I think your post of CCC #1261 says "we don't know, we trust in God to do what is righteous". What is the patristic teaching on unbaptized infants? I know St. Augustine stirred up a hornet's nest and his "mass damnatia" was not accepted by the Church, so there IS a sense of the faithful that proclaims that unbaptized infants will at least not be in hell.
Anyway, it is better to just say "we don't know" then to speculate based on opinions. I think the reason why the Church presents a teaching on the issue is to protect the necessity of Baptism.
Regards
I believe that was answered by Agrarian recently and myself earlier. The Orthodox Church does not speculate. We believe that God is not limited in His options. Knowing that God is merciful and just, many Orthodox believe (privately) that the unbaptized babies are saved. However, to the bets of my knowledge, the official position of the Church is that we just don't know.