dr. MP (Monique) L'Hoir

Monique L'Hoir (PhD) (29-11-1957) is clinical pedagogue, health care psychologist, psychotherapist (non- executive) and senior researcher at Wageningen University & Research and health promoter at the Dutch Community Health Service in the Eastern part of the Netherlands. She worked for 23 years in the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Centre in Utrecht, were she wrote her thesis on the prevention of cot death, which was part of the European study into cot death (ECAS). With others she implemented preventive measures for cot death in the Netherlands in the child health system. She is member of the Dutch cot death expertise center of the Dutch Foundation of Pediatrics. She worked seven years at TNO Child Health in Leiden. She took part in the development of the guide-lines: ‘Apparent Life-Threatening Events’ (ALTE) of the Dutch Foundation of Pediatrics, the multidisciplinary guide-line ‘Excessive crying in infants’, and the Youth Health Care guidelines: ‘Overweight in children and youth’, ‘Childrearing advises’ and ‘Healthy sleep and sleep problems’.

She was co-promotor of dr. Bregje van Sleuwen, who wrote her thesis on the effect of swaddling in excessive crying infants. Currently, she is co-promoter of Floortje Kanits (PhD), who investigates sleep and Sudden Unexpected Death in Infants (SUDI). She was one of the coordinators of several Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT’s): prevention of sleeping problems and solving sleeping problems in young children in the Youth Health Care and a cluster randomized controlled trial into the prevention of overweight in children aged 0-4 years old, the BeeBOFT study. She developed together with the Dutch Food center and other scientific expertise centers an intervention for children in the age of 2-6 years old, which has been implemented since 2012. She is trainer of ‘Healthy Start’ of the RIVM and of the Joint Health Needs Assessment (in Dutch ‘GIZ’ of the Dutch Youth Health Center (in Dutch NCJ).

She established a study into increasing the physical activity in children during school breaks; BeweegWijs. She participated in a longitudinal intervention study into an integrated, local, lasting approach into the prevention of overweight, together with German researchers (Gesunde Kinder in Gesunde Kommunen (GKGK, Euregio). She was coordinator in another Euregion study into Child Death Reviews. She now develops a study into ‘psychological autopsies’ of young people that committed suicide. Main topics in her work are prevention of Cot Death, ALTE, excessive crying in infants, sleep in children, child rearing and parenting skills, child abuse and prevention of overweight and obesity and the prevention of sleep problems in young children.

Together with Dr. Bregje van Sleuwen she wrote a book for parents about infant sleep: ‘Everything you need to know about sleep’. Recently she participated in national movie spot about the need for children of adequate sleep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tujOQ85_-DQ&feature=youtu.be.

She is a member of the board of Child & Sleep of the Dutch Foundation of Pediatrics. She is married and has four children.