I am a grandmother to a 5yr old girl, now in kinderdarden, who lives with her b/f and step mother. They have a baby boy 10mo old. She does not see her b/m as she has been diagnosed as schitzophrenic and has been somewhat dangerous in the past. She lived alone with her b/f from 5mo until age 3 when stepmom moved in. They all seem to be very close, she is very close to both dad and stepmom. She is normally well behaved and excells in school. The problem is eating. She will go for days not eating lunch at school. She will eat at home and when visiting. Over Christmas break she ate very well at home and for the first week back to school she ate. She will not eat even the things she likes and can give no reason why she won't eat. Toys and fun times have been taken away, no candy, etc. Now she comes home and stands in the corner as punishment. Out of 19 schooldays, she has eaten 7 times. Any suggestions?7UKCPQAR

The last thing you should do is punish your grand daughter for not eating at school. She is only 5 years old and it could be that the noise in the school dinner hall is upsetting her and putting her off eating. I she is eating well at home then is there no way she could come home at lunchtime for her meals?

Go to the school and ask them for their advice, but please support your grand daughter in a positive way and try not to get upset with her, this is all very new for her and the change in her routine is obviously upsetting her. Be patient and good luck.