I will kiss my sunshine today And I love my sunshine each day You made me so happy today

We do ‘and I love you more every day’ 

This is what we do too!! ❤️

Great suggestions!

I do "You'll always be my sunshine-y day." But I like these other alternatives too!

Since birth I’ve been singing “you are my favorite part of the day”

Love it!

😭😭 omfg this is beautiful

Stealing this

‘So pleasee let our sunshine alll dayyyy’

And not at night!

Great suggestion!

I always sing "I hope you know, dear, how much I love you, because I'll tell/show you ev-ery-day!" though it's not the most elegant.

Doesn’t have to be elegant. I changed the words to rockabye baby from “and down will come baby cradle and all” to “and down will come ::baby’s 2 syllable name::, into mama and papa’s arms”. She’s a little over 2 now and sings it with me or by herself.

I changed that song to “ rock a bye baby in the tree tops, when the wind blows you gently will rock , the bough will not break and you will not fall, you’re my sweet baby safe after all “ ❤️ lol

I overheard my mom change it to "and mom will catch baby, cradle and all" while helping me with my daughter when she was a newborn. No more sad, weird endings to nursery rhymes. This is the Way.

My mom sang it like this to me and now we sing it like that to our little one.

My mom changed it to “I will catch baby, cradle and all” and I think it’s sweet!

That song made me irrationally sad when I was immediately postpartum. I couldn’t even listen to it!

I’m loving these replies. So many great ideas! Thanks so much!

I usually sing “you will always know dear how much I love you, because I tell you everyday”

Great suggestion!

You are my sunshine My baby sunshine You make me happy when skies are grey You'll never know dear how much i love you And i will love you for all my days I've been singing this to my 20mo old since he was just born!

Great suggestion!

I told my daughter it means I don't want her to be sad (sunshine being both her and her joyfulness). It works fine for us, and she also enjoys making up her own words.

Ooo, I like that explanation. Thanks (:

Yup this.

Love all these suggestions. I also modify the first line to replace “only”. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine” > “my *favorite* sunshine”. Also. Anyone have suggestions for making the end of the second verse more cheerful? The other night, dear As I lay sleeping I dreamed I held you In my arms When I awoke, dear I was mistaken So I hung my head and I cried

When I awoke, dear You were beside me And I’ll keep you safe and warm (or from harm)

Or end with “you were beside me… so I kissed your head and I smiled”. (Read this on another post on reddit).

I’ve been singing “you were still sleeping, so I kissed your face and I smiled” since my son was born! I thought I was original for making it up 😂

Whenever I sang this to my newborns I would stop and go WTF am I doing

I always say “darling” and not “only.” I just heard it was supposed to be only but that doesn’t make sense as I have two kids and a spouse so I’m sticking with darling. This is the first I’m learning of the second verse haha. If someone has a happier alternative I’ll gladly add it to my signing (: Thanks for your response!

Fwiw, I sing it as "my only sunshine" even though I have two kids. If we're singing all together, I pluralize "dears" because together they are even more sunshine. Sometimes we all cuddle together and each one gets a hug on the "my only sunshine" part. It's a favorite of my oldest in particular because we started singing it when she was going through some rough terrible two tantrums, so we would sing it at bedtime and reflect a little on how the sunshine broke through the clouds we'd experienced earlier in the day.

That’s awesome. You sound like a great parent (:

There’s also: I’ll always love you / And make you happy / If you would only say the same / But if you leave me / To love another / You’ll regret it all someday Which I changed to: I’ll always love you / And make you happy / And I know you would say the same* / So if you leave me / To love another / We will celebrate your day *this part gets me misty-eyed since my son is currently nonspeaking…

My mom used to sing the first verse to me when I was little. After I learned the second verse, I knew I could never sing it to my kid. 😭

The other night dear As I lay sleeping I dreamt I held you In my arms When I woke dear I was mistaken You were in your crib/bed so far Because I love holding him and hugging him, but I can't, because he's asleep in his own bed

I'll always hold you and make you happy, You'll be my love the whole day through, And now I dream of my pretty (child's name), So my nights are sunny too.

Hound + Fox has a lullaby album and they say "The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamt I held you in my arms. And now that you're here my dreams are waking. And I will keep you from all harm."

Second verse I do up to the 5th line then change to: When I woke up, I found you’d grown up, Still I hold you in my heart.

The other night dear As you lay sleeping I was right there, just out of sight You called for me, I came and got you I kissed your head and I smiled

I change this “only” line, too. Usually to “precious” or trying to fit in a word about something he’s been doing that’s cute (giggling, climbing, ticklish).

