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Fais dodo, Colas: the French lullaby, word by word

Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère means go to sleep, Colas, my little brother. An older child sings the baby to sleep: Mummy is upstairs making cake, Daddy is downstairs making chocolate, and there'll be milk, lolo, when he wakes.

Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère

Chorus

  • Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère, Go to sleep, Colas, my little brother,
  • Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo. go to sleep, you'll have some milk.

Verse

  • Maman est en haut, Mummy is upstairs,
  • Qui fait du gâteau, making cake,
  • Papa est en bas, Daddy is downstairs,
  • Qui fait du chocolat. making chocolate.
  • Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère, Go to sleep, Colas, my little brother,
  • Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo. go to sleep, you'll have some milk.

Say the lines first

  • Fais dodo. Go to sleep. Say it fay doh-doh
  • mon p'tit frère my little brother Say it mon ptee FRAIR
  • ma p'tite sœur my little sister Say it ma pteet SUR
  • t'auras du lolo you'll have some milk Say it toh-RA du loh-LOH

What dodo means

Dodo is the French children’s word for sleep, from dormir, doubled up the way baby words are. Fais dodo means go to sleep, and it’s the phrase the Le Dodo bedtime ritual is named after.

Lolo is baby talk for milk, and Colas is short for Nicolas.

How to sing it

Slowly, one long breath for each line, rocking on do-do. Put your child’s name in place of Colas; most two-syllable names fit. For a girl, ma p’tite sœur, my little sister.

One thing to do tonight

Sing the first two lines at lights out, with your child’s name where Colas goes.

Where it lives in your day Le Dodo · Bedtime in French The ten sentences that turn lights-out into French, every single night

Free bedtime script

Fais dodo is line eight

The Le Dodo script puts it in a ten-phrase bedtime, from the doorway to lights out.

Ten bedtime phrases, each with a say-it guide, on one page for the bedroom door.

Three emails over your first week to get bedtime started, and you can leave whenever you like.

Questions parents ask

What does fais dodo mean?

Go to sleep. Dodo is the word French children use for sleep.

What does lolo mean?

Milk, in baby talk.

Who is Colas?

A short form of Nicolas: the little brother being sung to sleep.

Can I sing it to a girl?

Yes. Sing Fais dodo, ma p'tite sœur, or put her name in place of Colas.

Keep going

All the songs and rhymes →

Updated 16 October 2026