Why does my iPod Touch automatically turn the volume all the way down? I have an 8GB iPod Touch, 4th generation.  Recently it has been automatically turning the volume all the way down, and it often won't let me turn it back up again.  This happens both when I'm using headphones and when I'm not.  It has also been restarting itself automatically.  It hasn't always done this--I've had it since December 2010, and it started doing it in May 2011.  Any suggestions?
Three things can cause this:


The down button is now physically pressed (or the electrical contact has shorted/failed)
The headphone jack is sensing a volume button press (much less likely)
software is corrupt (very very unlikely, but still possible)
bluetooth remote (also very very unlikely)


You can restore the device to rule out #3. Turning off bluetooth nixes #4. You might be able to rule out #2 by trying some different headphones, but I've seen that fail in ways that headphones in or out won't help. You'll need a repair / exchange to fix the first two issues if it's not caused by a temporary piece of debris or light cleaning with clean, dry lightly compressed air.