need songs to sing to lauren...

[etwahl]

anyone have some easy ones i can sing to her? i don't know any songs, and i'm starting to forget to talk to her as much, probably from being tired!

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003

[COElizabeth]

Well, this is embarrassing, but James really likes the theme song from The Beverly Hillbillies, and he also really likes the "Do, a deer, a female deer" song that Julie Andrews used to teach the kids the notes in The Sound of Music. I sing horribly off-key and sound bad even to my non-musical ear, but he likes it. For now, anyway. My step-mom swears that her son's first sentence was, "Mommy don't sing; you're hurting my ears."

Elizabeth
Mom to James
9-20-02

[SASM]

Hi Tammy,

Just sing anything that comes to your head. It doesn't have to be a lullaby or song...a commercial, a theme song, anything. My DH makes up songs and rhymes that do not even make sense. It doesn't matter what you say to the baby ~ it's all about tone (and rhythm helps, too). She just wants to hear your voice :-)

[flagger]

So far Cocoa's favourite in the womb has been this one.

Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters -Elton John Lyrics by Bernie Taupin

And now I know
Spanish Harlem are not just pretty words to say
I thought I knew
But now I know that rose trees never grow in New York City

Until you've seen this trash can dream come true
You stand at the edge while people run you through
And I thank the Lord there's people out there like you
I thank the Lord there's people out there like you

While Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
Sons of bankers, sons of lawyers
Turn around and say good morning to the night
For unless they see the sky
But they can't and that is why
They know not if it's dark outside or light

This Broadway's got
It's got a lot of songs to sing
If I knew the tunes I might join in
I'll go my way alone
Grow my own, my own seeds shall be sown in New York City

Subway's no way for a good man to go down
Rich man can ride and the hobo he can drown
And I thank the Lord for the people I have found
I thank the Lord for the people I have found

[bnme]

I don't know many songs either, at least "baby" songs.

I sing the alaphabet and "One, two, buckle my shoe"....which I sometimes mistakenly replace the words with the words from the version of the song used in the Nightmare on Elm Street movies "One, Two, Freddy's coming for you"...eeek

I use them mostly if I am trying to concentrate on something or do something AND entertain him at the same time....the songs are easy to sing and he loves it. Especially helpful when trying to get him to be still on the changing table!

[egoldber]

I agree. Baby's don't really care. I have two songs that I sing to Sarah all the time when she is upset or feeling icky and they are her favorites. They are songs I made up, and I have NO IDEA what the melodies are from. But she likes ANY song I sing to her and as anyone can tell you, I do NOT have a pretty voice!

A friend of mine went out and bought a CD of classic baby songs because she didn't know any and was a little embarrassed.

[newbelly2002]

"You are my sunshine" and "amazing grace" are favorites around here. Unfortunatley, I only know the first two verses of both. Then, of course, hokey pokey (as I'm getting DS dressed) and that lullybe "go to sleep" with a made up verse somewhere between German and English with whatever I happen to be thinking at the time. Really, babies just love their mama's (and papa's) voice.

Paula
Mama to Dante 8/1/02
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b33a3c3de467

[mcmorfit]

I'll second "You are My Sunshine", as well I've made up several songs - the eating song, the hiccoup song, the Ms. Fussypants song (which I'm afraid I've sung A LOT today), and the list I'm sure will get longer and longer! I've just created a version of Oklahoma for Lucy too that I'm planning on debuting soon.

[egoldber]

Ah yes, I realize now I have MANY more original songs for Sarah including, "Good Morning Baby Sarah", "Let's Go to the Car!", "Going to Safeway", "Where is Lambie?", "Diaper Girl", etc.

[candybomiller]

We are definitely of the "make it up as you go along" school. I just pick a tune and make up words to it to fit whatever situation we're in. So far, Mommy's favorite is the "Shopping Song" which Daddy hates :) and Matt's favorite seems to be the "Ittle Bittle Wee Dittle Dittle" song that I made up at 2 am.

When he's really fussy, I sing either "Rock a bye baby" or "Twinkle, Twinkle" over and over and over and over and over and over and over (you get the point) again. That seems to calm him down.

Candy
Mom to Matt, 5/22/02

[brubeck]

Here's one of my favorites (to the tune of I've Been Working On The Railroad):

There's no poopy in the diaper
There's no poop for me!
There's no poopy in the diaper
And there's no pee pee!

