FMLA can cover bonding with a new child or caring for a child with a serious health condition. It generally does not cover ordinary babysitting problems, routine school closures, or childcare simply because another caregiver is unavailable. Identify a qualifying leave reason before requesting time away. [5]
Identify the qualifying reason
Eligible employees can take qualifying birth or placement leave during the first year. Intermittent bonding leave ordinarily requires employer agreement. Medically necessary intermittent leave to care for a child with a serious health condition follows a different rule. [1] [5]
For ordinary family-care leave, an adult child generally must be incapable of self-care because of a disability when leave begins. [2] Military qualifying-exigency leave can cover certain urgent childcare arrangements connected to a covered deployment; it is not a general childcare benefit. [3]
Check eligibility before arranging leave
The usual employee requirements include twelve months of employment, 1,250 hours of service during the preceding twelve months, and a worksite meeting the applicable fifty-employees-within-seventy-five-miles test. Covered-employer and special employee rules also matter. [4]
- Tell the employer facts showing a potentially qualifying reason.
- Separate bonding dates from medical-care dates.
- Provide medical certification when properly requested.
- Ask whether employer leave or state law covers childcare that federal FMLA does not.
A common distinction
Taking a healthy child to daycare is different from caring for that child during a medically necessary recovery. Calling both activities childcare does not make them legally equivalent. Explain the actual care required and how it relates to the qualifying condition. [5]
Practical application
For example, a parent staying home because daycare is closed ordinarily has a different situation from a parent caring for a child after qualifying surgery. In the second situation, describe the care and medical need. If the request involves bonding, identify the birth or placement date and the requested schedule. Do not describe an ordinary supervision problem as a medical condition. [5]
A child’s age can change the analysis
For ordinary medical-care leave, the definition generally covers a child under eighteen and an adult child incapable of self-care because of a disability. Bonding leave has a different purpose and timing. Identify the applicable relationship and reason before requesting certification. [2]
Related questions
Related guidance: FMLA for a child’s mental health and FMLA after maternity leave.
Primary sources
- 29 C.F.R. § 825.120 — 2025 CFR edition
- 29 C.F.R. § 825.122 — 2025 CFR edition
- Current 29 CFR 825.126 — eCFR
- 29 CFR 825.110 — Eligible employee
- 29 U.S.C. § 2612 — Leave requirement
Sources checked: October 31, 2026.