My 8-month old will hardly let anybody "new" pick him up, or spend time with him if his mother or I aren't present. His current nanny and one set of grandparents (which have spent a lot of time with him) are OK, but his other grandparents, uncles, aunts, and pretty much anybody else send him into a frantic bout of terrified bawling.

My mother wants to be able to babysit, and we're moving to a new daycare in a few weeks. I've tried giving my parents "alone-time" with him, so they can get used to each other; he calms down to a certain degree, but remains upset, clingy, and quick to cry, and he lunges at me desperately as soon as I return. He isn't any more welcoming after several days of a family vacation all together, or after this "alone-time". I'm worried that our attempts to get him used to someone else being with him are doing more for his anxiety than for his comfort.

Is this normal? Is there something we can do to help him adjust to new people? Is there anything we can do to smooth the transition to a new daycare?