Kids Songs
Bedtime Song With Your Child's Name
How a bedtime song with your child's name fits the nightly routine, which bedtime details to put in it, and the chill goodnight song for older kids.
By Seb, founder of Only Happy Tears5 min read
In this article
Every house has its own bedtime script: the same book, the same stuffed animal in the same spot, the same words at the door. A song that sings your child's name can become one more line in it.
A bedtime song with your child's name sings their name along with the small things of their night: the stuffed animal, the night-light, the words you say at the door. Every kids song comes with two bonus songs, and one can be for bedtime: a bedtime song under 5, a chill goodnight song from 5 to 12.
A bedtime routine with a place for the song
A song becomes part of bedtime when it shows up at the same moment every night. Here is one routine for a toddler or preschooler. Change the steps to suit your house, but give the song a fixed spot:
- Bath and pajamas. If one of your bonus songs is for bath time, this is its moment.
- Teeth, with the toothbrush they picked out themselves.
- One book, or two short ones, agreed on before the first page.
- The stuffed animal goes to its spot. Let your child do this part.
- Night-light on, big light off.
- The bedtime song, once, with you sitting on the edge of the bed.
- The words you always say, then the door.
Putting the song after the big light goes off makes it the last music of the day and leaves your goodnight words as the very end.
Play it for the first time in daylight, though. A new song about them is exciting, and the first listen often comes with dancing, questions and a request to hear their name again. Let that happen in the afternoon. By bedtime it's already familiar, and it can slip into its spot in the routine.
Decide your one-more-time rule before the first night, because the request will come. Once every night, plus an extra play on Fridays, is easy to explain and easy to keep. Whatever you choose, say it before you press play, not after.
Listen to a routine song for a toddler
The bedtime details that belong in the song
Bedtime is full of small, particular things, and they make better lines than anything general about dreams and stars. Three are worth writing down tonight.
The stuffed animal
Most bedtimes have a co-star. Tell us its name, what kind of animal it is and what makes it unmistakable: the bear with one ear, the rabbit called Mr. Buttons who has never had a button, the dinosaur that has to face the door.
The night-light
Night-lights come with rules. The turtle that throws stars on the ceiling, the moon that has to be on before the door closes, the hallway light left open a crack and never wider. A line about it puts the song inside their room.
The words you say
Most families have a goodnight phrase, even if nobody planned it: "See you in the sunshine." "Same time tomorrow, buddy." "Dream about pancakes." Tell us yours word for word. When the song uses it, the last thing they hear at night is something they already know by heart.
If those three are covered, a few more are worth a line: the blanket with a name of its own, the cup of water that has to sit on the left, the sibling across the room who always says goodnight last, the streetlight that shows through the curtain.
Say your daughter, we'll call her Maya, is three. Her rabbit sleeps by the pillow facing the window, her night-light is a moon, and her dad always says "See you in the sunshine." Those three details, with her name in every chorus, are her bedtime song.
Bedtime at two and at four
The main song follows your child's age, and so does the way bedtime fits around it.
At one and two, the main song is built on claps, shakers and lines to sing back. That's a song for the kitchen and the car, not the last minutes before lights out. Bedtime belongs to the bonus songs: under 5 they're lullabies and routine songs, and one of them can be for bedtime.
At three and four, the main song is bright kids-pop, the one they'll ask for at breakfast and again in the car. The bedtime song brings the same name and the same small world to the end of the day, in a song made for that hour.
So a toddler or preschooler ends up with a pair: a song for the day and a song for the night. If you're unsure which style fits your child, the age styles for kids songs run from newborn to 12.
The chill goodnight song for kids 5 to 12
Somewhere around five, lullabies start to feel too little, but the end of the day still matters. From 5 to 12, the bonus songs are game day, best friends and a chill goodnight song. The goodnight song is the bedtime one, with nothing in it they'd call babyish.
The bedtime details change at this age. The stuffed animal may have moved to a shelf, or it may still be under the covers and nobody mentions it. Older kids have rituals of their own: the flashlight chapter, the top bunk, the question you trade before the light goes off. Tell us what bedtime looks like now, not what it looked like at three.
Say your son, we'll call him Owen, is seven. He reads one chapter by flashlight, then asks you for the best and worst part of your day. His goodnight song can carry the flashlight and the question, with his name coming back in every chorus.
One honest note: some older kids would rather play their goodnight song on their own speaker than hear it from the doorway. Let them. It's still part of the routine, just one they run themselves.
Write their bedtime into a song
Before you start, write down the stuffed animal's name, the night-light and your goodnight words exactly as you say them. Then start your child's bedtime song with those details and their age, and we write their song from your answers.
It's three songs starring your kid: their main song and two bonus songs, picked by you or picked for their age, so the day and the night each get their own. And every song is delivered in hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will a bedtime song help my child fall asleep?
We can't promise that, and no song can. What a bedtime song can do is become part of the routine: a fixed moment, with their name, their stuffed animal and your goodnight words in it, that comes right before lights out. If sleep has been hard for a while, your pediatrician is the right person to ask.
Can the song mention my child's stuffed animal by name?
Yes. Tell us the stuffed animal's name, what kind of animal it is and anything that makes it unmistakable, like a missing ear or a scarf it always wears. One song can include several names, so the stuffed animal, a sibling and the family dog can all appear. Your child stays the star: their name is the one sung in the first line, every chorus and the last line.
Is my 9-year-old too old for a bedtime song?
Not for the right kind. From 5 to 12, the bedtime option is a chill goodnight song, with nothing babyish about it. A nine-year-old who would never sit through a lullaby may happily put on a song about their own room, their own day and the thing you always say at lights out. Let them choose whether it plays from your phone or their own speaker.
Can the bonus songs be a bedtime song and a bath-time song?
For kids under 5, yes. The bonus songs at that age are lullabies and routine songs, which include bedtime, bath time and brushing teeth. With two bonus songs, bedtime and bath time can sit side by side: one for the tub and one for the last minutes before lights out. You can pick them yourself or let us pick for your child's age.
Can we use the bedtime song when we travel?
Yes. Keep it on your phone and it goes wherever you go: a hotel room, a cousin's house, a tent at a campsite. Bedtime away from home rarely looks like bedtime at home, but the song, the stuffed animal and your goodnight words are three pieces of it you can pack.
Seb, founder of Only Happy Tears
Music has carried all of us through the hard days and the happy ones. I started Only Happy Tears after writing a song for my family to tell them how grateful I am. Their first reaction was happy tears. Now I want everyone to be able to give that moment to the people they love, at a price anyone can afford and with no subscriptions.