If you’re in the market for a nanny, then you’ve probably already had friends, colleagues, or nanny agencies tell you about the importance of a background check. After all, that’s what professionals do, and that’s the logical next step if you’re going to act as an employer and hire someone to render high-quality childcare services. But what exactly does a nanny background check cover? What do you have to do to get one? And what do they really provide? Whether you’re new to childcare in general or are just now branching into things like background checks, here are some things you need to remember:

They’re Wide-Ranging
Background checks cover many areas, including:

Consumer reporting agencies — the outfits that gather the data in background checks — query a variety of sources to find relevant information, like the Interstate Identification Index System and the FBI Identification Record. They may also use manual court record checking methods if databases are not adequate or available. A thorough background check ensures that you’re getting as much information as possible about your nanny, and it’s the best way to know you’re covering your bases.

They Aren’t Perfect
Nanny background checks aren’t perfect, though. For instance, less serious driving incidents may only appear on record for a limited number of years. The incident might not be a dealbreaker either way, but if you’re hiring someone who will very likely need to drive your child around town, it could be good to know about it. In the instance of an old offense though, if the nanny didn’t want to disclose it, you may not learn about it.

Background checks also (obviously) only show things that the person in question was caught doing. Don’t be fooled into thinking that “background check” means “exhaustive list of every bad thing someone has ever said, done, or thought.” Consumer reporting agencies aren’t psychics, and state and federal databases are only as good as the people who maintain them. A background check is a tool that can tell you some of what a person has done, but not everything.

You Must Have the Nanny’s Permission
This is crucial, too. Legal background checks for employment must be done with the express consent of the person being investigated. Period. If an agency or investigator tells you they can just start digging on someone, think again. The Fair Credit Reporting Act governs the way personal data is harvested and used in the employment application and verification process, and to safeguard against abuses, the person being examined has to know about it.

The best way to do this is to provide the nanny with a simple consent form. You can get these forms from the agency that will conduct your background screening. Once you’ve narrowed the candidate pool down to a few top choices — or if you’re working through applicants one at a time, or maybe just found someone you like — get in touch with each potential nanny and inform that you’ll be conducting a background check. Tell them politely but plainly that this is a required part of the application process, and that failure to consent to the check will result in withdrawal of their application from consideration. After you’ve received permission to conduct the background check, you can work with your particular investigatory agency on next steps. They can tell you what information you’ll be getting and how quickly you’ll be getting it.

They’re Only One Part of the Hiring Process
If you remember nothing else, remember this: a background check is just one part of the process of interviewing and hiring a nanny. It’s an extremely valuable tool, but it’s just one tool. It is not a shield against future damages or incidents, nor is it a guarantee that someone whose check comes back clean will be a perfect employee. Similarly, it’s not a guarantee that someone with a spotty background check is a risky hire, either. A background check is a powerful thing, but it has to be used in conjunction with everything else at your disposal. For instance:

Parenting can often seem like a study in contradictions. On one hand, you have to protect your children and keep them safe. On the other, you must allow them to experience enough disappointment and negative repercussions to form a basis for successful adult behavior.

From managing risk/benefit analysis to comforting themselves in the absence of an adult, independence is vital for kids to grow into healthy adults. But how do you allow them to form those skills when your first instinct is to protect them from ever having a negative experience? Coddling your children may seem like the best way to keep them safe and happy, but it can actually make them more uncertain and less confident as they get older. Here are ten signs your child is being coddled too aggressively, and may need some nudging in a more independent direction.

