Bedtime Prayer

How about this one:

Dear Father in Heaven
Look down from above;
Bless Mama and Papa,
And those whom I love

May angles quard over
my slumbers, and when
morning is breaking
awaken me.

Amen

Hello! :) My son has a little stuffed frog and when you squeeze his tummy, he says a little prayer - I think it's really sweet. (It actually is the one you were talking about but said slightly different w/o the "dying" part) It goes like this:

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. The angels watch me through the night until I wake in the morning light. Amen."

Hope this helps!

My son has a blankie with a stuffed lambs head on it and you push the lambs hand and it says "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, Angels watch me through the night, 'til I wake in morning's light". So if you like that prayer, except for the death part, it is a nice way to take care of it. We say "thank You for all our blessings, bless our family, friends and teachers and help {Josh} to get a good night's sleep so he can learn and p1ay and grow" Our son is 28 months old. Hope this helps!

Hi Lisa~
I don't like the idea of a scripted prayer; I want to instead teach my kids to pray from their hearts. We always thank God for what we got to do that day and who we spent it with, as well as keeping our family and friends safe. We ask God to bless whatever we plan to do tomorrow and to help us have a good night (and to help us remember not to suck our thumb...lol). We always, always end by thanking God for our Saviour Jesus and praying in His name.
God bless you for teaching your kids to pray!!
~L.

We taught our kids the "Now I lay me" prayer at bed but omitted the "if I die before I wake" with "and bless my Mommy and Daddy and Grandpa and Grandma, and my dog, and....." so on and so forth.

Hope this helps!!

This one is like the Now I lay me... but I agree, I didn't like the dying part either. My daughter got a cute little stuffed praying bear for her baptism and it says:

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
Watch me as I run and play
Keep me safe by night and day.

My daughter is 16 months old and is starting to learn it already. It's pretty easy. We say it together every night.

I know exactly what you mean about the dying before I wake part, so we just say "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Leave out the part you don't like and just go to: God bless...daddy and mommy... After that, I let my daughter take it from there. We think of things we are grateful for together. It's fun to see what is important to her. Even at 5 years old, she still loves to "God bless" friends, family, and even chocolate occasionally.

The one we use:

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep and Angels watch me through the night and keep me safe till morning light.

I don't like that dying part either! I also changed the Rock-a-bye baby to "...and mom will catch baby cradle and all" Much less scary than "down will come baby, cradle and all!"

I agree with you so we say the prayer as follows:"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, Thy love stay with me through the night, and wake me with the morning light"

My kids love it!!

We do to now i lay me but instead of die before we use let Jesus watch me though the night and wake me with the morning light I have also herd it as angels instead of Jesus makes it really cute i think

We taught our son sign language at a young age. He is now two and does the signs (and says the words) for thank-you (hand on chin, then brought outward as if blowing a kiss) and Jesus (point to the palm of one hand, then the other). It is so cute, and simple, and says everything he needs to say!

Hi Lisa,
I took these two bedtime prayers out of my Daughters book called "My First Book of Prayers" (in case you might want to get it)

Father, we thank you for the night
And for the pleasant morning light,
For rest and food and loving care
And all that makes the day so fair. (Author Unknown)

And a different rendition, without the dying part:

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
Watch over me throughout the night
And bring me safe to morning light.

Hope these help.

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
Guard me while I sleep tonight,
And wake me safe at dawn's first light.
God bless Mommy; Daddy, too,
And help me to always be true to you.
Amen.

My daughters grandma gave her a little white teddy bear with wings and it moved in motion with this prayer and she is 11 yrs old now and had it since she was 2 yrs old and we love this teddy bear and it has brought much happiness to us and now she passed it down to her baby brother and he also learned this prayer.I also did not the if I die part,so I thought this was just so sweet and the children really enjoy this prayer.

Now I lay me down to sleep
I prey dear lord my soul to keep
Keep me safe all through the nite, and wake me with the morning light.

We just say " Dear Jesus thank you for all of our blessings (name a few if appropriate). God Bless mom, dad, brothers, sisters, g-ma,g-pa, etc. Amen"

Lisa, I never liked that part either, so I have always said it this way. "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, Guard me Jesus through the night, Dont wake me with first morning light, cuz if I sleep and if I rest, all next day Ill be my best, Amen", and I have said that will all four of my kids and I put an emphasis on Dont wake me with First morning light. It works well and is just as easy to remember.

I remember when I was little, my parents would pray with me: "God bless Mommy, God bless Daddy... and added whoever else I wanted to add. Maybe that would work? I agree with the "if I should die..." part. I don't want to use that either.

Hi Lisa! With our son, we simple say thankful prayers. Usually me or my husband will say a quick prayer, to give him the idea, the my son starts off by saying, Dear God, Thank you for... and then he fills in the blanks. He always says mommy and daddy and Kallie, etc., then sometimes throws in particular toys. We encourage him to think of things on his OWN :) Its also a good way to get him to sleep too!

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep, to watch me safely through the night, and wake me with the morning light. AMEN.

Then we bless everyone in our famil, "God Bless Mommy, God Bless Daddy, etc......

We use - "Matthew, Mark, Luke and John bless the bed that I lay on. Four corners round my bed four angels round my head. One to watch and one to pray and two to bear my soul away....in Jesus name Amen".

