Christine McGuinness has revealed that she was once forced to consider a feeding tube for her 'seriously underweight' son.
The 34-year-old mum shares three children with her TV presenting husband, Paddy. Twins Penelope and Leo, eight, and Felicity, six, have each been diagnosed with autism and the family are open about the ups and downs that this can bring.
Most recently, Christine has explained how her children's autism can cause problems at mealtimes. All three of her children are over sensitive when it comes to food, including the taste, smell and texture of it.
READ MORE: Christine McGuinness admits 'hiding' her autism to 'fit in'
Speaking to Mail Online, the model revealed how Leo became underweight from vomiting food up regularly. She said: "We had vomit after vomit for years. It felt like we'd feed them, and then we'd clean it up to the point where Leo was seriously underweight, and it was affecting his health."
She shared how they had to make the 'heartbreaking' decision to consider medical intervention to ensure that he was getting the needed nutrition to be healthy. Christine said: "He wasn't getting the right vitamins and we discussed putting a peg in [the stomach], and just having that conversation at the time – I remember it being heartbreaking.
"And we didn't have to go that route, and even now they still eat very limited, but they eat enough, and he has vitamins and milk shakes to help him get everything he needs."
Christine revealed that people always ask how her and Paddy cope. She said: "People say to us all the time, 'How do you cope with three autistic children?' But we don't know any different. When ours were really young - I was the full-time carer and stayed at home.
"Fortunately, I was able to do that because my husband worked so much, but it was absolutely exhausting juggling appointments and going to speech and language therapy, and it takes over your life. It is absolutely exhausting, but you kind of just do it, because you have to – you've got to."
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