Prayers Before Bedtime?

Yes. It varies. Sometimes it's a list of thank yous. Sometimes it's "please help DD feel better and get some sleep". Usually short and includes some mention of what we did that day and family.

DD also has a lamb that says a version of "now I lay me down to sleep" without the death part.

When our oldest was a baby we found a little book that has a prayer in it. The prayer goes:
Father God, in heaven above
Thank You for Your awesome love
And those on earth who care for me
Thank you for my family.

After reading it so many times everyone has it memorized. We also have an old (about 80 yrs) book that has tons of children's prayers in it that we read occassionally; the kids love it & the illustrations are amazing. Other than that we pray all the time: at meals, if someone is hurt, if someone is on our minds, to thank God for something/anything, if we are upset...you get the drift :-)
We honestly try to model a Christ like life (though we fail since we are after all, human) and we believe continous prayer is a part of that life. You can't know God unless you spend time with Him; through His word and through time in conversation (prayer) with Him.
Ok, I went a little overboard on the answer huh? Hope you have a wonderful day.

We do what Kim C. does but use the traditional "if I die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take" as the 3rd and 4th lines. Then we pray for all of our immediate family members (including my SD's mother and half brothers), grandparents and great-grandparents. Then we thank God for our good health and our blessings and ask for things like wisdom, patience, the strength to be honest and guidance in making good choices. We then include special intentions - sometimes we specifically name someone we know who has passed away recently, is ill, is expecting, or is otherwise in need of prayers. Sometimes we keep these broad - we pray for the safety of all soldiers around the world, or victims of natural disaster, etc.

It's a nice way to close out the day, to keep the kids up to date on what is going on in our immediate circle of friends, family and community and to talk about the news and world events. My 13 year olds still ask me to come in and "say the prayers" before they go to sleep and our nightly prayer sessions have been a great way to talk about things that are bothering them. It's a nice ritual.

We say the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, personal prayers of thanks, and then any other personal prayers we would like to add. My son is 11 months old and we do this while he drinks his bottle before bed.

awww...i always kneel down by my son's bed/crib to say prayers. he doesn't say them. i ask him to fold his hands - sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't. i make them short but still talk "adult" i guess....such as thank you for our family, thank you for keeping us safe & guilding our family in the direction you want us to go...etc, etc. i also always ask that He keep our family safe throught the night & that my boy sleeps well. my son always says amen w/me, which is so sweet. i love that i have the opportunity to teach these Godly habits to my sweet boy. what an honor! :)

Before bedtime...before the kids head out to school...before each meal..when they have a test coming up and they studied hard..when someone is sick...and many other times.

We feel prayer is a conversation with our loving Heavenly Father. We don't have a set prayer that is said..we talk as if He is there listening and we are having a conversation. Often times our kids will say, "I am scared..will you pray with me." Recently a little boy at our school got hit by a car and we were there when it all happened. The first thing our kids said as we walked away was, "Mom..we should pray for him and his family."

Good luck and best wishes!!

No we do not, unless she has something she wants to say to God before she goes to sleep :) We prefer to teach our children that prayers are conversations with God and how we get to know Him, thank Him, and ask for help with things. So we make our "prayers' an all day long running conversation with Him. If she cuts her finger, we ask God to heal it quickly and take away the pain, if we've had a really great time doing something or a nice meal together, we thank God for his goodness and provision. In other words, we tell them to talk to God the same way they would talk to their best friend or loved ones. IMHO, memorized rote prayers become meaningless repetitions to the child... and to God. No offense intended...

We have a Precious Moments baby doll and a prayer bear (gifts from two different family members) that say the "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, may angels watch me through the night, and keep me in your blessed sight. We say that prayer with them. I'm so glad we found the version of that prayer that did not have the "if I should die before I wake." I always said that part as a kid and didn't think anything of it, but I don't like it as a mom.

Then we pray for our family members and thank God for a myriad of things.

When my kids were little, they would do the "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Your love be with me through the night and wake me with the morning light". Then they would bless mommy, daddy, grandma, etc. followed by "help me to be a good boy/girl, forgive my sins, and watch over my family. Amen".

