Two other languages I speak refer to noun "child" in neutral gender, so maybe English is the outlier here.

A fair point. “It” is neuter, not neutral, but I can understand “lost in translation”

Yeah, I am not a native speaker. It felt "natural" to say it. It was not meant as some kind of statement on the nature of children. It does not force me to pick gender, but even that was not conscious decision.

“It”, being neuter, is usually reserved for inanimate objects and sometimes wild animals. Calling a living human, dog, or cat “it” is basically a slur.