it might be going south, but at 6 months old that would be a bit too soon.
Is it still under warranty? If so, take it back.
What about the batteries, are they charged? Some batteries do begin to fail early. Have you tried new batteries?
Have a look at Apple's support site for the Ipod and Ipod Mini here;
http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/
There may be some information there that helps you.
Good luck.
Mark
Hi all!
I have a six month old ipod mini, and have recently started having problems. for some reason, my mini will just skip over random songs. I have cleared all songs off of it, deleted itunes and started from scratch, and the SAME songs still skip. It literally started skipping overnight. anyone know what the problem might be?! Thank you SO much for your help
betsy

Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic