Yes, the short naps and eating prior to sleep can be related, if your dd feeds TO sleep. Some babies do just fine on AESY or AEASY. I think the sleep problems that you are describing are very normal for her age. Have you looked at our sleep boards to find suggestions on getting a longer nap?
My dd was like yours, waking several times at night to cry, sometimes needing help back to sleep but sometimes she managed off on her own. It is hard to know when to go to them and when to let them work it out. Children don't start having nightmares until after 12 months old, according to my pediatrician, although both my kids cried and laughed in their sleep from infancy.
If you do need to get onto more of an EASY cycle, you could try the AEASY. Feed her a little earlier than normal and then keep her up a bit after nursing. Each time keep her up a minute or two longer, until you get the cycle to where it works for both of you and sleep isn't dependent on the breast. And as always with any change, be patient with each other, it takes time to figure out what works.