Can't you smell the fresh clean diaper?
It's clean as clean so early in the morn
Can't you smell the fresh clean diaper?
The cleanest since you were born!

Baby don't you poop
Baby don't you poop
Baby don't you poop for me!

Baby don't you poop
Baby don't you poop
Baby don't you poop for me!

And for the opposite situation:

Somebody's been pooping in the diaper
Somebody's been pooping I know
Somebody's been pooping in the diaper
'Cause somebody had to go!


I also sing to my kids when changing their diapers. To the tune of The Wheels On The Bus:

We're taking off your diaper now
Diaper now
Diaper now
We're taking off your diaper now
All day long

Repeat for whatever other steps you do (putting on the fresh diaper now, wiping up your bottom now, putting on the diaper cream now, etc.).

And for anyone who's still reading my diaper inspired message here, have you seen that new Huggies commercial with the 'Elastics' singing group? I LOVE the lyrics to that one! I don't remember them exactly but it's lines like, 'I'll never let you down, I love to feel you hugging me tight' etc. :-)

[JMarie]

Okay, so I'm a closet-karaoke addict, so Aidan gets quite an earful most of the afternoon and evenings while I'm home. So far, some of his favorites - ones where he doesn't cry when I'm singing (and ones with easy melodies and lyrics) are as follows:

"House at Pooh Corner" - Loggins & Messina
"Don't Know Why" - Norah Jones
"And So It Goes" - Billy Joel
"Here Comes the Sun" - The Beatles
"Sweet Baby James" - James Taylor

Really, I've only found that he doesn't like fast music - maybe because most of the ones I sing are more 'powerful' and they startle him. However, he LOVES techno and house music (dancing around the living room like a crazy woman is REALLY a great workout!), so go figure... HTH!

JMarie
Mom to Aidan Christopher 01/28/03

[parkersmama]

We like "Jesus Loves Me", "You are my Sunshine", "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands", and lots of the others people mentioned. Another favorite non-baby song we sing is Credence Clearwater Revival's "Cotton Fields". I guess we picked it because it starts "when I was a little bitty baby...". Strange but we've sung it so much that both boys know it by heart! I also do lots of made up diaper, eating, car-going, etc. songs to a multitude of tunes. Just whatever pops into my head! Singing seems to make children behave better so we do it a lot! LOL!

[Melanie]

Ds is also a Norah Jones' fan! He gets rocked to sleep most nights to a medley of her songs (on the PC) and some instrumentals.

I sing to him to the tune of "Hush Little Baby:"

Hush little jonah, don't say a word
momma's gonna show you a hummingbird.
If that hummingbird should fly,
momma's gonna show you the evening sky.
When the night time shadow's fall,
Momma's gonna hear the cricketts' call,
While their song drifts from afar,
Momma's gonna show you a shooting star.
When that star drops from view
Momma's gonna read a book with you,
When that story has been read,
Momma's gonna get your warm bed spread.
When that quilt begins to wear,
Momma's gonna get your Teddy Bear.
If that teddy bear won't hug,
Momma's gonna catch you a lightning bug.
If that Lighting bug won't glow,
Momma's gonna play on her old banjo.
If that Banjo's out of tune,
Momma's gonna show you the Harvest Moon,
As that Moon drifts through the sky,
Momma's gonna sing you another lullaby.

Ds really calmed to that tune early on, but I didn't like the original words (i.e. I'm going to keep buying you stuff), so someone posted this for me.

I also sing the Raffi song "Down by the bay" but we usually make up our own words going A to Z. The old song "Good night sweetheart"(which the men sing in 'Three men and a baby' is another good one, but I can't find all the words.

Here are some sites I looked up when Jonah was about Lauren's age and I was getting sick of the same two over & over! LOL!
http://www.babycenter.com/general/6728.html
http://b.search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=lullaby+lyrics

and last but not least, some moves for you while you sing:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/5/T051200.asp#T051211

[mama2be]

I'm with Jennifer...House on Pooh Corner is tops on our list

But I call him my little Bugaboo and "Frog" and I actually make up songs...I sing "I'm a bugabooo Frog...I'm a bugaboo Frog"...I make up songs specific to him...:)...

I can't beleive he slept thru Cirque last night...I got the CD and we played that all day!!!

[jubilee]

Here's a song that my mom sang to me, and then I sang it to Jacob and he still enjoys it, now planning to sing it to Logan...

