Is 'swaddles' a word?

Question

I swear I've heard the term swaddles used before, but when I look it up, I only get definitions for swaddle. I believe it was used as a noun, but the definition of swaddle is throwing me off.
Here's how it would be used if I'm correct:

Her brother was born while she was still in swaddles.

So, it would be used as a term for the garments that a baby or toddler is being swaddled in.
The definition of swaddle from the Oxford Lexico is:

Wrap (someone, especially a baby) in garments or cloth.

Is swaddles really a word?

MooNieu · Accepted Answer

Yes
Swaddle is also a noun, as seen in the third definition on Collins Dictionary:

a cloth, bandage, etc. used for swaddling

And also the fourth definition from the same page under British English:

mainly US
swaddling clothes

In a search on Google Books for “in swaddles”, you can see many examples of its usage. Such as this one from In the Heart of the Garden by Leah Fleming:

‘Don’t you touch them, they’re mine! Help me wrap them tight in swaddles’

And this one from Odd enough, to be sure! or, Emilius in the world, Volume 1 by A. H. J. La Fontaine:

‘In short, the child was not tied up in swaddles, as the mother wished him’

Is 'swaddles' a word?

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