ds1 is sitting with his face three inches away from the tv screen

[StitchtheCrafter]

and i am being a wuss by not turnignt he tv ooff.

I make DD sit on the couch. If she forgets and gets off the couch and slowly creeps towards the screen, then I pause the DVD (there's nothing good on TV here, so it's DVDs for her), and don't start it again until she's sat back down.
You could switch the TV off until he's moved back?

I would turn it off. He either sits where you think its acceptable of it goes off!!

Also maybe check his hearing and eyesight if you're not completely sure they are OK.

the only one of my children who sits that close to the telly is dd3 when she doesnt have her glasses on. actually she practically presses her whole face up against it.

older 2, no eye probs, didnt get that close.

Pick him up, move him back to an acceptable place. Do that twice. Third time, the tv goes off for a minute or two. While its off, move him back.

Thats assuming he's under two. If he's older, tell him he's got to move by the time you count to 3 or it goes off.

The thing I find hard is doing this with ds, because dd is also watching. It was easy when it was only dd, and she got the idea really quickly.

We just put a small childs table infront of the tv so she couldn't stand so close. It is low enough for us to easily see over it and saves the stress of confrontation in the first place - so long as your child doesn't want to climb on it of course!!!