T follicular helper (T _fh ) cells have emerged as a critical limiting factor for controlling the magnitude of neonatal germinal center (GC) reactions and primary vaccine antibody responses. We compared the functional attributes of neonatal and adult T _fh cells at the transcriptomic level and demonstrated that the T _fh cell program is well-initiated in neonates although the T _fh gene-expression pattern (i.e., CXCR5, IL-21, BCL6, TBK1, STAT4, ASCL2 , and c-MAF ) is largely underrepresented as compared to adult T _fh cells. Importantly, we identified a TH2-bias of neonatal T _fh cells, with preferential differentiation toward short-lived pre-T _fh effector cells. Remarkably, adjuvantation with CpG-ODNs redirect neonatal pre-T _fh cells toward committed GC-T _fh cells, as illustrated by increased expression of T _fh signature genes and reduced expression of TH2-related genes.