Bye, Baby Bunting
A tiny four-line lullaby, over 200 years old, about wrapping a baby up snug and warm.
- Length
- 1 min to sing
- Good for
- Newborn, Baby
- Type
- Lullaby
Lullabies
The words to the old lullabies, for when you can remember the tune but not the second verse. Each one comes with where it’s from, what the old words mean and a few tips for singing. You don’t need a good voice: your baby won’t mind.
Why sing to your baby?
Babies seem to be tuned in to lullabies. In one lab study, their heart rate fell more during lullabies than during other songs.16 In another, babies who were a little upset calmed more when a parent sang a song they knew than when the parent talked.17
What the research says about singing
Golden Slumbers
A lullaby from 1603, sung to twin babies in an Elizabethan play. Two short verses, perfect for rocking.
- Length
- 2 min to sing
- Good for
- In the bump, Newborn, Baby
- Type
- Lullaby
Lavender’s Blue
The “dilly dilly” song from an 1849 book of rhymes, about a king and queen and a field of busy haymakers.
- Length
- 1 min to sing
- Good for
- Baby, Toddler
- Type
- Lullaby
Little Star’s Journey Home
A rhyming lullaby about a tiny star who floats down past mountains, rivers and forests to find the cosiest place to shine.
- Length
- 3 min to sing
- Good for
- In the bump, Newborn, Baby
- Type
- Lullaby
Rock-a-bye Baby
The old words to Rock-a-bye Baby, from a 1916 Mother Goose, plus a gentler last verse of our own where nobody falls.
- Length
- 1 min to sing
- Good for
- Newborn, Baby
- Type
- Lullaby
Sleep, Baby, Sleep
A German cradle song where Mother shakes the dreamland tree and sweet dreams fall down on the baby.
- Length
- 1 min to sing
- Good for
- Newborn, Baby, Toddler
- Type
- Lullaby
Sweet and Low
Tennyson’s lullaby of the western wind, sung to a baby while Father sails home under the silver moon.
- Length
- 2 min to sing
- Good for
- In the bump, Newborn
- Type
- Lullaby
The Little Boat Rocks to Sleep
A little wooden boat rocks gently on a moonlit sea, past sleepy seals and sleepy gulls, all the way home to the harbour.
- Length
- 2 min to sing
- Good for
- Newborn, Baby
- Type
- Lullaby
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
All five verses, including the forgotten one where the star peeps through your curtains.
- Length
- 2 min to sing
- Good for
- In the bump, Newborn, Baby, Toddler
- Type
- Lullaby