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New York State (upstate, if it makes a difference) here. My son was born this past March (2015) and I took a paid two-week leave of absence.

I work long hours and over the past 8 months I haven't had a chance to see him as much as I would like. My wife and I recently came into a bit of money, enough to supplement my income for 2 - 3 months, and I am wondering if it would be possible for me to take an unpaid FMLA leave so that I could spend some serious time with him before he's a toddler.

Let's assume my employer qualifies as an eligible FMLA employer (it does) and that I qualify as an eligible FMLA employee (I do).

According to the website, one can take an unpaid FMLA leave for:

The birth of a child and to bond with the newborn child within one year of birth.

I assume this means that I would qualify, and that I could take the leave right up until the day before his 1st birthday. However, I did already take a paid leave, and later on in that document they state:

Birth and bonding leave must be taken as a continuous block of leave unless the employer agrees to allow intermittent leave (e.g., allowing a parent to return to work on a part-time schedule for 10 weeks).

So I can't make heads or tails of the requirements here. I either qualify for the FMLA leave because my son was born within the last year, or I am disqualified because I already took a paid leave. Any thoughts?

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... leave must be taken as a continuous block of leave unless the employer agrees to allow intermittent leave

What's so confusing? You are eligible for the leave but you didn't take it as a continuous block; you need your employer's permission.

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  • Thanks @Dale M - I didn't downvote you, but must admit, it seems you missed the point of my question. I am unsure of which of the following two situations I'm in; either: (a) the two-weeks of paid vacation that I took after my son was born was (again) paid vacation, and therefore not covered by FMLA, or (b) FMLA doesn't care whether the vacation I took was paid or unpaid. In the former case, I am still eligible for FMLA leave because I never "tapped into it" to begin with (hence I would not need to get permission for intermittent leave)...
    – Manny Rodriguez
    Dec 8, 2015 at 13:35
  • In the latter case I would not be eligible for the reasons both of us already cited.
    – Manny Rodriguez
    Dec 8, 2015 at 13:35

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