1. She Gives Up Before Trying – When you manage tasks and responsibilities for your child, rather than teaching her how to handle things on her own, it leaves her with no frame of reference later in life. If your child gives up on new ideas, activities or responsibilities without even making a cursory effort, it could be a sign she’s being coddled to the point of not knowing how to function on her own.
2. He Can’t Deal with Disappointment – No one wants to watch their child suffer the pangs of disappointment, but it is an inevitable part of life. Shielding your child from these feelings may be a short-term relief, but will only make coping that much more difficult when the unavoidable happens. A child who absolutely cannot process disappointment and has no coping mechanism is often one who was coddled and shielded so much they never experienced this aspect of the human condition.
3. She’s Easily Overwhelmed – Managing your child’s schedule, what she wears, what she eats and who she interacts with will ensure she doesn’t have the opportunity to make a mistake. It will also ensure she doesn’t know how to handle these simple tasks on her own, so she’ll be completely overwhelmed when she has to make a tough choice or face the unknown as she gets older.
4. He Displays a Sense of Entitlement – Kids who are shielded from disappointment and never hear the world “no” aren’t necessarily the happiest, even if your intention is to make sure your child never wants for anything. Coddling your child and catering to every whim can easily lead to a false sense of entitlement, which will absolutely not serve him well as he enters adulthood.
5. She’s Anxious – Anxiety is a diagnosable disorder in children, but it can also be the result of too much pampering and coddling. You can’t manage every aspect of her life forever, nor can you tackle every obstacle she faces. In trying to do so, you just leave her ill-equipped to handle even the slightest adversity or uncertainty.
6. He Actively Avoids Trying New Things – An overly coddled child will often avoid new experiences or social settings, simply because they have no model for behavior in situations where the outcome is not controlled by a parent.
7. She Demands Instant Gratification – Just as coddling can lead to a sense of entitlement which leaves your child feeling they are owed all the best by virtue of simply existing, it can also leave her incapable of waiting for gratification. These are the children who can’t see the big picture or make long-term goals, because they are so used to having everything on a “right now” basis.
8. He Frequently Needs to Be Rescued – Do you find yourself needing to constantly rush to your child’s rescue? If you’re feeling like your child’s own personal superhero, it could be a sign you’ve coddled him so much that he doesn’t know how to manage even the slightest difficulty.
9. She’s Fixated on “Fairness” – Your child forms a world view based on their experiences. If you make a point of shielding her from every injustice, she’ll spend the rest of her life fixated on how “unfair” life can be. When even common disappointments seem like a raw deal to your child, it may be a sign you’ve coddled her too much.
10. He Struggles to Meet Common Demands – You can’t expect a child to meet common demands, like cleaning up after themselves or taking responsibility for their own actions, if they’ve never been exposed to these experiences. A child who freezes in the face of life’s most common demands may not be prepared for adulthood because he’s been coddled and overprotected.

While it’s never easy to urge your little one to spread his or her wings, it’s vital to their development. Squashing the urge to coddle your child may be one of the biggest challenges you face as a parent, but it’s a crucial obstacle to overcome.

If you’re hiring a nanny, you’re probably dealing with a lot of moving parts: multiple applications, callbacks, interviews, follow-up interviews, agency recommendations, and so on. It can take a lot of time, research, and luck to find the right childcare provider for you, so it can be tempting to cut corners. Some parents do this at the background check stage, figuring that a few standard phone calls or emails to the nanny’s references will do the trick. But that’s a mistake. You should never hire a nanny without running a background check. Here’s why:

It’s Dangerous
To be frank, there’s no real way to know what a potential nanny might be bringing into your home. This isn’t just a typical employee, after all. This is someone who’s going to be spending hours on end with your child, and they’ll be there for months or even years. A thorough background check is a crucial part of the decision-making process and a reliable way to know if the nanny you’re thinking of hiring has ever had documented run-ins with the law. Employee background checks, which gather information from consumer reporting agencies and are overseen by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, query a variety of criminal databases to see if your possible hire has any black marks. Those databases include the FBI Identification Record and the Interstate Identification Index System, and they include, sex offender registries, criminal records, and more. Depending on the type of check you run a background check may include checking county court records or other types of records such as a candidate’s motor vehicle driving record.

You shouldn’t hire someone to bring into your home — especially if you’re looking for a live-in nanny — without conducting a background check. It’s just too dangerous to overlook.

On a related note, you open yourself up to potential liability if you don’t get a background check. In addition to sex offender registries, background checks also round up a variety of criminal behavior, usually if the applicant was convicted in the previous seven years. If your nanny has, say, been involved with theft, you could be leaving yourself open to serious risks if you skip the check.

It’s Simple to Request One
A background check can’t just be performed on the sly. You must request the consent of your nanny applicant to investigate their background. But this is such a simple thing, and it can save you so much hassle and worry, that it’s foolish not to request one.

Think of the background check as an important checkpoint in the application process, and as a kind of gatekeeper for your home. You can request one at any point, but to save costs, it might be best to only conduct background checks on applicants that you’re considering at least somewhat seriously. The background checking company you are working with should provide you with a consent form for the candidate to complete as well as a summary of the candidate’s rights for you to provide to her. Once you have the green light from your applicant, you can get the background check rolling. That’s all you have to do. If something that important is also that easy why not do it?