A you're adorable
B you're so beautiful
C you're a cutie with charm... (small pause)
D you're delightful
E you're exciting
F you're a feather in my arms... (small pause)
G you look good to me
H you're so heavenly
I you're the one I idolize... (small pause)
J we're like Jack and Jill
K you're so kissable
L you're the love-light in my eyes... (pause)
M, N, O, P, I could go on all day...
Q, R, S, T, alphabetically speaking you're OK!
U make my life complete
V means you're very sweet
W, X, Y, Z
It's fun to wander through the alphabet with you, because you mean so much to me!
I L-O-V-E Y-O-U, I am so in love with you!

it's cute and catchy, HTH

Edited to change the "U" verse!

[brubeck]

That's so funny, my Mom sang that to me and I sing it to my kids and I have no clue where it's from. There are a few differences in the words, most noteably being that the end of the version I know goes:

It's fun to wander through the alphabet with you, to tell you what you mean to me.
A B C D E F G H I love you!

[anna lisa]

OMG, I saw this song in a board book a Marshalls! Now I wish I would have bought it!!!

Hey, another reason to go back to Marshalls!

Thanks, never thought of taking the book and put it into a song!

[jubilee]

I don't know where it's from either, and I've never found anyone who has heard of it even! My mom was born in 1936, so I just imagined it was an older song that somehow got "lost" in popularity.

[August Mom]

Is there anyway to describe the tune for this song? I'd like to try it out on DS.

[August Mom]

DS's favorites are London Bridge (London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down, my fair Lauren (or lady)), Old MacDonald (we have a lot of unusual animals living on the farm) (Old MacDonald had a farm E-I-E-I-O. And on that farm he has a (name animal) E-I-E-I-O. With a (animal sound 2x) here and a (animal sound 2x) there, here a (animal sound), there a (animal sound), everywhere a (animal sound 2x). Old MacDonald had a farm E-I-E-I-O) and the Alphabet song. I also make up songs. You can make lots of words work with the London Bridge tune, BTW. As a newborn, DS really liked How Majestic Is Your Name (maybe because it's repetitive?)

Sorry if that's more info than you really need. I wasn't sure how literally I should take your statement that you don't know any songs. Good luck. Just sing whatever pops into your head.

[malie]

If you want the music for the alphabet love song it's here

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/alphlove.htm

There are also a lot of other songs and lyrics http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/musicchild.htm

I have to say I didn't know that You are my Sunshine was written by a former Louisiana State Governor (does anyone know if that's really true) and that's it's one of Louisiana's state songs

[August Mom]

Thanks.

[newbelly2002]

Such great ideas. ..

And y'all have reminded me about a couple I forgot: "I'm still Standing" by Elton John (because DS loves to stand); "Here comes the sun" (it's a rare thing in Berlin, we have to sing when we see it.

And top two favorites are: "On Top of the World" (closet Carpenters fan here); and "L-O-V-E" by Frank Sinatra (L-is for the way you look at me....)

Paula

Mama to Dante 8/1/02
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b33a3c3de467

[jmofarrill]

My DD is still in utero, but she really responds to the following songs:

All the Pretty Little Horses (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/prettyhorses.htm)

Golden Slumbers by the Beatles (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/the-beatles/78773.htm)

Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby (http://bluegrasslyrics.com/bluegrass_song.cfm-recordID=s09284.htm - it was in O Brother, Where Art Thou)

You Are My Sunshine (full lyrics at http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/sunshine.htm),

DD loves it when I sing or hum in a deep, resonant voice, so I usually sing/hum the songs low.

[jubilee]

Hey, great link! Thanks for finding it! In the lyrics, it made me realize that somewhere along the line I messed up the lyrics on the letter U. The song is from the late 40's, so I was correct in that it's just an older song that's been a bit forgotten.

[mharling]

What about Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes?

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Knees and Toes
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Knees and Toes
Eyes and Ears and Mouth and Nose
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Knees and Toes

I could see this being fun during diaper changes as you point to each part as you sing it.

This Little Piggy is a good one too, although not a song (I suppose you could make it into one!).

Have fun!!

Mary
EDD 4/5/03

[dogmom]

I got a book my health insurance company sent me (of all places)called "Games Babies Play: from birth to twelve months" by Vicky Lansky. It's nice because I can find songs I only remember the first line of.

I also have a new favorite CD "Daddy-o-Daddy: Rare Family Songs of Woody Guthrie" by various artists on rounder reconds. I sing "Want to See Me Grow" all the time to my DS, but there are other great songs.

