Crazy 3 year old tantrums- How do you handle them?

[Hevava]

Looking for some advice on coping with my 3 year olds tantrums. She is having usually a couple of meltdowns a day and they often go on for 40 minutes or longer. I'm honestly at my wits end and sometimes end up in tears myself. I try to ignore the behaviour and carry on as normal but she can't seem to calm down by herself and she ends up hanging off my clothes or legs or screaming in my ears while I try to calm her down. I've tried putting her in a cool down spot but she won't stay put and I end up having to half lift half drag her back there when she continues to follow me around screaming. I also have an 8 month old baby who hates the noise and also needs my attention. We've had a LOT of big changes lately (moved house, started preschool etc) so I know these tantrums are inevitable and probably just a phase but I need to find a way to survive them!
Thanks so much!

[CarrotPuff]

I wouldn't ignore her. Acknowledge what she's feeling, and offer her a cuddle. If she's having none of it, leave her to it, but then keep offering a cuddle every so often.

It's hard, but it does get better

[crazymumofthree]

I agree with previous poster, my daughter is the same age and can loose the plot over the simplest of things, we have a time out step (bottom of the stairs) she's goes to and I also make a point of acknowledging her feeling and explain why we can't do something, I also find distraction is great or giving her a choice or a reason why we need to do something - e.g you can tidy your room before bed then we will have time for a story as mummy won't need to tidy up. Also she loves to help and getting her involved in things helps eg at meal time she is much more likely to eat what she has helped cook or sometimes I will let her 'chop' the veg while I cook.