You mentioned that your children are both under 17 years old. That's the age limit for the child tax credit. For the child care credit the child must be under 13.
You also said that you care for your son. You did not mention paying anyone else to care for either child. The child care credit is for paying someone to care for the child while you work, not for caring for the child yourself.
You said there were at least three years, 2020, 2021, and 2022, when you did not work. If you got the child care credit when you were not working, you had to have lied on your tax return.
So I join with xmasbaby0 in wondering whether the credit you got in past years was the child tax credit, not the child care credit.
