This is generally a mild illness, and the child feels and looks well otherwise. The child usually gets better on his own within a week. Runny nose is usually accompanied by mild fever. It may also go with other symptoms such as headache, sore throat, coughing, sneezing, watery eyes, and fatigue. The child with common cold usually gets better on his own within a week.
Allergies can also cause a runny nose.
The allergic runny nose might also be associated with watery and itchy eyes, sneezing, asthma, rubbing of the nose and a lot of clear mucus. With allergies, the runny nose may last for weeks or months, but there is no fever or spread of disease to others. This additional infection of the common cold tends to cause yellow-greenish mucus and sometimes pain that continues for more than 10 days. Remember that yellow or green mucus does not mean that a child has a bacterial infection. It is normal for the mucus to get thick and change color as common viral cold progresses.