Carolla - my parents used to say the same thing when I went to bed! I used to answer back with, "there's no such thing as bed bugs." Little did I know!

When mine used the bed bug saying they said  "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite."

I used to say to my kids "Have a good sleep, see you in the morning, I love you."

"Night night", "Don't stay up too late reading", "I love you".

My daughter, on the other hand, has given me the following gems: 

• "You're weird, Mommy"
• "I love you, but I love Nanny more"
• "That was the worst kiss ever!"

When I was really young mine used to sometimes say..."you're snug as a bug in a rug"...then nighty night. followed by a kiss.

I really don't remember my Mum tucking me in, but I'm sure she must have.   I remember the prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep" with the line "If I should die before I wake".   I thought it kind of funny.   Why in the world would I die before I wake up in the morning?  

It didn't bother me.  On the other hand I was a bit puzzled by the poem about:   "Rock-a-by baby in the tree top . . . and down will come baby, cradle and all."   Again it seemed more strange than frightening.  Why on earth would somebody put a baby's cradle at the top of a tree?  Of course the wind would blow it off, smash the cradle and probably kill the baby.  Didn't they have any sense at all?   I don't remember Mum reading/reciting that a bedtime though.   She was pretty practical - she would have agreed with me that neither the idea of dying before I woke (I was a normal healthy kid) or sleeping in a cradle in a tree top were highly unlikely.

I'm trying to remember if I had any special thing I said to my children when I tucked them in and said a prayer with them, but nothing comes to mind.

With Granddaughter when she lived here when she was little it would be "Don't you even think about getting out of bed again tonight."

 (lest you think I'm a terrible grandmother, that would be after drink, teethbrushing, story time, prayers, kisses, teddy bear, favourite blanket, and tucking in - and tucking in - and tucking in ---)

I bought Rachel a praying duck when she was a baby and the line had been changed to "Angels watch me through the night, until I wake in morning light."

When I was little we had that prayer too it went

Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the lord my sould to keep
guard me with your love all night and wake me with the morning light.
God bless mom, dad, John (brother), Bethany (me), Sable (dog) and alllll my relatives and friends.
Help me to be good kind, strong and healthy. For jesus sake, amen.

and we also have the bed bugs saying which is what my mom always ends our MSN convrsations with now.It goes:

Mom: Night night, sleep tight don't like the bed bugs bite.
Me: If they do I'll take a shoe and beat them till the're black and blue.

Mom, on good days, said some sing-songy thing about hopping in our bed and sweet dreams in our head. I will have to ask her what it was exactly.

I remember the bedbugs and the 2nd verse about beating them Bethay.

I haven't passed either of these traditions on to my kids.

Ten little monkeys jumping on the bed

One fell off and bumped his head

Call the doctor and the doctor said

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed."

Nine little moneys jumping on the bed

-----

and finally:

One little monkey jumping on the bed

----

No more monkeys jumping on the bed.

At bedtime I used to hear

Goodnight and God bless.