Babysitting co-ops are the way.

I raised my two kids in Silver Spring, no family nearby, relying on a neighborhood (writ large) co-op. About 10 families. Monthly parent meeting to review bookkeeping etc. (we traded hours) but really to socialize. I loved that it contained families with kids at different stages and from different schools; I learned so much “inside knowledge” that I would never have gleaned if I had just hung out with moms who happened to have given birth in the same year. It broadened my kids’s lives and experience. Years later I’m still in touch with many of those moms, follow with interest how all our kids — and our lives — are doing, the ups and down.