What Do You Sing to Your Kids?

My son in law has been known to hum 'What do you do with a drunkin sailor' a time or two. Personally I go with classic rock which includes songs by the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, and Ozzy. I really didn't know any lullabies and didn't bother to learn them.

S.!! Mine are 12 and 14 - they blush when I start singing to them!!!

My youngest loves "somewhere over the rainbow"...as the long one...

And they giggle when I sing "good night sweetheart, it's time to go"....

I never sang classic lullabies really.
I would sing the "Jigglypuff" song from Pokémon, the one they sing to make everyone sleep. I always hummed the melody from "Oh Mein Papa" because the band Siouxsie and the Banshees did a version of it with this amazing music box playing the melody and that was the part I'd hum softly. There's a song from the soundtrack to the movie "The Secret of Kells". There is no reason it has to be a traditional lullaby.
I also really have to ask, what makes a song "girlie" vs "boyish"? To me it's all just music. Music has no gender.

I sing these EVERY night. I sang these to my boys as well as my daughter.
Itsy bitsy spider
Que sera sera
Silent night
Oh come Oh come Emanuel
Amazing Grace
Good Night sweetheart, well, it's time to go (I don't know the name of it)

I have always sang my children to sleep until they ask me not to. Probably around 5-7.

I have been singing "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley to my babes every night for over 6 years. <3

When our son was really little, Rock-a-by Baby I sang every night - and he'd want it sung for him, his teddy bear, and what ever other stuffed animal he was sleeping with at the time.
I use to hang out at renaissance fairs a lot.
I have the CDs for The Pyrates Royale (an award-winning band that performs traditional maritime, Irish and English folk music with a liberal dash of humor. - you can find them on Groove Shark) and
Minstrels Of Mayhem.
Our son has gone to sleep listening to them for a long time.
When he was younger I lived in fear he might repeat 'send the bastard off to sea' at school but fortunately it was never a problem.
He also likes Simon and Garfunkel.

I sing to them in the a.m.!!! I put happy "wake up" type music on and sing to them. They usually get a foot rub to boot!! BTW, these are teenage boys! :)

I was more of a reader than a singer. Well, I sang along in the car (Beatles, Disney movie music, Sesame St. songs, show tunes, etc.) but at night the only lullaby I ever remember singing was "You are My Sunshine" after reading and as I tucked them in :-)

We still sing to ours, they are 11 & 12 and ask for it every night. I say we because DH does the singing. Don't know what he sings to ds, but to dd he sings a different Julie Andrews movie song a month. He's worked his way through The Sound Of Music and is on The King & I now. When he's traveling and I have to sing.....ds gets the Oscar Mayer Bologna song and dd gets the old camp song I'm Looking Over Rover.

My go-to songs are "Waste" and "My Sweet One" by Phish, "Bubbletoes" and "Flake" by Jack Johnson, "Hesitate" by Jason Mraz, and I have recently added "Stickshifts and Safety Belts" by Cake since the kids started singing along with my ringtone.

My husband sings Elvis, mostly "Suspicious Minds" and the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 theme song.

I always sang "good night ladies" to my son, changing the word "ladies" to his name. Then I'd make up new verses ("sweet dreams…." 3 times followed by "It's time to go to sleep". Then I'd add a few verses about what we did that day, just squeezing in the words to fit to the tune. ("We had a good day, we went to the playground, we ate some lunch, and now it's time for sleep.") It doesn't have to make sense - it just has to be calming and reassuring, surrounding him with the love you feel and the good parts of the day (especially the simple things he did as part of everyday life). I got slower and slower, quieter and quieter as we got to the end of the song, and I ended with "Mommy loves you, Daddy loves you, Nana loves you, and the puppy loves you too" (fill in any names you want of course) and then repeat of "Good night… it's time to go to sleep." After that, there was no talking, just a kiss and then I'd leave. My husband did the same thing so it was a nice tradition.

You are my Sunshine is another good one because you can slow it down and make it soothing.

I'd rethink the definition of what's "girly" and what's "boy like" and make sure that your little guy gets just as much music and cuddling. I think most classic lullabies are pretty flawed anyway, so we substituted our own.

I didn't do any finger play songs (like "Wheels on the Bus") at night because kids get too riled up. I don't do too much where they even have to sing along - it's more listening and calming down.

I love this question!!!

DS - his "theme" song was "Wild Thing" and the Batman theme song. I would sing lullaby and good night, you are my sunshine.

DD - Lullaby and goodnight, you are my sunshine, itsy bitsy spider WITH hand motions! Little Bunny Foofoo WITH hand motions. =)

The Irish lullaby and Over a The Rainbow.

Some of the "standards" I would sing to my son were twinkle twinkle, the ABC song, You are my sunshine and anything by Peter Paul and Mary. My son loved silly songs...On Top of Spaghetti. Oh I wish I were. The ants go marching, The Wheels on the Bus and Miss Mary Mack and Miss Suzy had a baby. :) And the theme song from the Elephant show was a popular one with both of my kids (boy and girl).

I used to sing the Lawrence Welk Show closing credits Goodnight Song quite often. It reminded me of my parents and my childhood.

I usually pick a tune and make up my own words that fit our mood and what we did that day.

I don't sing at night anymore but in the morning while waking her up I sing Good morning to you. It still makes my daughter smile. She really thinks I can sing. Too bad other people disagree with her.

I use to sing the months of the year, days of the week and the colors of the rainbow. I just put the words to a tune. I also use to count by 1's, 2s, 5s and 10s. Since my kids had heard these "songs" everyday since the day they were born they excelled in preschool😊.

I would sing Andrew Lloyd Webber songs while I was pregnant with my son. In the car, for an hour when I would commute to work. He loves musicals now- go figure.

When he was a baby I'd sing Enya songs to put him to sleep.

Once he was 2, it was rock music. The Doors, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, and Def Leppard. He loved it when I would sing and dance with him.

Now he likes The Beastie Boys, Shakira, Ska, and Green Day. We love singing in the car or at home. Music is so important.

Since daughter was born I've been singing Cat Power's I Found a Reason. Other faves are Twinkle Twinklw Little Star and the Buddhist chant, The Three Refuges.

I sing you are my sunshine to both of my kids. Even at 9 and 12 they still love it when i sing.
Many blessings

I sang the music I liked to my daughter.
Some of her favorites were:
Imagine (John Lennon)
Why Worry (Dire Straits)
Wonderful Tonight (Eric Clapton)
Julia (Beatles)
Me and Bobby McGee (Janis Joplin)
Highway 61 Revisited (Bob Dylan)
Angel Band (Joan Baez)
Suzanne (Leonard Cohen)
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (Sinead O'Connor)
Pancho and Lefty (Townes van Zandt)