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Read time: 4 minutes

As dietitians and moms, we often get asked by parents if probiotics should be top of mind when it comes to their baby’s health. And what about bifidobacteria; is this particular type important?

The bottom line is that while all babies’ health and needs are different, supporting their overall gut health can be important to support their overall well-being.

Bifidobacteria are among the first microbes to colonize an infant’s gut, and having enough in early life is a critical component in immune system development. But emerging research reports that many infants in the United States lack bifidobacteria.17

Background: What are probiotics

Probiotics are live organisms that, when consumed in adequate amounts, provide benefits.1,4

The gut microbiome can be thought of as a small community that needs to stay balanced and healthy; something that we are continuously working to support and improve. Probiotics, such as bifidobacteria, help support gut health, immune function, and overall wellness.2 These benefits are especially important for babies.3

Establishing the foundation of a balanced gut early in life can help support your baby’s health well into the future.4

Learn More: Probiotics and Prebiotics for Kids 101

Why is Bifidobacteria Important to Your Baby?

  • There are many types of probiotics, and different strains support health in different ways.
  • Bifidobacteria are one of the dominant microbes in an infant’s gut, and among the first to colonize.18 Research has indicated that having enough bifidobacteria in early life plays an important role in immune system development.19
  • The problem is that not being exposed to enough beneficial bacteria, like bifidobacteria, can disturb the gut microbiota balance. Newer research shows that many babies in the United States may not have enough bifidobacteria, which may have lasting effects.8

How Does Bifidobacteria Help Your Body?

Bifidobacterium includes many different strains that have been studied for health benefits.

For example, Bifidobacteria breve M-16V comes from a species commonly found in breastfed infants (B. breve) and has been studied for supporting digestive health, as well as stool frequency and consistency in infants.18,4

These beneficial bacteria are also critical in building the immune system, so having an environment with optimal bifidobacteria may be a major cornerstone when it comes to infant gut health.4

How to Increase Bifidobacteria

1. Delivery

During vaginal delivery, a newborn is exposed to the mother’s microbiome while passing through the birth canal, which helps the colonization and development of the infant’s gut microbiome.15 Babies born vaginally tend to have more bifidobacteria as part of their microbiome compared to those who are born via C-section.17

Babies who are born by C-section oftentimes have less Bifidobacteria in their microbiome. Babies can help fill the bifidobacteria gap in other ways, such as via breast milk, early and very close skin-to-skin contact, and vaginal seeding, which is the swabbing of the newborn with mom’s vaginal fluid after birth.16,21

2. Breast Milk and Specific Formulas

In addition to the transfer of bifidobacterium during vaginal birth and through breast milk, these beneficial bacteria can also be provided to your formula-fed infant through formulas fortified with bifidobacteria.5,11

3. Specific foods

Bifidobacteria are also found in certain foods that have been fortified with this specific bacterium. For example, some fermented dairy foods, such as kefir and yogurt, may contain bifidobacteria. Always check the label to see which probiotic strains the manufacturer included

Remember that the American Academy of Pediatrics encourages parents to wait until baby is around 6 months before introducing solid foods.20

Be sure to chat with baby’s pediatrician should you have questions about formula and introducing solids.

Read more:

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Our Happy Baby Experts are a team of lactation consultants and registered dietitian nutritionists certified in infant and maternal nutrition – and they’re all moms, too, which means they’ve been there and seen that. They’re here to help on our free, live chat platform Monday - Friday 8am-6pm (ET). Chat Now!

Read more about the experts who help write our content!

For more on this topic, check out the following articles:

  1. National Institutes of Health. Office of Dietary Supplements. Probiotics. Fact Sheet For Health Professionals. ODS.OD.NIH.Gov. Accessed 17 February 2026.

  2. Gul S, Durante-Mangoni E. Unraveling the Puzzle: Health Benefits of Probiotics-A Comprehensive Review. J Clin Med. 2024 Mar 1;13(5):1436. doi: 10.3390/jcm13051436. PMID: 38592298; PMCID: PMC10935031. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38592298/

  3. Depoorter L, Vandenplas Y. Probiotics in Pediatrics. A Review and Practical Guide. Nutrients. 2021 Jun 24;13(7):2176. doi: 10.3390/nu13072176. PMID: 34202742; PMCID: PMC8308463. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8308463/

  4. Dan W. Thomas, Frank R. Greer, Committee on Nutrition; Section on Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition; Probiotics and Prebiotics in Pediatrics. Pediatrics December 2010; 126 (6): 1217–1231. 10.1542/peds.2010-2548. https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/126/6/1217/65014/Probiotics-and-Prebiotics-in-Pediatrics

  5. American Academy of Pediatrics. Probiotics in Infant Formula. Healthychildren.org. Accessed 17 February 2026.https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/formula-feeding/Pages/Probiotics-in-Infant-Formula.aspx

  6. Jena R, Choudhury PK. Bifidobacteria in Fermented Dairy Foods: A Health Beneficial Outlook. Probiotics Antimicrob Proteins. 2025 Jun;17(3):1-22. doi: 10.1007/s12602-023-10189-w. Epub 2023 Nov 18. PMID: 37979040. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37979040/

