When I was living in another province, away from all my family system, I found a nanny. But not any nanny. A nanny that wasn't 20 years old.
She was 50yo and basically adopted my daughter as her own granddaughter, and we got very close. She worked for our family, part-time, for about 2 years until we had to move away. It was the same cost as day-care here, and very much worth it, because we had help "on call", and my daughter got so much "grandmotherly" love. And honestly... even though I am back here, with my in-laws near... I miss her so much... because she was completely safe, both to me and to my children, which my mother in-law isn't, as I am slowly discovering.
So... I'd recommend maybe looking into nannies. Or maybe an older sitter, if you don't need someone part-time (for afterschool care for example). Here, a lot of students at the university do baby-sitting on the side to get a bit of money. They are old enough that you can trust their judgment at that point... And if you reuse the same one over and over again, and takes some time to speak with her while she works, then trust builds up and at some point, she can stay overnight during a week end too.
Another one of my friend was lucky to get close to another family that had children the same age... Both were far from their extended family so they could "exchange weekends" once in a while. One family would get all the kids one week-end, and the other family would get them the other week-end. Not all the time obviously, but they would get together enough that the children would be comfortable with both set of parents, and know them well. So, wouldn't cost anything, and both families would get some much needed time "off" to connect with their significant other.
