I have not used it at the top of stairs, but you will notice that it is very stable and would be difficult to push over. Of course, if your dog is heave or very large, they may be able to knock it over, but I've had a doberman all over mine and it never fell over.

Yes. We use it on a tile entry way to keep dogs out of stairs leading to basement.

I would have to see your stairwell or at least know the dimensions but for the most part, this gate is just what it says it is "free standing" and it's quite sturdy. We have giant and large breed dogs (weigh 158, 110 and 85 lbs, respectively). Since the two larger dogs often "challenge" gates or simply barrel through them, we decided to turn this gate inward between our dining and living room. The gate opens "in" so they are unable to push on it - works like a charm. You'd have to be sure the gate expands past the opening at the top of your stairs but the opening between the two rooms in our house is 70" or almost 6 feet. the gate has a magnetic closure so it swings shut automatically if you let it go and latches. Hope this helps. (The gate is lovely and quite well made). Denise in Land O' Lakes

If using it for a pet it should be fine, it is free standing and very sturdy. Not sure I would use it for a child.

It is pretty sturdy, and it has the stand to balance it, but I don't know if someone can tip it down the stairs.

I would NOT use at the top of stairs! It may fall! Not a suction or screw in type and could tip over.

We installed ours on the top of some stairs and to make it very stable, I cut two blocks of wood (4" X 4" X 7" L) to slide under the legs and this made the fully opened gate extremely strong. I stained them brown to match the stairs and they are almost invisible beneath the metal legs. Even opening and closing the door is easier and can be done with one hand now.

This free standing gate might not work. The smallest opening is 55 in. but it depends on your opening. If your opening is stright across then it might still work. See in the picture how the sides are at 90 degrees to the gate. If your opening is stright across then you could set it up to the wall in the Kitchen and they could not push it at all.
Or like at my house I have an opening that is about 50 in. wide and I have 2 walls that end so we have ours with the sides of the gate on the out side of each wall. It works great.

The minimum length is 55" so it would be too long for your opening; however, I have resoved this issue by installing the gate on one side of the doorway rather than inside the doorway. The gate will be a little larger than your opening, but it will still be flush with your wall so no critters can get by it.

You said your opening is 4feet. Ours is actualy much lager (about 70" or almost 6 feet. We simply used the extension provided and reversed the gate so it opens into our dining room and the dogs are unable to move it. Our dogs weigh 158 lbs, 110 lbs and 85 lbs. My husband plans on making a minor adjustment to keep the larger dogs from moving the gate from the side if they choose to lay down in the corner of the dining room. It hasn't happened yet, but it might. But for a conventional 4 foot opening and 25 lb. dogs, I think you'd be fine. Denise in Land O'Lakes, FL

We have this gate set on the smallest settings and the space is 54 inches wide. Unless you don't mind the gate being in front of the opening and overlapping the walls, this model may not be the best choice.

I used this gate for 3 dogs who weigh about 20 pounds each. Only one of my dogs jumps against the gate and it has not tipped over. This gate expands - it has a panel that slides out and then you bolt it . My space was 60" but I think it would work for 40 - you would just not slide out the panel.

The gate will fit the opening. My 75 lbs dog did not try to go through the gate. Kept out two strong toddlers though.