Do you wanta see me grow?
Do you wanta see me grow?
Zoop zoop zoopity zoop
Thats the way I grow.

Do you wanta see me eat?
Do you wanta see me eat?
Zoop zoop zoopity zoop
Like a piggy eats.

Do you wanta see me drink?
Do you wanta see me drink?
Zoop zoop zoopity zoop
Like a horsie drinks.

Chorus:
Zoop zoop zoop zoopity zoop
Zoop zoop zoop zoopity zoop

And then more verses:
swim: like a fishie swims
run: like a doggie runs
grow: that's the way a grow
hop: like a rabbit hops
climb: like a monkey climbs
(Repeat Chorus)
sleep: like a baby sleeps
grow: that's the way I grow.

It's easy to make up more verses. Here's a link to rounder's website if you want to download and play a sample of the sound.

http://www.rounder.com/album.asp?catalog_id=6279

Jeanne
Mom of Harvey
1/16/03

I don't work for them or anything, I'm just a big Woody Guthrie fan and glad someone did this. It's a great group of kid's songs.

[brubeck]

L-O-V-E was the song my husband and I danced to at our wedding. I used to sing it to my big pregnant tummy!

[brubeck]

This is so weird, everyone knows some tune to this song that I've never heard, but I learned it to the tune of London Bridge:

Head and shoulders knees and toes
knees and toes, knees and toes
Head and shoulders knees and toes
Eyes, ears, mouth and nose

Where does this other tuen come from?

[mharling]

I have no idea where it's from! This is how I remember singing it as a little kid at church. I've never heard it to the tune of London Bridge! :P

Funny how we all know the 'same' things, but they're different!

Mary
EDD 4/5/03

[jeneli]

I sing to my son a LOT -- sometimes songs that I make up, and sometimes standard baby songs (or pop/folk songs!). He particularly likes songs that have motions/actions while I sing them, so two of his favorites are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (I open & close my fists and move them all around his head like twinkling stars while I sing it), and Itsy Bitsy Spider. There are several variations of Itsy Bitsy Spider (some know it as "Eensy Weensy Spider") but these are the lyrics I learned growing up:

The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout
Down came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again!

[jubilee]

Another thought, if you are up to it, is to watch kids shows that feature lots of singing. When Jacob was little, Barney was all the rage, so I actually learned a lot of song from watching that with him. Also, I've seen a few shows on Disney that have songs.

[Magda]

Get Night Songs and Lullabies by Kim Scanlon. It's great!

We like: Hush little Baby, Baa baa black sheep, somewhere over the rainbow, and all the pretty little horses.

If DS is really fussy we like:

I am slowly going crazy,
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 switch.
Crazy going slowly am I
6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 switch.

Baby, baby, crying baby
Hush you little thing I say.
If you don't then maybe, maybe,
Mama will go insane.

We adapted it from am OLD traditional English rhyme that was a little violent for general comsumption. (Bonaparte or Oliver Cromwell beats or eats up the noisy baby)

Elaine

[August Mom]

I can't believe that I forgot that one. DS LOVES Itsy Bitsy Spider. I do the "standard" motions that I learned in kindergarten. But, DH does motions on DS's body and he LOVES it (so now I do those too). He walks his fingers up DS's torso when he sings "The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout," then lightly strokes DS's face downward on "Down came the rain and washed the spider out," then puts his hands in the center of DS's forehead and moves them outward when he sings "Out came the sun and dried up all the rain" and then takes his fingers back up DS's torso for "And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again."

[jeneli]

I've been doing the "standard" motions to... I'll have to give the "hands on" motions a try! good idea!

[parkersmama]

We have this song on an album of kid's music by John Lithgow (yes, the guy from Third Rock!). It's called "Singing in the Bathtub". We love the whole album and the alphabet song definitely makes a good baby song. Here's a link for the album: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000I8A3/qid=1049921088/sr=8-10/ref=sr_8_10/102-7919822-3461702?v=glance&s=music&n=507846 There is a clip from the song (called A-You're Adorable) that you can listen to that'll give you the tune!

[sntm]

that's beautiful! I agree, the words to the original aren't very appealing.

i sing (to the Belly) lots of old big band standards (it had to be you, isn't it romantic, at last) and we have gone through a '70s soft rock phase with sweet baby james, etc. i'm definitely planning on using norah jones too (relaxes me to listen to it!)

Melanie posted the address already, but the babycenter site has lots of lyrics to old traditional nursery songs.

shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03