seriously, this is a personal choice. my friends have had ALL their kids with the bumpers, and I've had my daughter with the bumpers since she's 1st been in the crib. i had her with me in bed until she was 6 months old and starting to crawl off the bed. the ONE thing about bumpers that i don't like so much, are the flimsy ones. mine is so stiff that if i were to line it up on the floor the way it would sit in the crib...it's still in the up-right position...while all my friend have the flimsy ones that will just crumple. while mine is stiff, it's still soft to the touch. i could be completely wrong, but i just felt that the softer ones were easier to get tangled in. my daughter LOVES to sleep with her face snuggled into ANYTHING, and now that she's sleeping with a pillow (since she's been about 1 yr) she sometimes likes to put that over her head to sleep...i ALWAYS go in once i realize she's no longer moving/tossing around and is asleep to take it off...and sometimes just remove it completely from the crib, but it's just the way she likes to sleep (i can't blame her...i do it too sometimes myself!). as for the bumpers, if you're worried about it, then take it down, or replace it with one of those more sturdy ones, they're thicker so they don't fold over if they happen to un-tie. and just easier for ME to be comfortable with having in the crib. but like i said, this really is a personal preference.