As your infant or toddler grows, so do the milestones. But how do you know if your child is ready to tackle one? Some stages require parents to look for signs. What you don't want to do, however, is push your child to do something he is not developmentally ready for, says Dr. Charles Shubin, director of pediatrics at Mercy FamilyCare, a division of Family Health Centers of Baltimore in Baltimore, Md.

Here is a sampling of the many milestones parents will celebrate with their growing baby!

One of the first exciting milestones for an infant is eating solid foods. How do you know when to begin? When your child is able to hold her head up and sit without support, says Reandy Just, program coordinator in the Child Health Promotion Department at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. This is typically around 4 to 6 months, depending on the development of the child.

"Parents should take note as to whether the child's tongue-thrust reflex is gone or diminished," says Just. "This is a natural reflex that is there to keep the child from choking, but will also cause the child to push the food back out of his mouth. If this is still happening, the child is not ready for solids. Experts suggest that if there is a history of family allergies that you wait to begin feeding solids to your child to give your child's digestive system time to mature further and therefore reduce the chances of him developing food allergies later on."

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