How the Miskin Method Was Built (and Why Breastfeeding Needs a System, Not Tips)

How the Miskin Method® Was Built

I never set out to write a book or become a published author.

What I wanted was to solve the hardest case study I could imagine:

How do you build a flexible framework that helps all mums breastfeed their baby, across different bodies, births, babies, and circumstances?

Not a collection of tips.
Not a single “right way.”
A system that adapts.

Early on, I realised something important. Information can be impressive, but it does not always create clarity. Parents do not just need more facts. They need help interpreting what is happening in front of them, in real time, with their baby.

That is why I started building what would later become the Miskin Method®.

I began writing a book I planned to call Lactology: The Science of Breastfeeding. I went deep. I wrote hundreds of thousands of words and built diagrams to make complex feeding mechanics easier to understand.

When I was later approached by a publisher, we published Breastfeeding Made Easy: Your Step-by-Step Guide Using the Miskin Method. It is out of print now, though mums still seem remarkably good at finding second-hand copies.

Looking back, the book mattered, but it also revealed the gap.

The gap was not effort or knowledge.
The gap was structure.

I had a lot of information, but I did not yet have a complete diagnostic system.

The philosophy underneath it all

My father, Dr PJ Miskin, always told me:

“Find and solve the root cause of the problem rather than treating the symptoms.”

That became the rule that shaped everything I built next.

Because most feeding problems do not start where they show up. Sore nipples, constant feeding, wind, reflux symptoms, pulling off, unsettled nights, poor weight gain. These are presentations. They are not automatically the cause.

When the presentation is treated without identifying the underlying driver, it is easy to pull the wrong lever and unintentionally escalate the problem.

This is where much general breastfeeding advice becomes unsafe, even when it is well-intentioned.

The method before it was complete

At the time, I did not realise I had four pieces of a five-piece puzzle.

I had:

One primary goal that worked for my client.
Two individual roles that needed to be supported, mum and baby.
Three principles that kept decision-making simple.
Five key elements of the MumBo™.

The MumBo™ lens, which I created, is the foundation: mum, birth, medical history, baby, and your baby’s oral cavity. It explains why the same symptom can mean something entirely different in two different families.

This worked well, but the system still needed a missing middle layer.

The missing layer that changed everything

What I had not yet articulated was the part that explains why a feed can look fine on paper but feel wrong in real life.

That missing layer became the 4 Pillars of Breastfeeding Mastery™, which sits between the MumBo™ foundation and the principles that guide decisions.

When the Pillars slotted in, the method became a complete pyramid. Each layer supported the next. Nothing existed in isolation.

This is what makes the Miskin Method® a closed system, not a list of strategies.

What Nest Notes is for

Nest Notes exists to help you recognise feeding patterns without rushing to solutions.

It is not designed to replace personalised assessment. Most feeding difficulties are not single-issue problems. They are often driven by multiple, interacting factors, each with its own trade-offs.

A change that improves one symptom can worsen another.
What looks “helpful” for one MumBo can be the wrong move for a different MumBo.

This is why generic advice breaks down when patterns persist, escalate, or overlap.

When these feeding patterns continue despite basic adjustments, this is a sign that personalised assessment is required, not more general advice.

At that point, the next step is not to try harder or do more. It is to slow down and identify the drivers in the correct sequence, using the MumBo™ lens and the 4 Pillars, rather than guessing.

I am Geraldine Miskin, the originator of the MumBo™ and the Miskin Method®. My work focuses on personalised feeding diagnostics, helping families identify root causes so decisions are logical, safe, and specific to you and your baby.

If you want to explore the foundations first, start here: What is the MumBo™?