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Nutrition in early infancy and childhood can significantly impact growth and development as well as immediate and later health. Breastfeeding and/or nutritional intervention during early life can help prevent both infectious and non-communicable disease risk during childhood and into adulthood. Human milk contributes remarkably to the development of a balanced gut microbiota-amongst many other health benefitsit is essential for infant formula to be as close to human milk as possible, providing bioactives targeting gut and immune health.Human milk is also an important source of beneficial bacteria (naturally occurring ‘probiotics’) that help colonise the infant gut and contribute to the composition of a favourable gut microbiota. Besides bacteria, their metabolites may also naturally pass into human milk. They may also be referred to as ‘natural postbiotics’ (comprising both inactivated bacterial cells and metabolites) and are anticipated to stimulate both healthy gut microbiota composition and function as well as immune functioning and development. Probiotics have several health benefits by modulating gut microbiome. Paraprobiotics and postbiotics are the emerging concepts in the functional foods field because they impart an array of health-promoting properties. In 2019, the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) defined a postbiotic as a “preparation of inanimate microorganisms and/or their components that confers a health benefit on the host”. Effective postbiotics must contain inactivated microbial cells or cell components, with or without metabolites,that contribute to observed health benefits. However, in many instances postbiotics have been used for whole category of postbiotics and parabiotics. These elicit several advantages over probiotics like; (1) No risk of bacterial translocation from the gut lumen to blood among vulnerable and immunocompromised subjects. (2)No chances of acquisition and transfer of antibiotic resistance genes. (3)More natural to extract, standardize, transport, and store. (4)Loss of viability by cell lysis can produce further beneficial effects.(4)Enhanced interaction of every released molecule from the disrupted cells with the epithelial cells more directly. Breastfeeding is natural and the optimal basis of infant nutrition and development, with many benefits for maternal health. Human milk stands as a model for infant formula providing nutritional solutions for infants not able to receive enough mother’s milk. Infant formulas aim to mimic the composition and functionality of human milk by providing ingredients reflecting those of the latest human milk insights, such as oligosaccharides, bacteria, and bacterial metabolites. The objective of this review is to discuss the most recent developments in infant formula with a special focus on human milk oligosaccharides and postbiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]