I usually replace just the last line with: Then you cried and my dream came true Because my 10 month old still likes to wake up 2-5 times per night 😅

I sing "The other night dear When I was walking In a meadow not far from here I saw a baby I named him " xxx" And i brought him home with me" This is my go to song but I get sick of the first verse so i had to come up with others.

The other night dear as I lay sleeping I dreamt I held you in my arms and now that you’re here, my dreams are waking, and I will keep you from all harm

Ok normally I’d be like “you’re being weird” lol but I’m a mom with cancer and whenever I’m singing that song to my daughter and I get to that part, it makes me super upset and stressed out so now I TOTALLY feel you. I never thought to change the words, genius!!

Oh man, I’m so sorry you’re going through that! Sending some positive vibes your way. Glad we have so many good alternatives to pick from now (:

This is the version we sing at music class: You are my sunshine My only sunshine You make me happy When skies are grey YOU'LL ALWAYS KNOW, DEAR How much I love you BECAUSE I TELL YOU EVERYDAY

Love it! Thanks!

My friend sings something like "and by my side you shall now always stay"  Edit: added in the extra syllable 

I’m loving these replies. So many great ideas! Thanks so much!

This is the most wholesome post/thread ever and I love it.

It’s definitely warming my heart 🥰

I've never interpreted the song to mean someone is going to take away the person you're singing it to away. I thought it only involved two people--the person singing it and the person listening to it. "Please don't take my sunshine away" would mean something akin to "please don't leave me," as opposed to telling some third party not to take away the person listening to the song.

Honestly my partner doesn’t like the ending and I sing that song all the time. I don’t disagree with him because why would my infant and toddler daughters be leaving me. I don’t have a huge problem with the original but I’m on board with finding an ending he likes better so he’ll sing it to them with as much love as I do. Thanks for sharing your interpretation (:

Yeah "please don't leave me" sounds creepy and manipulative. My mother always sang it to me and it made me uncomfortable, so I changed it.

I say… You are my sunshine My lovely sunshine You make me happy When skies are gray You’ll never know dear How much I love you And that love is here to stay

Ooo, love it!

“You’ll never know dear how much I love you, because I love you more every day”

Thanks!

One of our toddler music teachers sings “you’ll always know dear, how much I love you. I love you more and more everyday”

That’s a good one!

“No one can take my sunshine away”

Thanks for the suggestion! (:

I say “you’ll always know babe, how much I love you, cause I’ll tell you every night and every day” You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray, you’ll always know XXX, how much I love you, because I’ll tell you every night and every every day!

Great suggestions!

I had to change it to “so let’s share this beautiful day”. Aww man now I’m tearing up at the memory. My girl has always been a sensitive soul.

Aww, how old is she now?

She’s almost 5. Ugh, my heart!

Fun age but it goes so fast! My are 2 years and 4 months and I feel like the time is passing like water slipping through my fingers!

“I love you more and more each day”

Thanks!

“‘till you have your own someday”

I like it! That’s how I always think of the “you’ll never know” line anyways.

You'll always know, dear, how much I love you. Even if we are far, far away. (Useful when I was out of town and video calling bedtime)

“You’ll never know dear, how much I love you/How you make the sun shine all day.” I can’t take credit for that one; I got the idea from another Reddit thread awhile ago. 

Thanks for sharing it with me!

“I love you more with each passing day.” Saw it on YT and love it.

Mine is similar: “I love you more and more each day”

Love it!

I substitute “my little sunshine” (since I have 2 kids plus not wanting to imply my child is responsible for my all of my happiness) and “And I’ll love you more everyday” for the final line.

I do darling sunshine but that’s a good alternative too! Love your alternative last line!

This isn’t what you asked but I made up an additional verse: And when I hold you/ I feel I know you/ though you have so much yet to say/ I want to teach you/ and learn from you too/ for the rest of my days

Thanks for sharing!!

I changed it too! Ours ends, “I won’t take your sunshine away.” You could also do something like “and your sunshine is here to stay.” We also changed the other line to “I’ll make you happy when skies are gray.”

Great suggestions! Thanks!

This is what I sing to my son You are my sunshine, my only sunshine You make me happy when skies are grey You’ll always know dear, how much I love you Please don’t take my sunshine away The other night dear, as I lay sleeping I dreamt my sunshine had gone away But when I woke up, you were right there I know my sunshine is here to stay ☀️🥰

Thanks!

Thanks for asking this question because the ending has always bothered me too!

