Hot Chocolate at bed time, does it cause insomnia?

Thank you all for your suggestions. I shall try experimenting some of them. I'm not a fan of hot milk, but it might be ok with a little honey. I quite like the idea of vanilla in milk, as I do love the flavour of vanilla.
Getting back out of bed is not too much of a chore as I have to clean my teeth, and try for a last pee so I won't need to get up again (hopefully)

I find a medicinal dose of whiskey and hot lemonade knocks me out for a few hours. I’m in bed exhausted but wide awake now and tempted to go back downstairs for one ?

I think it all depends upon your individual reaction to cocoa and caffeine.

I can drink strong coffee with no ill effects in the evening.

I've never had milky drinks, though. My lactose intolerance would mean I'd be sick.

talking of Horlicks, can you still get Horlicks tablets? I used to love them.
I've never bought into the milky bedtime drink idea. Think it would probably curdle with the red wine I usually have Mulled wine is a great nightcap

A cup of half strength Options (full strength is too sweet) sends me to sleep within half an hour for a full night. Horlicks is too fattening!

I think the hot milk far outweighs any caffeine in the chocolate. I did look into this too, and couldn’t find anything to suggest it would keep you awake. I always eat a banana before bed too, as they contain melatonin.

I’ll stick to the brandy on its own next time!

I had instant hot chocolate last night ( and the night before) and slept well.I usually have either Earl Grey or peppermint tea about 9-10 pm and wake up a lot, so will stick with the hot choc drink( or instant Horlicks) I don’t like too much milk.

I had a hot milk with honey and a glug of brandy last night.
I needn’t have bothered - Hattie woke me up to go out about 1.30, then woke me up again two hours later sneaking on to the bed, then I lay awake for another hour or so, I skimmed through GN, read the online paper and fell asleep about 5
???

I’ve stopped drinking hot chocolate at bedtime as I am sure it was keeping me awake. I now have some warm water and I do sleep a lot better.

I have suffered from insomnia for most of my life and have carried out numerous "experiments" with various drinks, foods etc. There seems to be no correlation between hot chocolate and being awake at 3am. Of course, leave out the hot chocolate for a couple of weeks and see what happens.

I don't even like milk any more and have been drinking Oatly for months possible years even since I first saw it in the Coop.

I'd stay on the safe side and have weak Ovaltine , or thin porridge.

If I can't sleep I make myself a mug of hot milk with honey stirred in and grated nutmeg on top. Usually works for me.

I find eating chocolate in the evening causes me to have disturbed sleep - apart from a small amount of caffeine, it has another stimulant, theobromine.

Horlicks for me, but only when feeling "one degree under"

Any drink before I go to sleep keeps me awake! If I had chocolate or coffee or tea, I would be up twice for the loo, but even a cold drink keeps me awake.
My last drink is at 9pm at the latest. Sleep very well then.
You could experiment? Try no drinks for 3 nights and log results, then introduce a drink at various times. See what the difference is.

Weak milky decaf instant for me.Sounds awful but it’s my bedtime drink.

Try hot milk with a drop of vanilla extract. The vanilla gives it a great flavour without the sugar content of chocolate.

Hot chocolate or cocoa has me up and down to the loo all night. Lovely and comforting though it is.

I restrict my liquids in the evening, in my case that is coffee because I would be up to the loo especially if I had a drink just before bedtime. I hate milk and like Witzend hot milk would also make me heave.

I tend to sleep badly now and sometimes come down at about 3 am and make myself a cup of cocoa - I find hot chocolate too sweet.
It usually sends me off again.
I couldn’t drink plain hot milk - even the smell of it makes me heave. ?

But sometimes I have cocoa and don't find it makes any difference.

As cornergran says, just experiment and see what works for you.

I like hot milk with honey and find I sleep well on it. The only problem is I like to drink it in bed but then I have to get up again to clean my teeth!

Alcohol, OTOH, is a definite no-no. Not good for sleep at all. Shame, as a dash of whisky or brandy in the milk would be nice and comforting, too.

DIL is correct farawaygran. you would be better having a malted milk or horlicks