Daughter discovered her "pee bug" vagina... Help please!

My daughter is 17 months old and has discovered her vagina which I knew the day would come. My worry is if she's shirtless in a diaper or in the tub she like grabs and pull and I think scratches it. I tell her "we have to be nice to our pee bugs" I don't want her to think it's a sin for touching down there, but I don't want her to scratch it an it hurt her when she pees or if I wipe it clean or put buttcream on her. How did other moms handle this?