Karen, we get that every winter, I generally just coat their hands in Aquaphor before bed (though I'm sure coconut oil would work fine too 
) and then cost them again before I go to bed.
My kids haven't been willing to try the coconut oil, but yes to the aquafor--we used to have to sneak in after they were asleep because they can't stand the feeling of greasy or oily hands, but now we do it before bed and then put socks over their hands and they wake up nice and soft again!
Rebecca--I actually get kind of irritated skin deboning the chicken--not sure why, and its not a new thing, so nothing to do with die off, but all the chicken fat on my hand makes my skin kind of itchy, so not my favorite activity either.
And as far as how long the rashes can last--when I first started GAPS, I broke out in a small red rash around my mouth in a couple spots. They were probably there for about a month, maybe 6 weeks and then I noticed it had mostly cleared up. Now, 5 months later, I can still tell where the rash was, but i think its only becaue I know where it was--its pretty much gone. I know it can vary from person to person, though. Mine wasn't anything extreme, just took awhile to clear up.
So, are undigested food bits always a bad sign? I've noticed that even some foods that Henry does well with pureed, if I give him the whole food, there are undigested bits in his poop. I know my other kids always had that, too, and I understand that means he isn't really digesting all of it so not getting full benefits from eating that food, but is that a sign of something worse? Can I keep going? He's not showing any other symptoms of anything. . .
