THE INVENTION RELATES TO AN INFANT FORMULA COMPRISING A SOURCE OF PROTEIN IN AN AMOUNT OF NOT MORE THAN 2.0G/100 KCAL, A SOURCE OF LIPIDS, A SOURCE OF CARBOHYDRATE AND A PROBIOTIC WHEREIN THE PROBIOTIC IS PRESENT IN AN AMOUNT EQUIVALENT TO BETWEEN 10² AND 10⁵ CFU/G OF DRY FORMULA. THE INVENTION FURTHER EXTENDS TO THE USE OF SUCH AN INFANT FORMULA TO MODULATE THE IMMUNE SYSTEM OF A NEONATAL INFANT TO PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT IN THE FIRST FEW WEEKS OF THE LIFE OF THE INFANT OF A BENEFICIAL INTESTINAL MICROBIOTA COMPARABLE WITH THAT FOUND IN BREAST FED BABIES AS WELL AS TO PROMOTE THE MATURATION OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM OF A NEONATAL INFANT IN THE FIRST FEW WEEKS OF LIFE.
