A.,
My son came down with some random congestion at that age too. It's terrible to watch them go through and it is so frustrating when they can't eat (drink). My son used a binky and he would spit it out and cry. I used the decongestant for babies called Little Colds. You may not want to use it since you're doing everything else so naturally. But it helped him to breathe because it dried out his nose. The congestion was at its worst after he slept, so I came up with a bedtime routine that helped. Before bed I would give him his usual bath. Because the steam from the bath made his nose drain, I used that as an opportunity to suck out the snot with the nasal aspirator. I used the big one they gave us from the hospital. It took forever, and he was screaming by the time I finished, but I got ALL the snot out. Then I rubbed Baby Vicks behind his ears, under his chin, across his chest, and on the bottoms of his feet (I know it sounds stange, but it's very soothing). I dresssed him for bed and gave him the medicine. Because we co-slept at the time, I was able to prop him up on pillows without worrying about him tumbling sideways. He was all but verticle. To keep him from slipping down I rolled up a blanket and put it under his knees. He was very cozy and, though he still produced new snot, it kept him from draining into the back of his throat and he breathed normally through the night. He was even able to suck on his binky. His congestion cleared up in about 48 hours.
He's a year old now and recently had his first bad cold. Unfortunately the congestion lasted for weeks and the decongested didn't work. But I did find another product. It's a night light made by Vicks that doubles as a vaporizer. It fills the room with menthol. It really helped.
Good luck!
-T.