omg yes its sooo confusing why cant they just make it one process???? i had my baby in Decemebr and the whole thing was a nightmare. i ended up just taking unpaid leave from work cause i couldnt figure out the stupid PFL application and needed to focus on my baby. if you can get it figured out youre doing better than me lol

Just wanted to add for anyone else reading this - make sure you understand the timing difference between when you CAN apply versus when your benefits actually START. You can submit your PFL application up to 10 days before your SDI ends, but your baby bonding benefits won't actually begin until the day after your disability leave officially ends. So if your SDI ends on a Friday, your PFL would start the following Monday. This helped me plan better when I went through this process last year. Also, don't stress too much about the exact timing - anywhere between 7-10 days before seems to work fine based on what I've seen here!

After reading through all the comments, let me summarize the consensus on transitioning from pregnancy disability to baby bonding PFL: 1. Apply 10-14 days before your disability ends 2. Make sure your doctor has certified your final disability date 3. Check that your baby's documentation is submitted 4. Keep copies of everything you submit 5. If your claim gets stuck, be prepared to contact EDD This is the process that should create a seamless transition between benefits without any gaps in payment.

I'm going through this exact same situation right now! My disability ends in 3 weeks and I was also told by HR to wait until after it ends to apply for PFL. Reading all these responses is such a relief - I was so worried about having a gap in payments with a newborn. One thing I wanted to add that helped me: I called my doctor's office to confirm they had submitted my final disability paperwork, and they actually hadn't! The nurse said they usually wait until closer to the end date, but I asked them to submit it early so there wouldn't be any delays. Might be worth double-checking with your OB too. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this community is so helpful for navigating these confusing processes!

UPDATE: I wanted to share what happened in case anyone else runs into this issue! I ended up using Claimyr to reach an EDD rep (thanks for that tip - totally worth it to not spend hours calling). The rep confirmed that I should NOT report the February payment since it was for work completed before my disability period began. I requested and received an email from my manager confirming the dates the work was performed (Jan 3-26) and that the payment was delayed solely due to our company's commission payment schedule. I'm keeping this documentation saved just in case there are any questions later. Thanks everyone for your help! Now I can focus on my baby instead of stressing about EDD issues. 😊

Congrats on your little one! 🎉 I'm so glad you got this resolved with EDD. Your situation is actually really helpful for others to see - it shows how important it is to get proper documentation and not just rely on what HR tells you (especially when they're being unhelpful). I'm currently 32 weeks and will likely have a similar commission situation when I go on leave next month. Thanks for sharing the specific steps you took and the Claimyr tip - I'm definitely bookmarking this post for reference! It's so reassuring to see someone actually get through to EDD and get a clear answer. Hope you're recovering well from your C-section and getting to enjoy those newborn snuggles! 💕

I swear, dealing with this system is aging me faster than my actual job did. Pretty soon I'll be eligible for retirement benefits instead of unemployment! 👴👵

Ugh, yes! I'm dealing with the exact same thing. My claim just vanished from the system after their "update" and now when I call, they act like I never even filed. It's beyond frustrating. I've been trying the callback feature but it just says "high call volume" and hangs up on me. Has anyone had luck with the online chat feature, or is that just as useless as the phone system? Starting to wonder if I should just camp out at the local office at this point... 😤

Thanks everyone for your responses! I just checked my portal and it actually updated today - it now says approved! Based on your experiences, I should hopefully have the payment within a few days. This is such a relief!

Congratulations on your approval! That's such great news. I'm currently waiting on my own baby bonding claim decision (submitted 2 weeks ago) and this thread has been so helpful. It's reassuring to see that most people get their online updates first, though clearly EDD's system can be unpredictable. The timeline info from everyone is really valuable - sounds like payments usually come pretty quickly after approval. Hope your payment comes through soon and you can enjoy your bonding time without the financial stress!