Sorry to hear you have just experienced your first cold with your little one. Firsts are always either joyous or hard. One thing that works brilliantly at clearing their noses without having to even go near their face is putting vicks or similar on their feet and then a pair of socks. Sounds incredibly strange but it works, i do it all the time, even with my bigger kids. I then rub whats left on my hands on their chest and you can even try some on a tissue put under their pillowcase or sheet where they lay so they get the smell but no risk of it getting into their eyes either by hand transfer or rolling on it. As has been mentioned, Vapourisers with eucalyptus or similar in it also help but seriously try the feet thing.