Christmas Songs for Baby: First Christmas, Lullabies and Announcement Songs (2026)

TL;DR

The best Christmas songs for baby are slow, simple and repetitive: "Silent Night" and "Away in a Manger" for sleep, "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph" for bouncing and clapping, and something bright like "All I Want for Christmas Is You" for a pregnancy announcement video. Below you will find all of them sorted by moment. If you want a song that is only about your baby, with their name, the date they arrived and your family's first Christmas traditions, use the form just below. Pick a style (Kids, Acoustic or Pop work best), write a few details and press Hear a free sample. You get two versions and a 45-second sample of each; Unlock for $9.99 keeps both full songs, the MP3s and a private page to send to grandparents.

In this guide

• What makes good Christmas songs for baby
• Gentle carols for nap time and bedtime
• Songs with actions for play time
• Songs for a pregnancy or birth announcement
• Songs about baby Jesus
• Building a baby Christmas playlist
• A first Christmas song with your baby's name
• How to use it this December
• FAQ
• Final take

What makes good Christmas songs for baby

Babies do not care about chart positions. What they respond to is a familiar voice, a steady beat and a lot of repetition. Paediatric and music-education guides agree on a few things that make good Christmas songs for baby:

• A slow, steady tempo for sleep, roughly the pace of a rocking chair. Most traditional carols already sit there.
• Short phrases that repeat, so the baby hears the same shape again and again. "Jingle bells, jingle bells" is perfect for that reason.
• Room for your own voice. Babies prefer a parent singing slightly off-key to the most polished recording. Choose songs you can actually sing.
• Their name. Babies start to recognise their own name at around five months, and a song that uses it gets attention every time.

Keep the volume low, especially at bedtime, and keep speakers away from the crib. The lists below give you Christmas songs for baby for each part of the day.

Gentle carols for nap time and bedtime

These are the Christmas songs for baby that soothe. All of them are traditional, so you can hum them without a recording.

1. "Silent Night." Written as a lullaby-like carol in 1818 and still the gentlest choice. The rhythm matches rocking almost exactly.
2. "Away in a Manger." Very short verses and a sleepy melody. The line "the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay" is literally about a baby falling asleep.
3. "What Child Is This?" Sung to the old tune of "Greensleeves". Slow, minor and calming.
4. "In the Bleak Midwinter." Quiet and wintry, ideal for a dark December evening.
5. "Brahms' Lullaby" with Christmas words. Many parents sing their own festive lines to the most famous lullaby of all.
6. "Somewhere in My Memory." The Home Alone theme by John Williams is soft, slow and pleasant for parents who will hear it a hundred times.

Instrumental piano or music-box versions of these work well on a sleep playlist. If you want a full playlist of calm music that is not Christmas, our lullaby-style kids song generator can make original ones.

Songs with actions for play time

When the baby is awake and alert, Christmas songs for baby with movement are more fun: clapping hands, bouncing on a knee, jingling a bell.

7. "Jingle Bells." Give the baby a bell they can shake (supervised, of course) and bounce on every "jingle".
8. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" – Gene Autry. Tap the baby's nose on "red nose". Babies love the anticipation.
9. "Frosty the Snowman." Gentle bounce, and "thumpety thump thump" is made for lap play.
10. "Up on the Housetop." "Click, click, click" invites finger taps.
11. "Here Comes Santa Claus" – Gene Autry. A steady walking beat for a dance around the living room.
12. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" – Brenda Lee. Bigger energy for a dance with an older baby or toddler.
13. "Feliz Navidad" – José Feliciano. The repeated "feliz navidad" and "I wanna wish you a merry Christmas" are easy to sing back and forth, and great for bilingual families.

Songs for a pregnancy or birth announcement

Christmas is one of the most popular times to share pregnancy news, with announcement photos and short videos all over December feeds. The music matters as much as the photo, and the right Christmas songs for baby announcements are cheerful, short and instantly recognisable.

14. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" – Mariah Carey. The most used song for Christmas pregnancy reveals, for obvious reasons.
15. "Santa Baby" – Eartha Kitt. A playful pick for a "Santa brought us a baby" photo.
16. "What Child Is This?" A softer, more reverent choice for a birth announcement card.
17. "Baby's First Christmas" – Connie Francis. A 1961 single written for exactly this occasion, nostalgic and sweet.

For an announcement video, a short original song can be better than a famous one: it will not be muted for copyright on social media, and it can say the due date or the baby's name. Use the form above with the occasion set to Christmas, or write your own lyrics in our AI Christmas song generator.

Songs about baby Jesus

For families who celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, the nativity songs are the original Christmas songs for baby, all about a newborn.

