Help! My kid is injuring herself when diaper-free!

[citymama]

My daughter scratches herself almost relentlessly when without diapers. She recently turned 2 and we're spending time on the potty a few times a day - she totally gets it, is motivated, and successfully poops and pees on it almost every time. So we're all motivated to keep going - except for the constant scratching. She has drawn blood in her pubic area, and has large scabs on her bottom where she scratches. She knows it hurts and that she shouldn't do it but can't help herself, it seems. Any ideas about how to continue PTing while keeping her from scratching?

She is generally a happy and healthy kid, but I guess like most kids wants to explore the part of her that's covered the rest of the day - and doesn't know how to do so gently.

Here's what we've done so far:
-- keep her fingernails as trimmed as possible
-- told her it's ok for her to touch herself, but be gentle
-- when she's PTing, we try and have her keep her hands on the sides or on her knees, or have her hold something like a book - works for a few minutes, but then she's back to scratching
-- we use dessitin and other diaper cream to soothe her and keep her comfortable.
-- We took her to the ped. to see if there was something serious like a yeast infection, but she's fine - it's just self-inflicted. Sort of like a nervous habit like nail-biting, I guess.

I don't want to get to the point where she's so traumatized by her own scratching that she is turned off PTing, or where we choose to keep her in diapers in fear of the damage she might cause herself! Help!

[Moneypenny]

DD did the same thing for a while and we told her she could pat or rub, but not scratch. It took a few days of reminders, but then she got it and would just sit there and pat. Also, as soon as we'd take her diaper off I'd put some lotion on her and tell her that she wouldn't need to scratch because the lotion would help her not itch.

Good luck!

[citymama]

Thanks! We had a better day yesterday but I think we're just going to have to keep a close eye on her when diaper-free.