3yo DD not pooing normally - sorry lots of talk about poo!

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My DD is 3.2yo. She has been toilet trained for about 8 months but still regularly soils herself. Her stools don't seem normal to me as she only goes 'properly' about once every 3 days (and usually gets these in the toilet) but does little poos about 4 times a day (and usually does these in her pants). The consistency of these little stools is never solid...it is sticky and just tends to stick to her bottom and is quite difficult to clean off. If she does manage to sit on the toilet, it doesn't drop in the toilet, it still just sticks to her. I would say it's like the consistency of thick muffin batter and it is sometimes very smelly. I think part of the problem with her soiling herself is that these poos are sometimes so small she doesn't really notice she needs the loo before it comes out!

I took her to the doctor about it 3 weeks ago and as a starting point she has been prescribed a laxative to help her go 'properly' more regularly. It is helping a bit I think as she is passing larger stools more regularly (every other day maybe), but they are still very soft and unformed and I'm a bit worried about giving her diarrhoea.

I'm just starting to wonder whether there is something else going on. Could she have some kind of gut infection or food allergy? Do worms have this effect on stools? Just wondering if anyone else's child has had this and any advice?

TIA

Just to add, DD's diet is pretty good. She goes through phases of eating really well and then not eating very much at all, but generally I feel that she gets a balanced diet. She eats lots of fruit and veg, meat, fish, carbs, dairy, fibre. She drinks mainly water or milk (when she wakes, mid morning at nursery and before bed) during the day. She might also have a small glass of fruit juice with breakfast and sometimes a glass of squash with dinner.

It sounds like classic encopresis to me.

This means she's probably badly constipated, and soft poo is leaking around a big blockage in her gut. Hence the regular soiling.

What laxative was she given? Don't worry about her stools being too runny, the aim of the game is to get everything moving normally, which can take time.

Thanks for your response. Will read up a bit more about it. She's been prescribed lactulose and she's having 5ml twice a day.