Mechanical ventilation in newborns can be divided into invasive mechanical ventilation and non-invasive mechanical ventilation. In order to reduce invasive ventilation-induced lung injury, more and more non-invasive ventilation patterns have been used clinically. Early application of nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) has become the main mode of non-invasive ventilation in many neonatal intensive care units (NICU). At the same time, the combination with selective pulmonary surfactant can reduce the incidence of chronic lung disease. This article reviews the use and prospect of non-invasive respiratory support modes which include continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and bi-level CPAP mode (BiPAP) such as  SiPAP and NIPPV. Some modes which are in the research stage were also reviewed including synchronized nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation, neurally adjusted ventilatory assist and non-invasive high-frequency oscillatory ventilation.