The 9 Funniest Baby Songs for Infants (and Their Parents)

With raising a baby comes a lot of sleepless nights and unpleasant excretions from both ends of your newborn. There are days when you’ll barely feel like a functioning human being. This list of baby songs will make your infant gurgle, grin and gasp in delight, which will warm your heart and provide you with moments that you’ll always remember—even when your children are teenagers. Some of the songs on this list are even meant to make you—the parent—laugh through your sleep deprivation. By singing some of these songs, you’ll get to feel a little silly, and there’s no one there to judge for that, least of all your newborn. The more exaggerated your voices and gestures, the more they’ll love it. Pretend you’re acting it out to the cheap seats, even if you are just singing “This Little Piggy.” With the more classic songs, there are some finger movements that go along with them, so you can grab your baby’s attention more easily.

1. “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”

You probably grew up with this song and now you get to pass it down to your child. Think about how often you’re able to make animal noises in real life… the answer is rarely. You can rarely “Moo!” like a cow and “Oink!” like a pig, so take full advantage of that.

2. “This Little Piggy”

This short Nursery rhyme put to music is perfect for a quick little tune to sing to your baby. It’s got that added dark joke about cannibalism too, so there’s even something in it for adults.

3. “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly”

Your baby won’t be picking up the lyrics to this song anytime soon, but it’s a pretty strange song. It’s a little longer than the other songs on this list, but if you’re up with your baby for a while, it’ll be better than singing “The Wheels on the Bus” over and over again.

4. “Purple People Eater”

This song was dreamed up by a child and was written in an hour, but it’s so catchy that it’s survived for 60 years. It is about an alien/monster snacking on people, but somehow this song originally by Sheb Wooley climbed the Billboard Charts in the ’50s. It’s incredibly catchy, and you can do your best impression of this flying, purple monster. It’s been covered by Kidz Bop and Alvin and the Chipmunks.

5. “Oh Where is My Hairbrush?”

This VeggieTales song speaks to new parents who are walking zombies and can’t find any object that they’re searching for. You can edit this song for your own purposes. You might as well find a little bit of humor and replace “hairbrush” with “car keys” or “sanity.”

6. “Baby Shark”

You already know this song. It swept the nation. You might as well introduce your baby to it now, because they’ll learn it later. As annoying as it can get when it’s played on repeat, it’s fun to bounce your baby around to.

7. “Round and Round the Garden”

The song itself about teddy bears might not seem very funny to you or your baby, but accompanying fingerplay, or tickling gestures, will make your baby giggle. It’s a very interactive song that will help you bond with your baby and bring a smile to their face.

8. “Beethoven’s Wig”

The “Mozart Effect” has been debunked, but classical music isn’t bad for your baby. They might find Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5” very compelling, but the song “Beethoven’s Wig” adds some much-needed humor to classical music and gives you the chance to sing in a dramatic manner.

9. “The Happy Song”

Grammy-winning musician Imogen Heap decided to work with scientists to develop a song that would make her then 18-month-old daughter happy. The song doesn’t always make babies crack a smile, but you’ll have to try it out on yours to see how they react to it. It’ll be a fun experiment!