This paper critically examines the concepts of professions and professionalization that prevail in the early childhood literature and offers alternative conceptualizations from the sociology of professions. After delineating traditional concepts of professions, Wilensky's (1964) popular definition of a profession is adopted for this examination. According to Wilensky, any occupation wishing to exercise professional authority must find a technical basis for it, assert an exclusive jurisdiction, link both skill and jurisdiction to standards of training, and convince the public that its services are uniquely trustworthy. The four conditions of this definition are discussed in relation to day care. Subsequent discussion points out that the advocates of professionalization in day care may not be representative of the occupational group as a whole, and that professionalization, although widely accepted in the early childhood literature, may have a number of unintended consequences. In the concluding discussion, the application of traditional models of professionalization to the early childhood field is criticized because it ignores the issue of gender. Ideas are offered on how to integrate an appropriate professional model for day care workers within an ecological approach. (RH)