I have bad eczema on my hands. It really flares up in the winter, or when I'm dealing with harsh chemicals. It can takes a couple weeks for it to heal after a bad flare up.
dtw describes my present routine with nitrile gloves & cortisone cream. I also had it worse when i worked in a restaurant with lots of handwashing. My hands were a mess; it was actually very embarassing.
Here something I had GREAT luck with, and still do when I have a bad flare up:
Bag balm & cotton gloves overnight. You can get bag balm from most vets or livestock places... they use it on cows udders when they get dry & chapped. I put it on quite thick, then put cotton gloves on overnight. This helps A LOT, either on the onset of a flare up or to help heal up a bad flare up. You could do the same with socks for your son.