The other one I would do with them and they would "marvel" as they attempted to follow was, "God bless all those that I love. God bless all those that love me. God bless all those that love those that I love and God bless all those that love those that love me."

Yes. Either my husband or I will read a story from the Golden Children's Bible (a 1960's fully illustrated Bible story book--awesome!) and pray with our 3 children. We want our children to know God in a personal way some day and hope and pray that by modeling conversation to God they will see Him as the approachable, yet powerful God that He is. When we pray we start by thanking God for blessings, next comes requests for things that concern us, and end by gratitude for hope and salvation. My kids are 6, 3 1/2 and 21 months and they remind us if we forget bedtime prayers--it's that important to them. Nurse Midwife Mom of 3

My kids are grown but when they were home we always read a Bible story before bedtime, sometimes a book that was not the Bible too but a good story with Biblical themes, etc. and then we all prayed. Usually each child prayed or sometimes each one in their own beds with me or once in awhile just one would pray. We taught our kids that prayer is just talking to God so they said whatever they wanted to say to Him. Now our grandchildren do the same. It was the best part of the day for me. The children loved to be read to and it was a time of opening up, questions, and just going to bed knowing God was watching over them during the night too.

Most nights, yes. We vary our prayers - we often use Now I lay me followed by praying for those we love. Sometimes we just free-form pray and thank God for our blessings or pray for those in need. I am trying to teach my kiddos The Lord's Prayer as well. (It is so cute to hear my two year old repeat it!) Finally, I will often bless them by marking their forehead with the sign of the cross and saying "You are a precious gift from God."

my kids made up their own.
'mother earth and father sky,
here within my bed i lie.
if my life should pass me by
in the summerlands i'll stay
til i return to earth and play.'
khairete
S.

I read this somewhere, not sure, so can't take credit for it. I asked my daughter what was the thing she liked best about the day. Then she turned it into a prayer, thanking God for it. :)

Then we followed it by the Lord's Prayer.

Yes we do. We thank God for our blessings. Free form format Reflecting on our day and allowing the kids to also say something. Also our kids remind us when we see an ambulance to pray for healing for the sick person.

Always.

Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. God bless...
Thank you for... Then pray for concerns. Amen.

We read a short Thank You Prayer book as our last book of the night, then we pray our own personal thanks (for the food we get to eat, house over our head, friends & family, ect), ask for God to keep us safe and healthy, pray for any additional needs for others if necessary, and then we end with, "we trust in your plan, oh Lord, Amen!"

Every night. Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Godbless, .... They add their own prayers for sick family or friends or for whatever they wish.

Yes. My daughter is 3. We simply thank God for all of the people in our lives. ie. "Thank you God for mommy and daddy, Grandma and Grandpa....".

Yes we do - we say "Now I lay me down to sleep" and end it with praying for everyone close to us (parents, the kids, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends). Then I say amen and both kids repeat amen.

At dinner we say: For health and strength and daily food, we give our thanks dear lord, amen. Most of the time the kids just sit with their hands clasped or my daughter says it REALLY fast...and then we all say amen.

I love to say prayers before bedtime. I don't always remember to. But I like the kids to see me "talk to God" (we're no certain denomination) in a down to earth way, and list all the things I'm thankful for in our day, first and foremost, my beautiful kids who I love so much. After I list all the great things from the day I'm thankful for, I ask for help for different people struggling, and say some prayers for others. Then I ask the kids to add things. Sometimes they're too shy to, sometimes they come up with the sweetest things! I keep it very informal and low pressure and natural. I think they like the comfort of ending the day on a thankful note. Especially since we've been reading scary bedtime stories for Halloween-it's a chance to neutralize those :)

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the lord my soul to keep
Angels watch me through the night
And keep me safe till morning light
Amen

(Kiss kiss. "I love you.")

This poem can also be sung to the "ABC's" tune!

No kneeling or clasping of palms. Just singing/reciting while reclining in bed. Make it fun and loving.

We pray the Our Father, Hail Mary, St. Michael Prayer, The Creed, Glory Be, Guardian Angel Prayer, along with many others. We say them with our children.

We use a different version of an old favorite (I didn't like using the reference to death when our kids were very small)

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
The angels watch me through the night
And wake me up with the morning light

We also say the Lord's Prayer now that they are older.