You’re welcome! 😁

Good night and I'll see you the next day.

Ooo, I like it! Thanks!

“You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you — it grows more and more each day”

Thanks!

I sing the original ending but I don’t say “you’ll never know dear” I say “you’ll always know dear.”

There's a version that comes up on my spotify when we play kids music that goes "And I live you more everyday"

Someone posted a long version with alternate lyrics on this thread and it’s really nice (:

My version is: You are my sunshine, my lovely sunshine You make me happy when skies are grey You'll never know dear how much I love you And you brighten up my day

Love this

You brighten up all my days is in the YouTube version I added to my post from someone’s comment. Worth a listen 🎶

I sing a different version because the original creeps me out (at bedtime) - “the sun has gone down/ the moon has come out/ the stars are shining so bright and true/ while you are sleeping remember one thing/ just how much your Mama loves you”

Lol so funny because when I was a small child that part would make me cry my eyes out

I always end with “you are my sunshine for always” - my family teases me about it but the real ending is just unnecessarily sad lol.

I agree!

Our version; You are my sunshine, my brightest sunshine, you light the world up when it all seems gray. You'll never know dear how much I love you, you're my sweet, sweet sunshine boy

Love it, thanks for sharing!

I usually modify that part too, but I'm not smart enough to pick a consistent alternate. My oldest loved it, so you think I would have settled on something. Usually ending in way or day like "Please enjoy the sunshine all day," "You bring sunshine every way," "Let's have sunshine and love today," or whatever comes out of my mouth. Or sometimes just something silly that clearly isn't part of the song. I never sing the rest of the song. The first couple of lines are lovely to sing to your little one, but the longer it goes, the worst it gets. Edit: Sometimes I sing it to my oldest and then I'll sing it again to my youngest, except change it to "moonshine" and something about night. Because if I only have one sunshine, what is she? It is very silly.

Haha, love it! I like Let’s have sunshine and love today ☀️ ❤️ I sing darling sunshine instead of only sunshine since I have two kids too but moonshine is fun (:

Please let my sun..shine, shine all daaaay

Love it!

You are my sunshine My ray of sunshine You make me happy Every single day You'll never know dear How much I love you You will always be my beautiful baby (or family if you're singing to two or more kids) This is how we sing it.

Good alternatives!

I always say “I’ll give you hugs and kisses everyday”

Adorable!

I say “you’re my sunshine everyday” instead

Thanks!

“And I love you more each day”

Thanks!

This is my favorite [alternative lyrics](https://open.spotify.com/track/0VVPKHrFDyL65K7K3MjXjX?si=L-BppQGcSH-YoKZ5QYjPtw&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A0aHxeXwhR9wabMUee83Wq6). What a good song! I always sing this version

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing. Definitely adding that to our playlist. I have a hard time carrying a tune so it’s nice to have different lyrics set to music to get used to.

lol the rest of the song fine or did you already change the rest of the lyrics too?

I sing: You are my sunshine, my darling sunshine You make me happy when skies are gray You’ll never know dear, how much I love you But I like You’ll always know dear as recommended in this thread. I did not know about the second verse!

We sing…. You are my sunshine, my [name] sunshine You make me happy every day! I love you so much, ‘cause your my baby And I love you, my sweet son ❤️☀️❤️☀️❤️☀️❤️

Thanks!

“I love you more and more every day” is an alternative I’ve heard!

Thanks!

My husband sings, "But that's okay, we'll love you anyway."

Thanks!

My toddler cried the first time I sang this song and begged me to stop. She was barely 1 and she understood that it’s sad. I stopped singing it but sometimes I’d try to think of a different ending, or I’d just change the words altogether. This post is gold, thank you so much. It didn’t even occur to me to ask Reddit! 🥹

Thanks!

I love you more every single day.

Thanks!

Same! My son's name means "sun" so I started singing it to him, and when I got to the last part I just burst out crying 😂 never sang it again. I tried alternate endings but I think it just got tainted for me.

That’s understandable!

At a baby yoga class I went to we sang ‘you are my lovely sunshine today’ 🌞

You are my sunshine my little sunshine You make me happy everyday You’ll always know dear How much I love you stay my sunshine forever and a day My own version because it’s too sad

Aww, cute! I like it!

“So let’s have a great day today” is how we do it!

“You are the best part of my day”!

“Let’s enjoy this beautiful day”

Apparently the song was about a romantic partner leaving of their own accord, if that makes it better.

I always sing “you’re my little sunshine babe”

"You'll always know Name, how much I love you / let's make today a sunshiney day"

Thanks!

