We meet again!!! :wink:
Ok, well - admittedly( :oops: ) I sucked at the whole sleep thing with an infant, as I didn't find this site until it was too late for infant sleeping!!
BUT - someone suggested that Nate's sudden different cries could be a fear - shadows, dark, whatever.
So, I put in a nightlight (and he had never used one before) and that helped for weeks. Then the nightwakings happened again. When I would go in, he was staring and screaming at a specific place in his room - a shadow! I adjusted the nightlight.
Good as gold for MONTHS. Then, nightwakings (of course, all of these were the nightwakings that were NOT connected to illness or teething - just out of the blue). Laid in his bed with him one night, looked over, and the mirror on his dresser looked SCARY. Covered it with a blanket. Nightwakings, gone. (again, the one's that were for reason's other than teething and illness, and now, nightmares :cry: )
So many other mother's I know also swear by the Fisher Price aquarium thingee - didn't work at all for us, but it was very soothing to other's LO's.
Separation anxiety could be happening. As for what to do? Not totally sure - we never went through it badly here, but what about just softly speaking to her when you go in to pat/shhh - "mommy's here...it's all right...i love you....go to sleep...you can do it..." type of thing?
Hope you get some other great answers!!