If you are not in the market for a crib bumper, there are some very creative solutions out there for you. A new one is Oliver B, a bedding company that offers a Slat Bumper instead of a traditional one. The Slat Bumpers work by placing each individual pad over every two consecutive crib slats and tying in a knot across the exposed vertial wooden or metal slats.
What you get is a beautiful display of ribbons that appear to be a bumper, but aren'. Plus they protect the baby from hitting the actual slats of the crib, as a traditional bumper would do.