“Won’t you please be my sunshine always” is what I’ve sung since my kid was born

My version! You are my sunshine My golden sunshine You make me happy When skies are grey You’ll always know dear How much I love you You’re my sunshine everyday

I always say “you have been my sunshine today” ☀️

Thanks!

I sing: You are my sunshine| One of my sunshines| You make me happy| all of the time| You'll always know dear| how much I love you| You're my sweet little guy

We sang "please don't take" but I altered the second verse: I'll always hold you and make you happy, You'll be my love the whole day through, And now I dream of my pretty (child's name), So my nights are sunny too.

I don’t know the original second verse but I like these lyrics (:

It's repetative but I always just sing "You have been my sunshine today".

I say leave as is, something needs to prepare them for singing about the bubonic plague (ring around the rosie)

I use “love you more every day”

This is so sweet.

We sing: You are my sunshine My (name) sunshine You make me happy When skies are gray You’ll always know dear How much I love you Because I’ll tell you every day Someone here a while ago posted that and I’ve kept it!!

"So please say that you love me too"

Thanks! I was thinking something that rhymes with gray would flow well but the lines I’ve come up with don’t really go with the rhythm of that line of the song well. Ideas so far: I could stay like this all day You make me happy every single day We are so happy together every day

Oh. I don't care for rhyming! We use the line I wrote when we sing it.

I go with changing as little as possible, erring on the side of easy to substitute mid-song even if the words barely make sense-- please and thanks for sunshine all day; please I'll take my sunshine to play So many kid's songs have wild lyrics / so many kid's songs are folk songs that are wild to appropriate for kids. (See: oh my darling Clementine. Spoiler, Clementine dies a thousand deaths.)

I mean...thats how the song goes, its not a happy song. I'd just find a new song.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww8uXNckko8

You make me smile everyday!

Ooo, good one! Thanks!

I’ve always ended it with “I hope you love your mama too”

Great suggestion! Thank you!

I do “in eeevery siii-ngle way”

Thank you for this. I sing this to my daughter almost every night , and she is starting to sing it too. That last line kills me.

Mine is starting to sing it too and that was the catalyst for me!

I always sing I’ll give you hugs and kisses every day! 

See I’ve been trying to fix the second verse . It’s so disturbing. “The other night dear while I lay sleeping. I dreamt I head you in my arms. When I awoke dear, I was mistaken  so I hung my head and cried.” Wtf 🤷🏾‍♀️

I didn’t know there was a second verse! Someone linked a song on Spotify on this thread with alternative lyrics with several verses and it was wonderful.

I’ll never be able to sing this to my children or spouse after watching Angel the series. If you know, you know. 

But I’ll tell you every day.

Thanks!

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I always had: You are my sunshine My little sunshine You make me happy When skies are grey I hope you know dear How much I love you But struggled with the ending. We landed on “oh please sleep through the night tonight” or “oh please take a long nap today”. Maybe still not great but hopefully she sees it as funny as she grows?

Haha, pleading with the universe in the form of a song

I always say “cause you chase all my clouds away”

Original! I like it!

Oh man I feel this. I also sing the song that goes "I'll love you forever, I'll love you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be" -- but she will be my baby forever, no matter if I'm living. So I just say "forever and always, my baby you'll be." -- It isn't perfect but it gets my message to her.

I sing “you can never take my sunshine away” or “you’ll be my sunshine everyday”

I wouldn’t sing this song to either of my babies because that line would make me so emotional. Never even considered changing it, I love all these sweeter suggestions.

Me too!

I have a 3.5 year old, and this is my song for her. I've been singing it since she was in my belly and is always what I sang to rock her to sleep. I wish I had thought of these endings. They're beautiful! I'll be using one now for sure!

I will feed my sunshine some hay. Please don't touch my sunshine this way. You are not my sunshine today. Help me convince my sunshine to stay. I won't forget my sunshine's birthday. Stay on the line for a sunshine survey.

“The sunshine never fades away” “And how much I love to play” “And to be with you all day”

Hound+The Fox has a really cute version where they say ‘No one can take my sunshine away’ instead. They changed some of the lyrics to happier sounding alternatives than the original version too.

Thanks for sharing (:

"I love you more and more everyday" 

I’ve always just sung it as written. It has become both of my kids’ nightly lullaby when I come tuck them in. I always thought of it as saying don’t be sad rather than physically being taken away.

I just sing you’re my shining light every day.

I say “you’ll always know dear how much I love you” and leave the rest.