Google has updated the sitemap section of the localized pages search help documentation to say that "Child elements don't count towards the URL limit for sitemaps." Google said that it clarified in the sitemap documentation for localized versions that child elements don't count towards the total number of URLs in a sitemap file.
Google seemed to just add a line that reads "Child elements don't count towards the URL limit for sitemaps." The line was added under the sitemaps section over here.
Here is a screenshot:
Yes, this is a minor note, but I figured I'd share this more broadly.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