You’re Part of a Childcare Community
Nannies talk to each other, and so do employers. Hiring a childcare professional means being involved in a larger community of parents, families, and nannies who rely on each other for work and references. Performing a background check on your nanny doesn’t just help you; it helps inform the broader members of the community of the importance of them.

When parents in a community commit to properly screening their nannies they set the standards for nannies in the community. When nannies come to expect backgrounds screenings as a pre-employment measure, those with a checkered past may be less likely to apply for nanny positions.

Ultimately, you are responsible for the safety and happiness of your own family. Living up to that responsibility means doing everything you can to bring the right help into your home, and a background check — simple, effective, and fast — is a vital part of the process. While a background check isn’t the only tool you should use to screen your nanny it is a tool that will provide you with information that you may not have otherwise been able to gather.

Twitter has 500 million total users, and more than 200 million of those are active. That means you’re probably on Twitter or know someone who is. And while the service gets written off as an echo chamber or a stream of mindless chatter, that’s a misrepresentation of what it can really offer. There are so many great resources for smart news and opinion for plenty of professionals, including nannies. Here are some accounts to follow if you want to stay on top of nanny news and childcare tips:

@IntlNannyAssoc: This is the official feed for the International Nanny Association, which has focused on training and education for childcare professionals since the 1980s. Their feed is a great way to stay up to date on news, trends, reports, and case studies in the nanny industry.

@janetlansbury: Janet Lansbury runs a childcare site and teaches RIE parenting classes in Los Angeles. She’s an active presence on Twitter, regularly responding to tweets and engaging in broad conversations about childcare and best practices. She also tweets interesting links and stories from the nanny world.

@healthychildren: This is the official account for HealthyChildren.org, a parenting website from the American Academy of Pediatrics. They tweet on a pretty regular basis, and their dispatches make for great reading for nannies looking to learn more about medicine, health, and wellness for children. They regularly post links to their blog articles, and they also chat with and retweet professionals.

@Annie_Fox: Annie Fox is an expert on tweens and teens, age groups that can be particularly flummoxing for childcare. Her books have dealt with vital issues like setting good habits for children and teaching them about bullies. She doesn’t just promote her own material, though. She regularly tweets great links that cover childcare news, tips for activities to do with kids, and more. It’s a great resource for nannies, not just parents or educators.

@parentsmagazine: Parents magazine is part of an empire that includes American Baby and Family Fun, so you know they’ve got their bases covered when it comes to childcare. Their Twitter account (which boasts more than 725,000 followers) is a must for anybody who wants a steady stream of news and advice for dealing with kids of all ages. Tips for new parents are still great reminders for you, especially if your employer gets pregnant.

@USAChildCare: This is the feed for Child Care Aware of America, a national group focused on providing access to childcare to communities across the country. They talk frequently about the intersection of childcare and public policy, which makes them a solid resource for nannies looking to learn more about their industry and stay abreast of new laws that could affect their jobs. They also promote regular webinars on a ton of topics, including child safety and seasonal issues.

@NAEYC: Based in Washington, D.C., the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a major advocate for early childhood education, from birth to age 8. Their Twitter feed isn’t just conferences and seminar info, though. They offer great tips like where to find great summer learning opportunities and how reading can improve social skills. Follow their feed to stay plugged in with the latest nanny-related issues.

Pinterest: Being a nanny means being on an almost constant hunt for activity ideas, and there’s probably no better repository of ideas out there than Pinterest. With more than 1.4 million followers, odds aren’t great that they’ll tweet back at you if you tweet at them, but you’re better off using them as a resource than chatting partner. They regularly tweet craft and activity ideas that are perfect for nannies and families, so check back regularly to see if they’ve got more good stuff for you. And, as always, there’s Pinterest.com.

@JillsGoodThings: This is the feed for One Good Thing by Jillee, a blog that covers household tips, cooking, childcare, and pretty much everything else you could want. The tweets are a combination of how-tos, inspirational lines, and links to fantastic articles with recipes, kid advice, and more. Great for scanning.

@HappyHomeFairy: HappyHomeFairy.com won a 2013 award from Parents magazine for its home tips. It’s a direct, honest blog about childrearing that’s packed with tips, activities, and exercises that are perfect for nannies as well as moms and dads. The Twitter feed is an easy way to stay on top of all the great posts and dip into the older ones, as well.