I didn't like the dying part either. LOL I have since received a little prayer bear and when you press his belly it says... "Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the lord my soul to keep, may angels watch me through the night and bless me in the morning light". Just a little bit of a different version, but much nicer. We use both prayers at my youngest daughters bed time, but my older boys love the first prayer, I even substitute their names in the first line instead of saying I.

Hope these help --

Have a great day!!!

HI Lisa,

I do the "now I lay me down to sleep" however I do an alternative to the dying part. I say. "keep me safe all through the night,until I wake with the morning light."

Hope that helps.
R.

Hi Lisa.

I agree with you, I didn't like the "if I shall die" part either. This is a modified version that I heard somewhere:

"Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
as angels watch me through the night,
and wake me in the morning light."

Hopefully you'll find a prayer that works best for you.

-Tara

I do this prayer with my daughter everynight and now at the end she continues to sing...LOL

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John bless this bed that I lie on
Four coners to my bed For angels round my head One to watch and One to Pray and two to guide me through the day.

It is one of her books and I liked it. I would like to have girl names in it, but o well. She seems to like it and is starting to mimic me singng it!!

This is the prayer I said as a child:

There are 4 corners on my bed
There are 4 angels at its head
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Bless the bed that I lay on

It's short and nice. Plus, it's easy for a child to remember.
But you could also just encourage your child to just talk to Jesus and give thanks for things that happened during the day or for his/her parents, siblings, friends, etc.

i would say something simple like dear god thank you for this day and thank you for everyone i love amen

Very good suggestions here! You have a lot to choose from.

Personally, my daughter and I say "Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. May angels watch me through the night and keep in their blessed sight. Amen." And then God bless so and so. There was a point where she recited that prayer at bedtime because she has to be the one to say the prayer, now she says "God is great. Thank you for the food. Amen." And then she does the God bless this person and that. It's actually very cute and I don't want to stifle her enthusiasm for saying whatever prayer she chooses. Hopefully you will find the prayer that's perfect for you and your child. There are also Children's Bedtime Prayer books that are available if you were interested in finding something else.

Take care and God bless!

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.. and angels watch me through the night, and keep me in Their blessed sight.. amen.

it's a version that one of her stuffed animals says, and i like it. :) my husband prays with her every night.

I made one up with my kids that was simple and it basically asks God to bless our family and friends......and thanks him for a great day

My mom bought my daughter a children's books with illustrations and prayers in it, I can't remember the name I will check when I get home tonight. The one my daughter started saying at age 2 is the following:

"Matthew, Mark, Luke & John,
Bless the bed that I lay on,
Four corners to my bed,
Four angels 'round my head.
One to Watch, One to Pray,
and Two to keep all Harm away.
- Amen"

Good Luck.

Hi Lisa. I use that bedtime prayer, but we change it up a little bit. We say
"Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
May Angels watch me through the night
And wake me with the morning light
Amen"
Then we ask God to bless the different people in our lives. I hope that this helps! God Bless!
S.

Hi Lisa! My name is K.. There is an alternate prayer if you don't like the " if I should die..." part. This is how it goes: Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. May angels watch me through the night, and wake me with the morning light. Amen. Try that one!

I liked Nicoles!

My son (3 1/2) tought our family a new prayer over the summer that he learned from school. It goes like this:

God our father, God our father
Once again, once again
Thank you for our blessings, thank you for our blessings
A-amen, a-amen

Also, about three years ago my older son (school age) tought us a squeeze prayer. Everyone holds hands. The first person says something they are thankful for. When they are finished they squeeze the next persons hand. It is then that persons turn to add their thanks to the prayer. Should someone have nothing to add/share they just squeeze the next persons hand.

It's been a lot of fun learning and sharing with the kids.

N. K

Dear Heavenly Father -- I thank thee for Mommy (and whoever else you or he wants to add) and for our house and my nice bed (and whatever else you want to add).

Please bless me to go to sleep and have good dreams and be nice to my (family members, pets, etc).

You can add all sorts of things that pertain to the day, such as please bless me to help Mommy take care of (younger sibling, pet).

Thanking first, then requesting, and you can close with whatever you are comfortable with. Our family say, "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen" as we believe that Jesus is our advocate with our Heavenly Father. When we sit down to meals, we use the same format, thanking God for the food and asking Him to bless it so we will have health and strength.

it is now I lay me down to sleep but the ending is different...
"Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the lord my soul to keep,
The angels watch me through the night
until I wake in morning light.."

My husband and I had the same issue about the death part and they actually make prayer bears at the store with this prayer my son loves it...

Hi Lisa!

(I actually forgot to see if there were any other responses, so if you've already heard this one, I am sorry!) I TOTALLY agree with you about the dying part about in Now I lay me down to sleep prayer, but...

When my son turned 1, my cousin had bought him a stuffed animal lamb that said that prayer, with a little variation. It goes like this:

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
The angels watch me through the night
Until I wake in morning light. Amen.

I LOVE that new way of saying that prayer, and we say it every night now! (He is now 2 years old.)

Hope you like it too!

I didnt like that part for my son either, but it was the prayer my dad always said with me. i found a little stuffed angel one day, and it said that prayer, but instead of the dying part, they changed it to "may angels watch me through the night, and keep me in their blessed sight" It definetly sounds better, huh?