Child Passport Renewal - no appointments available

My son's (he is 7) US passport expired in January 2021 (we travelled to the US in Nov 2021 on his expired passport) and I've been checking with the US Embassy Website to make an appointment for renewal the past few weeks and nothing is ever available.

Has anyone else had this issue?  Is the exemption where children can still travel to the US on an expired passport still in place?

Thanks.

That's strange because I've booked appointments for both my kids within the last two weeks.  There were several free today, and a few last week as well.  I'm using this link (https://evisaforms.state.gov/acs/default.asp?postcode=LND&appcode=1) and checking each morning about 8 am.   
I read about the exemption where children can still travel to the US on an expired passport and it says "You do not qualify for this exception if:
You wish to depart from the United States to an international destination." 
If you are planning to come back to the UK, it seems like you'd be violating that rule. 

I just happened to take a picture this morning to send to my daughter.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Download the Telegram app and join this group.  Turn on notifications and you'll know as soon as appointments are released.  I had an appointment at a time that was convenient within 24 hours of joining.

https://t.me/joinchat/5S9iJJctHDplYTg0 

There is another group for chat, but you'll see that listed in the description when you join the first one.