You might be asking yourself, “How many different types of resumes can there be?” After all, are there really that many ways to talk about your work experience? You bet.

The best way to think of a resume is as an extension of your personal brand and a representation of your best, most professional self. This isn’t just a list of accomplishments or jobs; it’s a marketing document, a targeted package designed to promote your skills, persuade the reader, and get you hired. How you design it is a big decision.

The Big List
This is as basic as you can get. Some HR professionals call this one “the laundry list” because of its direct, by-the-numbers approach to discussing your bona fides. The big list doesn’t waste any time with objectives, mission statements, or nuance. Rather, it jumps right into the work experience, usually favoring bulleted lists over sentences and paragraphs. The goal is to convey a lot of information as quickly as possible.

Upside: Even in the childcare world, resumes are often read and discarded in seconds. You have a limited amount of time in which to make an impression on the reader, and a big list guarantees that they’ll see your work. You won’t waste anyone’s time.
Downside: The “just the facts” approach can make you seem cold or methodical, which can be a risk in an industry that’s all about personality and trust. A big list is a great way to rattle off your accomplishments, but it’s less suited to conveying who you are and what’s led you down your particular career path. It’s not always good to let your jobs do all the talking for you.

The Functional Resume
The functional resume is all about the skills you’ve developed during your career. Instead of listing jobs tied to employers or locations, it lists roles and discusses what you’ve done in them. There’s a big emphasis here on your adaptability and performance. A functional nanny resume says, “This is who I am, and this is what I can offer you.”

Upside: Want to really sell your skills and assets? A functional resume is a great way to go. You can lead with your major accomplishments before segueing into talks about where you’ve been, what you’ve learned, and what you can provide. The goal is to hook the reader with an appealing look at what sets you apart from the pack.
Downside: Functional resumes tend to downplay accurate work history in favor of broader achievement, so a client family looking for a precise account of where you’ve worked (and how long you were at each position) might not be wild about a resume that can feel a little blurry on hard facts or dates.

The Chronological Resume
A chronological nanny resume will recount your work experience starting with the most recent job and working back from there. The goal here is to show your career path to the employer and to talk at each stage about specific duties, accomplishments, and rewards. It’s similar to the big list, but there’s more room for elaboration and personality as you discuss your jobs. Longer sentences and full paragraphs are the norm here, instead of the clipped, bulleted entries of the big list.

Upside: This is the most popular format in the corporate world, and it’s what most people picture when they think of resumes. That familiarity means the reader won’t have to work that hard to parse the document or pull out the highlights from your previous jobs. You can use this format to emphasize successes at all levels, whether you’re new in the field or a veteran of childcare.
Downside: An accurate account of your work history will also mean highlighting any jobs that you have only held for a brief time, and if you have a series of these short-run gigs, you might wind up looking bad. A client might assume you’re unstable, or they might think you’re a problematic hire who was terminated or phased out shortly after starting a job.

The Combination Resume
This format combines the chronological and functional layouts into one cohesive document. You still get to talk about the skills that set you apart from other applicants, but you also provide a solid work history that shows your career growth. Specific layout choices are still up to you — you can start with skills or work history, you can emphasize skills next to each job, etc. — but the final product is a smart hybrid.

Upside: You get the best of both worlds here. A combination-style nanny resume means you can play to your strengths. If you’ve got gaps in your work history or a couple of short-term jobs, you can balance them with skills and achievements. Similarly, if you’d rather underscore certain jobs, you can highlight them while also talking about the tools you developed there. This format offers a lot of customization options, which makes it versatile and easy to change.
Downside: Not that many, to be honest. The format is so cohesive, so all-around helpful, that it’s hard not to find some way to make it work to your advantage, especially since nanny resumes are augmented by references and personal statements. You don’t have to choose this format, of course — you can choose any of them, or you can draft multiple resumes in different formats to see which one works best for you. The goal is to make sure that you’re happy with how you’re presenting your professional self, and that clients are responding in kind.

If you are still not sure which format is best for you, you may want to visit NannyResume.org. With NannyResume.org, you answer multiple questions and then choose from several professionally designed resume formats which you can freely download in Microsoft Word format. This is totally free for caregivers and could really help you make a great impression with potential family employers.