Am i ready for ? PLZ HELP!?

i've been with my bf for 4mounths and we love eachother very much but how can i tell if we are ready for the next step?we feel comforable with eachothers bodies and we were very close to doing it many times but i always came back to my very old fashioned and protective parents...they make everything seem like its immoral...im 17 and i still cant tell them i have a bf and they nvr had the talk with me or lik peircings or tattoos or belive in friends lik its ridiculous and im tired of feeling like im a bad person if i enjoy being with the oppisite like they dont rly bother to try and understand so i guess thats what holds me back but every day i feel closer and closer to him...do u think 4mounths is to early...or im to young?? btw we are both virgins and only had 1 or 2 rly short not serious relationships in the past...plaes comment nicely ^^