So first time around I was exactly thinking the same thing it's way to risky but as my baby grew he would get his legs stuck and I mean really stuck to the point I was worried he was going to break his ankle or legs so I went and bought some bumpers. When he started to roll he would bang his head super hard on the sides so for multiple reasons I will be using crib bumper pads with the next baby. It's all a personal choice they do have all different kinds like light weight breathable effect so you just have to make your own decision on this one Mama. I think it's great to be proactive and protective of our baby's but sometimes people go a little crazy, l know I was like that my first baby! This time around I'm much more relaxed and laid back.
We used crib bumper pads for our first when he was really moving around well. Likely around 6 months but I can't remember exactly. With our second I chose not to get the pads but got mesh ones. He slept with his head pressed against the crib bars until we moved him to his big boy bed a couple weeks ago. He didn't have any marks on his head. I found that the mesh ones were a good compromise because my anxious mind started to fret about the suffocation risk so getting the mesh helped balance that with my other worry that he'd get his arm stuck in the bars and break it.
I hope our different experiences help you with your decision. Do we need crib bumper pads? No, we don't need them. However, they are handy from my experience. We didn't put our little one into the crib until after 6 m. His crib was always adjacent to my side of the bed so I constantly checked on him. So first time around I was exactly thinking the same thing it's way to risky but as my baby grew he would get his legs stuck and I mean really stuck to the point I was worried he was going to break his ankle or legs so I went and bought some bumpers. When he started to roll he would bang his head super hard on the sides so for multiple reasons I will be using crib bumper pads with the next baby. It's all a personal choice they do have all different kinds like light weight breathable effect so you just have to make your own decision on this one Mama. I think it's great to be proactive and protective of our baby's but sometimes people go a little crazy, l know I was like that my first baby! This time around I'm much more relaxed and laid back.