Dr Bagai says:
A cold or upper respiratory infection (URI) is a viral infection. Most healthy children get at least six episodes of URI each year. Usually the fever lasts less than 3 days, and all nose and throat symptoms are gone by one week. In younger babies, the best treatment for cleaning the nose is to use a soft rubber suction bulb to remove the secretions gently. Older children should be encouraged to sniff and swallow the secretions. If the secretions are dry, few drops of nose saline drops should be added in each nostril.