  7. Hiraku A, Nakata S, Murata M, Xu C, Mutoh N, Arai S, Odamaki T, Iwabuchi N, Tanaka M, Tsuno T, Nakamura M. Early Probiotic Supplementation of Healthy Term Infants with Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis M-63 Is Safe and Leads to the Development of Bifidobacterium-Predominant Gut Microbiota: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Nutrients. 2023 Mar 14;15(6):1402. doi: 10.3390/nu15061402. PMID: 36986131; PMCID: PMC10055625. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10055625/

  8. Pantazi AC, Balasa AL, Mihai CM, Chisnoiu T, Lupu VV, Kassim MAK, Mihai L, Frecus CE, Chirila SI, Lupu A, Andrusca A, Ionescu C, Cuzic V, Cambrea SC. Development of Gut Microbiota in the First 1000 Days after Birth and Potential Interventions. Nutrients. 2023 Aug 20;15(16):3647. doi: 10.3390/nu15163647. PMID: 37630837; PMCID: PMC10457741. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10457741/

  9. Chen J, Chen X, Ho CL. Recent Development of Probiotic Bifidobacteria for Treating Human Diseases. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2021 Dec 22;9:770248. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2021.770248. PMID: 35004640; PMCID: PMC8727868. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8727868/

  10. Gavzy SJ, Kensiski A, Lee ZL, Mongodin EF, Ma B, Bromberg JS. Bifidobacterium mechanisms of immune modulation and tolerance. Gut Microbes. 2023 Dec;15(2):2291164. doi: 10.1080/19490976.2023.2291164. Epub 2023 Dec 6. PMID: 38055306; PMCID: PMC10730214. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10730214/

  11. Eor JY, Lee CS, Moon SH, Cheon JY, Pathiraja D, Park B, Shin MJ, Kim JY, Kim S, Noh Y, Kim Y, Choi IG, Kim SH. Effect of Probiotic-Fortified Infant Formula on Infant Gut Health and Microbiota Modulation. Food Sci Anim Resour. 2023 Jul;43(4):659-673. doi: 10.5851/kosfa.2023.e26. Epub 2023 Jul 1. PMID: 37484007; PMCID: PMC10359846. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10359846/

  12. Baglatzi L, Gavrili S, Stamouli K, Zachaki S, Favre L, Pecquet S, Benyacoub J, Costalos C. Effect of Infant Formula Containing a Low Dose of the Probiotic Bifidobacterium lactis CNCM I-3446 on Immune and Gut Functions in C-Section Delivered Babies: A Pilot Study. Clin Med Insights Pediatr. 2016 Mar 13;10:11-9. doi: 10.4137/CMPed.S33096. PMID: 26997881; PMCID: PMC4792197. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4792197/

  13. Freitas AC, Li G, Shawon J, Qamar H, Pell LG, Kabir M, Oduaran OH, Puebla-Barragan S, Bassani DG, O'Callaghan KM, Onuora JC, Loutet MG, Heasley C, Starke CWE, Mahmud AA, Hamer DH, Pullenayegum E, Hossain MI, Siddiqui MM, Islam MS, Sherman PM, Shah PS, Gaffar SMA, Sultana S, Morris SK, Ahmed T, Haque R, Sarker SA, Roth DE.2025.Abundance of Bifidobacterium species in the infant gut microbiota and associations with maternal-infant characteristics in Dhaka, Bangladesh. mSphere10:e00314-25.https://doi.org/10.1128/msphere.00314-25

  14. Harvard Health Publishing.Supporting your Newborn’s Health: Intestinal Colonization After Elective Cesarean Section. Health.Harvard.Edu. Accessed 20 February 2026. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/supporting-your-newborns-health-intestinal-colonization-after-elective-cesarean-section-2019070517262

  15. Dunn AB, Jordan S, Baker BJ, Carlson NS. The Maternal Infant Microbiome: Considerations for Labor and Birth. MCN Am J Matern Child Nurs. 2017 Nov/Dec;42(6):318-325. doi: 10.1097/NMC.0000000000000373. PMID: 28825919; PMCID: PMC5648605. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5648605/

  16. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Vaginal Seeding. ACOG.com. Accessed 19 June 2026. https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2017/11/vaginal-seeding

  17. Jarman JB, Torres PJ, Stromberg S, et al. Bifidobacterium deficit in United States infants drives prevalent gut dysbiosis. Commun Biol. 2025;8(1):867. Published 2025 Jun 24. doi:10.1038/s42003-025-08274-7

  18. Saturio S, Nogacka AM, Alvarado-Jasso GM, et al. Role of Bifidobacteria on Infant Health. Microorganisms. 2021;9(12):2415. Published 2021 Nov 23. doi:10.3390/microorganisms9122415

  19. Lin C, Lin Y, Zhang H, et al. Intestinal 'Infant-Type' Bifidobacteria Mediate Immune System Development in the First 1000 Days of Life. Nutrients. 2022;14(7):1498. Published 2022 Apr 2. doi:10.3390/nu14071498

  20. American Academy of Pediatrics. Infant Food and Feeding. Aap.org. 28 November 2023. Accessed 11 March 2026.

  21. Eckermann HA, Meijer J, Cooijmans K, Lahti L, de Weerth C. Daily skin-to-skin contact alters microbiota development in healthy full-term infants. Gut Microbes. 2024;16(1):2295403. doi:10.1080/19490976.2023.2295403

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