My 4 year old has ahorrible case of ciriasos, (i think that is how you spell it)anyway, it get so bad esp. from October thru March he skin cracks, splits, and bleeds. My husband also had it as a child. It finally cleared up by 10. The doctor told my to not bath him, but to give him showers. So much of it has to do with diet and to stay away from, fruits with alot of acid ( oranges, tomato, lemons) chocolate,seeded berries, and foods with high levels of sugar, hydroginated oil, and high fructose corn syrup. The things that i saw making the best changes are sunshine, and salt water from the ocean. If we went down the shore for the day, the skin on the tops of his feet and his heals would look like alligator skin, it would be red, cracked, raw and bleeding. He would just tear at it. When we would leave the shore, it would be soft and like pink baby skin again. We would use curel lotion, hydrocorizone, and cotton socks. He would be his sweet happy self again.