Human milk oligosaccharide 2'-fucosyllactose links feedings at 1 month to cognitive development at 24 months in infants of normal and overweight mothers.

Our findings suggest that maternal factors influence infant cognitive development through multiple means. Though maternal obesity may be a separate negative influence, greater frequency of breast milk feeding at 1 month contributed to infant cognitive development through greater exposure to 2'FL relative to other HMOs. The influence of 2'FL was not significant at 6 months, indicating that early exposure to 2'FL may be a critical temporal window for positively influencing infant cognitive development.