Anyone Use Kids Claritin For Colds?

My pedi recommended it once the boys turn 2, and wouldnt you know, Nolans got an awful cold and just turned 2 Friday. Anyone use this for colds in the past? My pedi is very conservative in terms of treating things so I trust him (he said hed rather have the boys have Claritin than Triaminic, etc) but I saw that it is good for 24 hours so I just want to her if anyone has any experiences with it before I go giving a 24 hour medication!
Sorry about the poor grammar in this post, for some reason my apostrophes arent working!
Thanks!

 

Sure, my boys take it from time to time.

 

My oldest took it every day , from the time he was 2 until about 4 1/2 for allergies. I do use it for all the kids with colds. It does make them a little tired, so best to give the dose at night. No bad reactions here.

 

Isabel takes it for allergies everyday. I've found that it can actually make her a bit more hyper. I give it to her right when she wakes up. We tend to do Children's sudafed for stuffy noses when they're sick. Works better than the Claritin for us when it's actually an illness.

 

If you're using it for cold symptoms, I would actually just use Benadryl at night instead. The older generation antihistamines are actually quite effective at drying up the mucus produced by viral syndromes. If the symptoms are due to allergies, obviously the Claritin should work great.