Sorry if this the wrong sub for this.

I was reading Dracula, and I noticed that almost every time the novel refers to children, Stoker never uses he or/she but instead calls kids it. I'm about 60% through the book and a child's been referred to as he once. That's it.

Does anybody have an answer as to why this is? It struck me as really odd. Did Bram Stoker just really hate children? Or is there some other reason?