The paper presents human milk as the most valuable form of nutrition in neonates and young infants, essential for their proper development. Feeding with mother’s milk ensures nearly complete consumption of nutrients and facilitates digestion, absorption and assimilation of food since it is adapted to the digestive and excretory systems of infants and their specific metabolic potential which maturates in the course of development. Breastfeeding protects the child against the development of manifestations of allergization, aids the immune mechanisms, allows the avoidance of adverse effects of food products and reduces the severity of inflammatory reactions.

Keywords: breastfeeding, neonates, infants