How to handle night feeds?

It's so nice that you're still able to breastfeed with the help of a nipple shield. But they're such a nuisance. I breastfed with a nipple shield for a year myself, and I can relate to the problems with leaking and it slipping off.

Do you wake him up yourself at night to feed, or does he wake himself up every 3 hours at night? Those first weeks are really tough. But if he wakes himself up every 3 hours, it'll be hard to stretch the intervals. Even with bottle feeding, he'll still come every 3 hours.

I agree with Beagle. I found that every three hours was just right; my daughter came every 1.5-2 hours. It seems hard to stretch that out, and using formula isn't really a solution either.

Maybe it's worth pumping? And involve your husband in this? You'll also need to pump at night, otherwise you'll get engorgement, and if you want to continue with, say...

Also, your baby is only a month old. I understand it can be really tough sometimes, you're tired, etc. You're allowed to give in to that. The first months are the hardest, after that it really gets easier on its own. Unfortunately, our breastfeeding adventure ended at 4.5 months. But we were proud to breastfeed. Not always easy.. but now a beautiful 1.5-year-old girl!

How did you get the nipple shield off? I didn't spend too much time on it. I cleaned it with soap and laid it on a towel to dry. What you can do is get an extra set and only clean all the night-time shields in the morning. That saves time during the night. And make sure you have everything ready in the evening so you need as little time as possible during the night.

You could try offering both sides at night (if you're not already doing that), then he might be fuller and hold it a bit longer.

Good that you're feeding on demand. I used to feed on a schedule at night (as the maternity care staff insisted), but then she often fell asleep while feeding. After switching to on-demand feeding, she immediately slept more. Sometimes she made noises in her sleep, and I thought she was hungry, but then I waited until she was truly awake to feed her, which also saved time. But it varies greatly from child to child.

You might consider consulting a lactation consultant soon to help you wean off the nipple shield. I was too late with that myself, which meant she drank too strongly and too long, and my nipples got sore as a result.

I also found it really difficult when we were out and about and needed to feed. You want to be discreet, but since a shield always leaks, you have to put an extra cloth underneath. Putting the shield on isn't easy with one hand, and then you still have to latch the baby.

Do you feed lying down or sitting up at night? If you're sitting, you can use a nursing pad for your other breast. The milk will leak into it, which you can save for a later bottle feeding.
Besides that, your baby is only 4 weeks old, so 4 hours in between (unless they do it themselves) is really quite long. Stretching it out just doesn't work. My little one is 3.5 months old and usually wakes every 1-2 hours at night. That's just how it is.
And, as mentioned above, consider consulting a certified lactation consultant in time to help you feed without a nipple shield.

@Bolletje I also boiled the nipple covers every time with plain vinegar, a tip from the maternity care assistant.

For me, he comes every 2 to 3 hours, sometimes 4 hours. Now he only wants to drink from one breast and won't take the other (even when I try to give it to him a few times, he pushes it away with his tongue), so I pump that one out. But the problem with my son is that he wants to eat every time he's awake. He sometimes sleeps through until the next feeding, but sometimes not, and wakes up wanting to breastfeed again. It's very exhausting for me because I sometimes feel like I'm always busy feeding him.

Do I understand correctly that you boil the nipple covers after every feed? Even at night? Then I get why you're exhausted. Try feeding while lying down. That way you can still get some sleep.

Call a lactation consultant; she can help you. Or email the ladies at LLL. I found that really helpful.

I didn’t actually boil them every time either. When I was using them, I just rinsed them and boiled them once a day—that was more than enough.

Wow, my daughter is almost 11 months old and still feeds every 3 hours. I switched to bottle feeding 2 weeks ago; before that, it was often every 1.5 hours with 7 feeds per night.
Now, well, when I was nursing with nipple covers, I just rinsed them out and washed them in the morning...

At this age, night feeds are still very normal and really necessary! Yes, a newborn baby is very tiring. Try to rest when the baby sleeps during the day. And be careful with nipple/bottle confusion. It doesn't have to happen, but if you start with bottles before the 6-week mark, the baby might develop nipple/bottle confusion. Your milk production is still adjusting to your baby. So the first few months are just really intense. But around 10 weeks, you'll often notice they sleep a bit longer at night, then there are phases where they wake up more often again.

A bottle of expressed milk is handy so your partner can take over some of the feeding. Just keep in mind that babies can drink more easily and thus faster from a bottle. Not sure if you're familiar with paced bottle feeding? If not, look into it. You won't be the first one to give too much milk.

I'm now breastfeeding my third for 15 months, and the first 2-3 months can just be really intense, but after that, it's actually so convenient.

Congratulations on your little boy!

Babies often suckle more at night out of habit, so maybe you could try without the nipple shield? I think I gradually weaned myself off the shield.
Good luck anyway, sleep deprivation is a monster!