• "Away in a Manger" and "Silent Night", already mentioned for sleep.
• "Mary, Did You Know?" Words by Mark Lowry, popularised by Pentatonix among many others. A mother wondering about her child, which lands differently once you have held your own.
• "Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song)" – Amy Grant. Mary's point of view, gentle and personal.
• "The Little Drummer Boy." The steady "pa rum pum pum pum" is lovely for a baby to fall asleep to.
• "O Come, All Ye Faithful" for the church service and the family singalong.

Building a baby Christmas playlist

A single playlist of Christmas songs for baby can carry you through December if you build it around the day rather than around the charts. A simple structure many parents use:

• Morning (15 minutes): two or three bouncy Christmas songs for baby, like "Jingle Bells", "Rudolph" and "Feliz Navidad", while you change and dress them.
• Play time (20 minutes): songs with actions, sung live as much as possible. Recordings are fine, but your face and voice are what hold a baby's attention.
• Bath time: one song you repeat every night, so it becomes a signal that bedtime is coming. "Frosty the Snowman" is popular because it is cheerful but not loud.
• Bedtime (30 minutes or more): the slow carols, then instrumental versions, quiet enough that you could talk over them.

Two practical notes. First, streaming playlists of Christmas songs for baby often have ads or loud jumps between tracks, so download or buy the tracks you use at night. Second, rotate the daytime songs but keep the bedtime ones the same; babies settle faster when the last song never changes. A personalised song with their name works well as that last song, because it is the one sound in the playlist that is only theirs.

A first Christmas song with your baby's name

Every song above belongs to everyone, which is what makes classic Christmas songs for baby easy to share and hard to make personal. A first Christmas song can belong only to your family: the baby's name, the night they arrived, the stocking you hung with their name on it, the grandparents who flew in. Parents send these personalised Christmas songs for baby to grandparents, play them while opening the first presents, and keep them for when the baby is old enough to ask about their first Christmas.

To make one with the form near the top of the page:

1. Their name, as you say it at home. Add a pronunciation if it is unusual ("Niamh, said NEEV").
2. Who they are to you: Daughter or Son.
3. Occasion: Christmas is already set.
4. Music style. Kids gives a bright singalong; Acoustic gives a soft lullaby; Pop is good for an announcement video.
5. About 300 characters of story. Real details work best: "Born on December 2nd, three weeks early. Loves the lights on the tree and stops crying when her big brother sings to her. Grandma knitted her a red stocking."
6. Your name, and an optional message for the gift page.

Press Hear a free sample. You hear two different songs with full lyrics and a 45-second sample of each, usually within a few minutes. If you want to change something, adjust the answers and try again; you get three free tries. Unlock for $9.99 keeps both full versions as MP3s and a private gift page with the name, your message and a cover. No subscription, no credits.

If you would like a more general personalised Christmas song for the whole family, see our personalized Christmas song page, which uses the same flow.

How to use it this December

Once you have your favourite Christmas songs for baby, and maybe one with their name, here is where they fit.

• On Christmas morning. Play the song while the baby opens (or chews) the first present.
• In the photo book. Print the gift page link as a QR code next to the first-Christmas photos.
• For grandparents far away. Send the private link; it opens on any phone without an account.
• As a bedtime song. If you chose the Acoustic version, it becomes a lullaby with their name that you can sing all year.
• In a video. Put the song under a short clip of the first Christmas, or turn it into a video with our music video generator.

More Christmas reading: Christmas song gift ideas for every person on your list, and how to make a Christmas song if you want to write the lyrics yourself.

FAQ

What are the best Christmas songs for baby to sleep to?

"Silent Night", "Away in a Manger" and "What Child Is This?" are slow and gentle enough to rock a baby to sleep. Instrumental piano or music-box versions work well on a playlist.

What Christmas songs can I use for a pregnancy announcement?

"All I Want for Christmas Is You" is the most common choice, followed by "Santa Baby" and "Baby's First Christmas". An original song avoids copyright mutes on social media and can include the due date.

Can I make a Christmas song with my baby's name?

Yes. Use the form on this page, choose Daughter or Son, and write a few details about their first Christmas. Hearing the sample is free; the full song is $9.99.

Which music style is best for a baby song?

Kids for a bright, simple singalong, Acoustic for a lullaby, Pop for an announcement or a family video.

Can grandparents make one for their grandchild?

Yes. Choose Grandparent as the relationship on the general personalized Christmas song page or here, and write the story from their side.

How long does it take?

Usually a few minutes from pressing the button to hearing the sample. Unlocking is instant once payment goes through.

Final take

The best Christmas songs for baby are the slow carols you can hum at 3 a.m., the bouncy ones for the living-room floor, and one bright song for the announcement. For something that will still matter when they are grown, put their name and the small details of their first Christmas into the form above and hear a free sample of a song that is only about them.