your favorite lullaby to sing to your children? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 11, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567 "2014-06-11T20:36:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/1 "2014-06-11T20:36:54Z")
Please note that we’re talking about songs you sing yourself, not recordings by professional artists. I’ve been singing “Little Bunny Foo-Foo” to kids I’ve been putting to bed since my baby sister was a literal baby, but that’s just me. Anybody else? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/2 "2014-06-11T20:42:07Z")
The Davy Crockett theme song. I started singing it to my son and had no clue how it popped in my head. I’ve never seen the show! ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/3 "2014-06-11T20:46:48Z")
Harry Chapin’s _Taxi_, and James Taylor/Carly Simon’s _Mockingbird_. It’s been around 20 years, and they still choke me up now that the babes are all grown. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/4 "2014-06-11T21:04:09Z")
Sleep Eye (Woody Guthrie) Now It’s Time to Say Goodnight (Beatles) Stay Awake from Mary Poppins musical All Through the Night (welsh folksong) Autumn To May (Peter Paul & Mary) My daughter is in grad school now. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/5 "2014-06-11T21:09:54Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Harry Chapin’s _Taxi_, and James Taylor/Carly Simon’s _Mockingbird_. It’s been around 20 years, and they still choke me up now that the babes are all grown. By chance, do you mean Chapin’s _Cats in the Cradle_? _Taxi_ is more like the song you sing yourself to sleep with, after you’ve been drinking alone all night. ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/6 "2014-06-11T21:12:12Z")
James Taylor’s Sweet Baby James ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/7 "2014-06-11T21:12:33Z")
“You’ll be in My Heart” from Tarzan. From the first moment I saw her, I thought “For one so small, you seem so strong” and it stuck. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/8 "2014-06-11T21:15:21Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > The Davy Crockett theme song. I started singing it to my son and had no clue how it popped in my head. I’ve never seen the show! I bet you saw it as a child and simply don’t remember it. I know that song too but couldn’t tell you anything about the show other than it starred Fess Parker. > [@kunilou](#): > > By chance, do you mean Chapin’s _Cats in the Cradle_? _Taxi_ is more like the song you sing yourself to sleep with, after you’ve been drinking alone all night. I can’t imagine anybody singing _Cat’s in the Cradle_ as a lullaby. It’s far more depressing than _Taxi_. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/9 "2014-06-11T21:17:42Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Stay Awake from Mary Poppins musical Ahh, yes, this is my absolute favorite. Such a lovely, lovely song. I also love to sing the one I made up for him. _His_ favorites are “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, “The ABC Song” (he digs that tune, I guess), and “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean”. But sometimes he asks me to sing mine, and it makes me _so_ stupidly happy. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/10 "2014-06-11T21:24:25Z")
Back when my daughter was a baby, I used to sing “Good Night Sweetheart” to her. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/11 "2014-06-11T21:27:55Z")
MilliCal is too grown up now, but Pepper Mill used to sing _I’d Like to Visit the Moon_ from Sesame Street: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoteMQ6w0SE) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MbG276-NINU/maxresdefault.jpg "Ernie & Shawn Colvin - I Don't Want to Live on the Moon") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbG276-NINU) ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/12 "2014-06-11T21:40:49Z")
Believe it or not, my 19-month-old daughter loves “Dumb Ways To Die” as a lullaby. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/13 "2014-06-11T22:06:53Z")
When mine were very little they made me sing a bunch of songs every night but I only remember three. Amazing Grace, Rock-a-bye Baby and Betcha By Golly Wow. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/14 "2014-06-11T22:32:10Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > The Davy Crockett theme song. I started singing it to my son and had no clue how it popped in my head. I’ve never seen the show! I sang that to my son. After he had grown up a bit, he asked me, “Who’s Emma Barr?” What? "You know, “killed Emma Barr when he was only 3.” ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/15 "2014-06-11T22:32:43Z")
My favorite lullaby to sing to her, was ‘St. Judy’s Comet’. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/16 "2014-06-11T22:48:17Z")
Not my favourite song or anything, but the one that always ended up coming out of my mouth was the one that starts “Hush little baby, don’t say a word, Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird”. Often with improvised lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/17 "2014-06-11T22:56:02Z")
> [@seal\_cleaner](#): > > I sang that to my son. After he had grown up a bit, he asked me, “Who’s Emma Barr?” What? "You know, “killed Emma Barr when he was only 3.” Hah! I’m such a freaking liberal pacifist that I used sing “caught 'em barr”, cause I didn’t want to sing to him about killing. :smack: I got over it by the time the second kid came around! ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/18 "2014-06-11T23:46:06Z")
There’s a lot of good ones here… I always liked\* Puff The Magic Dragon \*best. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/19 "2014-06-11T23:58:40Z")
I’ll be a first time uncle in about a month. My incoming niece will be several states away, so I won’t get many chances, but being me, I’ll go with the immortal “Free Bird”. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567/20 "2014-06-12T01:29:25Z")
I like to sing Lullaby by Ben Folds Five to my son. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-whats-your-favorite-lullaby-to-sing-to-your-children/690567.md?page=2)